can be relied upon. Better than this, they act as
legal authorities in inter-collegiate circles, making
the laws and rules by which sports shall be gov
erned and serving as courts of appeal. It is true
that unpleasantness will sometimes arise, and in
justice may often be done as in the case in mind ;
but this should not condemn the whole system,
and we would like to call attention to the fact
that the whole trouble grew out of an honest and
well meant attempt on the. part of Yale to raise
further safeguards against professionalism.
In this connection we wish to suggest the ad
visability of attempting to get up a football league
next Fall. It was the greatest piece of misfor
tune that the league of three years back could not
have been kept alive. It was a good thing, giv
ing something to work for and by its regulations
doing away with the senseless recriminations
about professionalism, etc., that have been in
dulged in the. last two seasons between ourselves
and Bucknell. A league would be especially bene
ficial to us as our greatest trouble is in getting
good dates and then when we have them of hold
ing the clubs to their engagements. It is well
nigh impossible to' get good games here, and it is
only by careful management and good fortune
that we can escape running very deeply in debt
during the football season. A league.would fur
nish us foeman worthy of our steel, and would
hold them to their dates.
It would of course be out of the question to res
urrect the old league of '9l. Two of the mem
bers have been entirely below par in football ever
since, while the other three have clearly been in
ferior to us in the last two seasons. Bucknell has
made the best showing, although this year unfortu
nate circumstances caused an unmerited defeat
. at
the hands of Swarthmore. We however have left
them all behind in the race as far as football is
concerned, and, even could they be prevailed up
.
on to enter a league with us, there is no doubt
where the pennant would go.
We must look higher for our rivals. Lehigh is
THE FREE LANCE.
very naturally the first thought of and justly so.
Both in '92 and '93 our teams been have at least on
a par, or if, we would judge by comparative scores
our boys are somewhat ahead. Both of these sea
sons, we have tried hard to arrange games with
this institution, but unfortunately they have never
been played, and, though we claim second place
in the State, our title is not clear till we have
downed the Bethlehem boys. The failure to play
the games has not been our fault for we have been
anxious and eager for the fray. We still have fresh
in our minds the disappointment we felt when
date after date with this club was cancelled this
season. Yes, we want to play Lehigh, and we
feel that we have a right to meet her as an equal.
Looking beyond Lehigh there are few others in
this State. Of course the University of Penna.is too
big for such a league, and Bucknell, Franklin and
Marshall and Swarthmore could not hope to cope
with either Lehigh or ourselves. Lafayette though
winning the pennant of a league composed of Rut
gers, Stevens and herself, had a poor team this
year, and for three years past has been compelled
to bow the knee to Lehigh and State. Still she
might come out again with some of her old time
glory and distance both of us. She would be a
good candidate.
Outside of the State we find three good teams
that stand' about on a par with us. They are the
University of Virginia on. the south and Cornell
and Union on the north. We hope Cornell will
forgive our presuming to put ourselves on a par
with her. We only mean it in football, and, if
she will look up comparative scores for the
last two years, she will have to acknowledge the
justice of the claim. Union College is another in
stitution like ourselves. , A small college with
smaller facilities than we have, and probably even
a smaller number of students, she turns out fine
athletic teams and easily vanquishes all her neigh
bors but Cornell.
Here we have five colleges or probably six if we
include Bucknell, F. and M., or Swarthmore.