layer myself in a small way, and until recently was
heartily in favor of the game. My position is thus rather
inconsistent, but it is that of many other sincere well-wishers of
the game. The objection to the game that seems to me most
important is its roughness, both necessary and unnecessary. First
as to the latter. It is all very well to say that if players would
behave like gentlemen, this would be done away with. This may be
so, but it is not in the nature of boys or men, in the midst of an
exciting struggle on the gridiron, to keep calm, and control their
strength and their temper. In their excitement they will do things
that they are sorry for afterwards, and I have never seen anything
proposed that would prevent such things.

Then football as played at present is a game in which there is
abundant opportunity for the natural brute to display himself. It
is claimed that the game teaches one to control his temper; but I
think it just as often gives one an opportunity to vent it on some
one else. The remedy proposed for this--to have several
umpires--should be repulsive in the extreme to every true
sportsman. A game in which the players have to be watched lest
they commit murder on each other is simply unfit for a gentleman
to play. If that is to be done, why not call in the police at
once, as they did in the Yale-Princeton game last fall.

The _necessary_ roughness of the game is considered by some to be
an advantage, in that it teaches courage and endurance, and
develops the physique of the players. But is not that a sort of
"kill or cure" method? Surely one can develop his body without
risking his life! A man or a boy has no right to risk life and
limb in a game simply because if he escapes injury he will be more
healthy than before. I am not exaggerating; a broken limb, a
strained back, or some similar injury, is not such a trifling
matter as some seem to think. To say the least, it means several
weeks taken from our work in life, which is a big price to pay for
one afternoon's fun. The development of our strength can be
procured in better ways than that. Our bodies were given to us to
be used, not abused.

That the game is a fascinating one I would be the last to deny,
having played it myself. In its present state, however, I do not