The Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1908. A BRUTAL CONTEST.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 429, 27 August 1908, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1908. A BRUTAL CONTEST.

We publish elsewhere in this issue the brutal and' demoralising details of the Burns-Squires punching and blood-letting contest at Sydney, and witnessed by 18,000 spectators. The inhuman majority, if they had their way, would have put their thumbs down as did the Roman spectators during the gladiatorial fight, until one of the contestants had been punched to death. The police stopped the fight when Squires had been knocked out, bleeding and senseless. What a spectacle ! This contest will have a most demoralising effect upon thousands of our young men throughout Australasia. It is very strange that in these days of socalled enlightenment, there is no law prohibiting such brutal exhibitions. Welare pleased to learn, however, that certain legislators across the Tasman Sea will use their best efforts to prohibit a recurrence of this kind of thing in the future. We believe that every lad should be taught to use his hands for the purpose of self-de-fence, but fights to a finish and knock outs organised to gratify the brutish tastes of the lower man add for the purposes of making money should be strictly prohibited by law. Let us try to enoble our young fellows, not degrade them.