Men who have belonged to clubs and have run under their club-names refuse to pay subscriptions; they enter for races, and when unsuccessful decline to pay their entrance fees; they attempt by every conceivable kind of trick, such as making Omissions or ambiguous statements in their entry forms, to induce the handicapper to give them longer starts than they would obtain if they made a full and fair disclosure of their last three performances; and lastly, there is over and over again grave suspicion of 'roping,' men who ought to win suddenly losing in a way which is unaccountable, except upon the hypothesis that they are paid to lose. All this has tended in a great many districts to drive gentlemen out of the field, as they do not care to associate with the semi-professional amateur, or take part in a sport where such practices are rife. The existence of these abuses, too, has even led to the corruption of the genuine amateur. Knowing well that many of those with whom he may find himself competing are dishonest, and being too honourable himself ever to indulge in malpractices, he fancies he has discharged his duty to the community by always running to win, and respecting the laws of the meeting, and that when this is done nothing further is to be expected from him.

Thus, of late years, many amateurs, against whom no suspicion of dishonesty can possibly arise, are ready to go. off to any meeting where they can pick up a 'pot,' and when they lose to raise protests against the winner. It is sad to find that the 'win, tie, or wrangle' policy has increased a good deal upon the running-path within the last few years.

Upon the whole, therefore, the state of amateur athletics throughout the country can hardly be considered satisfactory. A great many athletes who pass as amateurs are not only professionals in truth and fact, who make a living out of the sport, but, what is worse, many of them are making a living out of it by dishonest means. It is difficult, however, to see how, in the turn which the movement has taken, things could have happened' otherwise. The athletic movement which commenced with the 'classes,' and first drew its strength from the Universities and public schools, has finally, like most other movements and fashions, good or bad, spread downwards to the 'masses.'

The encouragement and interest given to the amateur contests by the non-athletic public caused the popularisation of the sport to be very rapid, and when the taste caught the 'masses,' it became easier for them to take part in amateur sports than in professional pedestrianism. Without casting any reflection upon the conduct of the masses as a whole, it is-obviously impossible to expect that with many of them the money to be gained by betting or 'squaring' races will not offer irresistible temptations. Nor, again, is it to be expected that the 'mechanic, artisan, and labourer' ranks will always have, when a valuable prize is at stake, as much sportsmanlike feeling and nice sense of fair play as one could rely upon finding in the much-ridiculed 'gentleman amateur' of past days. As soon as-any sport has become so popular that money is to be made out of it, and men engage in it upon whom the loss of reputation has little effect, it may be prophesied with certainty that abuses-will arise. Such abuses have arisen in athletics; but it is of more importance to find a remedy for them than to discuss-their origin.

The foregoing will, however, serve to explain in some manner the true position of the Athletic Association. The objection has often been brought against this body, as well as against other similar bodies, that it has been productive of no good because it has failed to purify the sport which it governs. All that a governing body of sport can be expected to do is to-keep order and punish open offences against its laws, and it can no more render its subjects good sportsmen and amateurs than an Act of Parliament can render citizens virtuous. What the A.A.A. does for the true amateur is this: it assures him that wherever he goes to run under A.A.A. laws he will find competent management and fair play - a fair field and no favour - but it cannot prevent the genuine amateur from rubbing his shoulders against many a false amateur whose motives in running as an amateur are obvious, though no complaint can be made of his public behaviour.

Before discussing the possible remedies for the present state of amateur athletics, a few words may be said as to some of the leading athletic clubs. We have already pointed out that in some respects the runner has an advantage over the oarsman or the cricketer in being independent of his fellows, able to choose any time for training which may suit him, and that in competitions he wins or loses upon his own individual merit. This independence of the athlete, however (employing the term to include the walker, runner, hurdler, and so forth), is rather a serious drawback to the success of athletic clubs. Rowing, cricket, football, cycling, tennis, and gymnastics, are pastimes as well as competitions, and the members of clubs devoted to pastimes have plenty of reason to bring them together at other times than the days of competition. A club devoted to athletics alone had, until paper-chasing came into vogue, little social attraction, as compared with other clubs. The popularity of paper-chasing during the last few years has caused a large number of clubs to spring up throughout the country, which exist to promote paper-chasing and cross-country racing during the winter, although they hold athletic meetings during the summer season.

However, with paper-chasing clubs it is not our business to deal in the present chapter, although it is worth mentioning that quite a fourth part of the clubs affiliated to the A.A.A. are Harriers or Hare and Hounds clubs. But if the paper-chasing clubs are put out of the question, it may almost be said that there are no clubs in the true sense of the word which exist purely and solely for the cultivation of running, jumping, and throwing of weights, with the exception of those which are fortunate in possessing running grounds with a cinder-track of their own. Of these the number is very limited, but their work in collecting, promoting, and forming athletic talent is wide and far-reaching. Ever since the time when athletics became part of the regular University life, the Oxford and Cambridge University Athletic Clubs have brought out and brought together all the men with athletic capabilities in their different colleges. The management of the two clubs, and the system pursued for the cultivation of athletic skill at the two Universities, is so identical, that it can hardly be of any advantage to give separate sketches of both; the writer will, therefore, in the main give an account of his Oxford reminiscences.