The Star. THURSDAY. AUGUST 20, 1908.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9319, 20 August 1908, Page 2

The Star. THURSDAY. AUGUST 20, 1908.

BOXING.

The success of the opening of the New Zealand boxing championship meeting in Christchurch last night, both with regard to the enormous attendance and the quality of the .sport, is evidence that the "noble art oi : self-defence," as it is known in the somewhat hackneyed language of the vernacular, has taken a new lease of life in New Zealand. Some years ago the very word "boxing" seemed to stink in tho nostrils of the people, and he was a bold man who in any way openly identified himself with public exhibitions of the sport. The police eyed it askance, the public would have none of it, and even that lily-white guardian of the public morality^ the Press Association, while telegraphing throughout the dominion .the details of coursing slaughters and pigeon battues, would not soil ite hands with the records of boxing. There may have been some excuse at the time for this attitude, for in the absence of a properly-constituted i controlling body there was no check | upon the malpractices which certainly disfigured many of such public exhibil tions as were given. It was left for the Canterbury Association to make a | beginning in restoring the sport to its proper place, and under the management of Mr W. G. Atack and a few other enthusiasts, rapid headway was made. Association after Association was formed throughout the dominion, a policy of strict impartiality and unerring punishment of offence was adopted, and in a few months' time the sport rose purified from its ashes and leaped into a prominence which is not generally recognised. The membership lists of the Associations include most of the principal citizens of the districts; they represent, and the legitimate patronage which is now bestowed upon boxing is a tribute to the unwavering purity with which the sport is administered. The whole of this work has been the outcome of voluntary enthusiasm, and the Council, the Centres and the Associations have left nothing undone to remove any repiv>aches which may have existed against the sport, and to prove to the public that it 1 can be conducted fairly, honestly, and without brutality. Step by step, and little by little, boxing has been brought into the forefront, and it is now one of the leading sports of the dominion. Under .the circumstances, there should be no difficulty whatever in the Council . succeeding in its proposed attempt to secure legislative authority to control the sport. At present boxing is the only important sport which does not possess such an authority, and it is distinctly the one which requires it most. So far the Council has been dependent upon the sporting spirit of the Associations for obedience to its rulings and decisions, and though in no single instance have these been challenged, the central body has not possessed the power to enforce them. It was owing to some inexplicable omission from the Police Offences Act Amendment Act of 1907 that this authority has not already been bestowed, and. the legislature will hardly hesitate to make the obviously necessary amendment if it is approached. With the Council legally fortified, it would be possible to dispense with the Centres, and allow the Associations to appeal direct to the Council, and this lessening of the administrative machinery would be to the benefit of all those connected with boxing. In the meantime the Council is to be congratulated upon the degree of excellence to whicTx the manly sport has been brought. .