WRESTLING: ROUND ONE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1021, 11 July 1930, Page 1

WRESTLING: ROUND ONE

But No “Submission Fall”

fpHE Auckland Wrestling Association, which has received more assistance from The Sun than from any other newspaper, has decided “to bring us to our senses.” In other words it has resolved, on account of our candour, to withdraw advertisements announcing bouts at the Town Hail. Both the president of the association (Mr. Geo. Henning) and the secretary- (Mr. C. B. McCarthy) Rave, in .the past, conveyed to the editor of The Sun —the secretary, on more than one occasion—their appreciation of what has been done by this paper to revive interest in their sport. Since the revival of wrestling (to which, as we say. we have in a generous measure contributed) The Sun has published interviews, photographs of wrestlers and wrestling bouts, and racy and informative reports of the actual contests.

it has at times been difficult to secure photographs of bouts at the Town Hall. For the 1920 season, no seats were provided for our photographers who had to do their work standing, and from any convenient point of vantage. The photographers of a contemporary, which has not given one half of the publicity afforded by The Sun to wrestling, were provided with seats! This season, on one occasion, the secretary kept

ASSOCIATION v. THE SUN

one of our photographers waiting in the vestibule, claiming that he was too busy to sec him. That would have been a reasonable claim had it been substantiated. But the secretary was busy chatting to friends on the stairway and sometimes the rush of business was so great that he stood alone on the stairway—just being ■busy. At the end ot a quarter of an hour the photographer, being really busy, left. The Sun has not been afraid, It should be noted, to say that a wrestling match has been poor when the occasion demanded it, which is more than can be said for other Auckland newspapers. We hold that we have a duty to our readers, and that duty is to present them with truthful reports. Honest criticism comes under that heading. For this reason we described one match, this season, a 3 a burlesque and a "vaudeville turn.” Mr. McCarthy visited The Sun office after this report had appeared and recorded a protest against what we considered to be fair criticism. He was told that if a wrestler gave an indifferent performance it was the duty of the reporter attending the match to say so and not to delude the public with a welter of superlatives that would have the effect of destroying the value of all superlatives, rightly applied, in describing a first-class bout. The Sun has also in its wrestling notes, published weekly, mentioned from time to time small points that it considered should be noted by those in control of wrestling. For this, presumably, it has been told by the secretary: "As we can’t bring you to your senses and get the ’heads’ to take notice, we will stop advertising” and by the treasurer (Mr. W. E. Grant): “We are not going to be interfered with in any way.” In other words, everything in the garden—even when cabbages bloom where roses should be —must, at all times, be described’as fair!

That is not The Sun’s way, as our readers know, and we shall continue to report wrestling matches for those who are interested in wrestling. When the sport is poor we shall say so, and when we notice conduct calling for comment we shall make that comment. We do not propose to submit to any of the "interference” mentioned by Mr. Grant and our readers may count upon finding, in our columus, reasonable criticism of a sport which we have at all times treated adequately and fairly.