SUNDAY TENNIS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18222, 5 November 1924, Page 9

SUNDAY TENNIS.

♦ OPPOSITION IN LINWOOD CLUB. PROPOSAL DEFEATED. By the narrow margin of trie chairman's casting .vote, the proposal to j„Te Sunday play at the Linwood I>awn Tennis Club's courts, was defeated at a jjg meeting held last night. Fiftyne voted for the proposal and 51 tbe cliair. The chairman explained that he had received from -Mr G. H. Bartlett a re- j raest that a special meeting should bo | Ixild to consider two resolutions, one to j "Icind a motion prohibiting Sunday tennis, passed at the annual meeting ■4' Septeniber, and the other to allow] '" Sanday p'ay- The writer considered | ijjat * the decision arrived at i * the annual meeting had lib* wo an expression of the opinion ot tnc uiajr.rity of the members of the club. Certain correspondence had appeared in the newspapers, and retarding it he wished, on behalf of tbe committee, to give an empliatie de- . mal to a statement that they Tiad decided to resign en bloc in the event of the proposal to play being carried. /Applause.) The committee's one aim and object had been to act in the wel- j fare of the club. He urged members j to nut the interests of the club first j and" to put their own interests second. Asked exactly what the committee had decided, Mr .Jameson said it had p asP ed a resolution that Sunday tennis trould not bo in the interests of the dnb. ' Mr G. H. Bartlett then moved the first motion, that the previous resolution should be rescinded. He said he did not consider it inconsistent for a man to go to church iu the. morning and to find healthful recreation in the afternoon. Supporters of Sunday tennis believed the innervation would benefit the club ultimately. Mr F. L. Sbenpard seconded the motion, savine that one big objection to the proposal was groundless, for all the neighbours in the vicinity of the courts had stated they had no objection to Sunday play. He was euro old members not in favour of Sunday tennis would still remain loyal if the proposal was carried. Mr C. M. Caratti supported Sunday play, saying that the Bishop of Birmingham approved of games on the Sabbath. Mr H. W. L. Digby said the issue was likely to disturb the harmony of the club, and it was the dutv of the meeting to arrive at a formula which would not so. He moved as an amendment that the club should rent the five new courts to a new Sunday tennis club at a rental of £IOO per annum, and with the stipulation that only financial members at the Linwood Club should he eligible for membership of the new club. The chairman ruled the amendment out of order, but said it could be brought up with the second resolution if the first one was not defeated. The first resolution was then put to the meeting, and carried by 72 votes to 31. The second resolution was formally ; moved and siecbnded andi the ©legibility of Mr Digby's motion was admitted. Mr A. Burns seconded the amendment, saying it was a compromise. Mr Sheppard described it as "camouflage," and Mr Caratti thought it would bo "a colossal i>iece of hypocrisy." The Rev. W. A. Hay: If tho tennis is not ptykod by tho club, it will be played under the auspices of the club. and that's w^rse. The amendment was lost by a large majority. Supporting the original motion, Mr L. Manscll said that personally lie wielded a rake on Sunday, but other pastimes such as motoring __ and golf were looked on as quite legitimate on the Sabbath, so what was the argument against tennis? Mr A. Borrows said lie was absolutely against Sunday play. He did not know what ''wowser'' meant, but if it meant standing up for one s principles, then ho would allow himself to be plastered all over with the word. He was glad the club as a whole had voted against tho amendment for there should be no "behind the bush" tactic*. He had joined before the proposed; innovation was brought uo, and if it was carried he certainly had a right to consider Ins position in rogard to the club. Mr Jameson left the chair to state that he was strongly opposed to the proposal. Occasionally he played on Sunday, for he held that individuals could do as thev liked, but it was wrong for a pubho body to countenance the game on Sunday. "I feel very strongly that it is the thin edge of the wedge," he said, "and that it will lead to Sunday football and racing, as on the Continent. 1* 661 ™ e members should pay due consideration to the older members who tounded the club and who aro opposed to the scheme." Mr Hay appealed to members to show their sportsmanship by not hurting the members v»nose principles were opposed to Sunday play. He said that civilisation seemed to him to be on the edge of a precipice, and nothing was going to hurl it over more quickly than a disregard of the banbath. The club would not easily replace those who had so long and loyally stood by it. Mr W. Goss said that Sunday was given for some higher purpose than that of a dav of pleasure, and members should pause before they decided to make toe club a public exhibition on Sunday. Mr E. J. Tayler, another of the foundation members, also opposed the motion. , ~ , Mr P. Harla asked why a half-dozen should subdue two hundred members of the club, and ventured to prophesy that the club would still prosper oven if some of its members left. The chairman announced that 51 _ had voted for the proposal and 51 against, and as in accordance with precodent, lie would not vote for an innovation, jt was bis duty to vote against the proposal. 14 was therefore defeated. Oa the motion of Mr Goss tho chairman was accorded a hearty vote ot ttanks for the way he had conducted the meeting.