THE RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE ON ATHLETICS.

At the meeting held in New York, on February 1, the representatives of the various colleges drew up the following set of resolutions. It only remains for the different colleges to ratify them to put them in force.

It is deemed advisable that physical training should form an essential part of a collegiate course; that the person selected to superintend this branch of education should be a man of character and ability, and that the dignity of his position should be recognized by giving him the moral support of the appointing power of the college. Therefore,

1. Resolved, That every director or instructor in physical exercises or athlectic sports must be appointed by the college authorities, and announced as such in the catalogue.

Ball-playing, boating, etc., are engaged in by students as recreations, and students ought not to be expected to compete on equal terms with those who make the practice of these recreative sports the business of their lives. Students who compete or practice with professionals gain in experience and skill, but this renders it necessary that their college opponents should have a similar advantage, or the terms would be unequal. This would lead to the employment of professionals in every branch of competitive sport. But as the character of professionals, as a whole, is not high, it is believed that their general employment in college athletics would lead to their speedy decline. Therefore.

2. Resolved, That no professional athletic, oarsman or ball-player shall be employed either for instruction or for practice in preparation for any intercollegiate contest.

Much of the expense and loss of time attending the practice of college sports is occasioned by playing games at a distance; yet for numerous reasons it is advisable that intercollegiate courses should continue. These games (football, base-ball, etc.) ought to be more generally played in college. Therefore,

3. Resolved, That no college organization shall row, or play base-ball, foot-ball, lacrosse or cricket, except with similar organizations from their own or similar institutions of learning.

During the past few years several disagreeable controversies have arisen and much ill-feeling has been occasioned by the manner in which intercollegiate contests have been conducted. Students in their conventions represent no one but themselves, and often act without responsibility and authority, committing their fellow-students to a questionable policy and establishing precedents which are detrimental to the interests of college sports. Therefore,

4. Resolved, That there shall be a standing committee of one member from the faculty of each of the colleges adopting these regulations, whose duty it shall be to supervise all contests in which students of their respective colleges may engage, and approve all rules and regulations under which such contests may be held.

The students who are selected to take part in college athletics are men of fine physique, who, in order to keep themselves in excellent condition, do not need the amount of training which they get. Time is often of great importance to them; but their physical powers are in demand, and this double draft upon their energies sometimes costs them their degrees. Men have been induced to enter the professional schools after graduation, that they might help retain the championship for certain sports. The evil of such a course is two-fold. It tends to raise the standard of the sport beyond the capacity of the undergraduate, and thus limits the number that can participate in it. It makes hard work of what was intended as a recreation. Therefore,

5. Resolved, That no student shall be allowed to take part in any intercollegiate contest as a member of any club, team or crew, for more than four years.

The practice of playing match games in large cities for the sake of gate money has crept into college sports within the past few years. The evils resulting are many: it leads to the introduction of features which draw crowds, independently of the merit of the game and the spirit of fair play; it induces men to put themselves in the hands of speculators; it cultivates a passion for excitement in players and spectators which make ordinary games seem tame, thus depriving the great majority of college students of a motive for physical exertion. Therefore,

6. Resolved, That all intercollegiate games of base-ball, foot-ball, lacrosse and cricket, shall take place upon the home grounds of one or other of the competing colleges.

Nearly every intercollegiate boat-race in this country has been won at the end of the third mile. The result has been a "procession" for the fourth mile, or a desperate attempt on the part of the defeated crew to retrieve themselves. The consequent tendency has been to lessen the interest in college boating, or to endanger the health of the participants from over-exertion and heart-strain. Therefore,

7. Resolved, That no intercollegiate boat-race should be for a longer distance than three miles.

As long as intercollegiate contests are continued the conditions under which the students of the different colleges compete should be as nearly equal as possible. Therefore,

8. Resolved, That the students of colleges in which these resolutions are in force shall not be allowed to engage in games or contests with the students of colleges in which they are not in force.

The resolutions are signed by W. M. Sloane, Princeton, chairman; D. A. Sargent, Harvard, secretary.