NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1948, 3 January 1914, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

■'■•Particulars'will'be'found in our news of a complaint made I by a'-.waterside 'worker, who states that owing to the treatment to which: ho has been subjected by ex-strikers, now working on the waterfront, and the threats made by them, ho has been compelled to relinquish his om- : ployment. He alleges, further, thatother .watcrsiders have been intimidated in the same way, and have also been driven off the waterfront by the ex-strikers. If these statements arc true, the matter calls for the instantattention of the police and of the harbour and shipping authorities. It would be intolerable if honest- workmen were- to be driven out of their employment by a pack of hooligans who resort without scruple to criminal terrorism in order to gain their ends. In the interests of public -order and common decency the authorities concerned should at once institute searching inquiries and take all possible pains to discover and punish lawless intimidation on i the waterfront-. The experience of the recent strike unfortunately makos it only too probable that the accusations hero mentioned are wellgrounded. During the strike-period it was established that there is a section of the community, happily a small one, which is amenable only to superior force,..' Assuming that this element is still represented on the waterfront, it must be taught to obey the- law or take the consequences. Searching inquiry by the authorities should bs accompanied by a determination on the part of-waterside workers to suppress the undesirable, clement which appears to have again reared its head in their midst. They should recognise that men who resort- to intimidation and terrorism deserve no more consideration than any other class of criminals, and should do everything in their, power to assist the authorities in bringing such characters to book. Pending t-h-G full and searching inquiry which the occasion demand*. „we.,J)ppe,,that ■no ! - to be- driven by threats to desert their employment. Their proper course is to seek the protection which the law affords to every citizen under, similar circumstances. j

Tee defeat, on New Year's Day of the champion Australian middleweight and heavy-weight Lioxcr, Dave Smith, by the American mid-die-weight, M'GooiiTt, in loss than one round, will no doubt again start ink-flowing and many tongues wagging on tho decadence of British boxers. When the English champion Bombardier Welm was so easily overcome by the French champion Carfextier, a few weeks ago—it was the'second or third successive defeat of Weils by the Frenchman—quite a loud wail went forth from the English sporting press, and also from several of the leading daily papers, on the falling-off of the Britisher in what had for so long been regarded as pre-eminently his own particular field of sport. Wells is generally recognised as a far more scientific boxer than Carpextier, but he apparently is very highly strung and lacks the fighting instinct. He boxes skilful}' enough, and when lie settles down to business usually gives a good account of himself, but with a lusty opponent who will not give him time to settle down, and who has a knock-out punch, his skill seems to be of little avail. So also in a lesser degree perhaps with Smith, who, by the way, is a New Zealandcr. He is clever enough ar,d has beaten the best of the Australians and some of the Americans, but against an aggressive, hard-hit-ting fellow like "M'Goonry he has twice succumbed in the first- round. As a. matter of fact the rapid fashion in which our men arc disposed of is in itself significant and appears to indicate a state of nervousness which unfits them to bring'their undoubted skill 1 into play. No doubt tho success of the American boxers and. of the French champion CahI'enTier is partly due to their methods of what is known as in-lighting.. Tho British boxer has been trained in the school of and simple, under Marquis of Quecnsberry rules. This is _ mostly long-range work -with no hitting in clinches. The American boxer nowadays does most of his work in clinches, and t.hc result is that it has developed a particularly tough and powerful type of boxer whose chief end it generally is to get into close quarters and trust f:o his strength and punching, abilities at short range. There a re,'l of course, exceptions, and there arc many followers of the sport who still hold that tho clever old-time boxer with a cool head, good footwork, and a useful straight "left," will in most eases wear out the more husky but less scientific natural fighter. But be that as it may, in the heavier grades of boxers to-day the American style has unquestionably won out-. Johnson, it is true, could box with ' the best at long-range work, but he also could hold his own with the best: at in-fighting. In the lighter grades the best of tho English and Australian boxers appear to be able to maintain their reputations with the. rest of the world, which would seem to indicate that it is the individuals rather than the methods that arc at fault amongst the British" heavy-weights. - This no doubt is. largely the case. Possibly ub no distant date Britain or Australasia may. produce a heavy-weight boxer who will be fit to rank with the old-, time nofabilities who brought fame to the British and colonial prizering, but. judging -by our sportinr contemporaries'he has not, yet.loomed upon the- pugilistic, horizon; A....