BRUTALISING SPORT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4045, 23 February 1892, Page 3

BRUTALISING SPORT.

[From a Cbristchnrcb Paper.] For some time past it appear* that Masterton has been (bo rendezvous or soma professional pugilists. From timoto time exhibitions have been given of the so-cn'ljj "noble «rtof self-defence," Tins translated into plain English means wheedling money out of people's pockets by appealing to the passions in humanity that are most allied to tbe brute, No onocui wade through a report of one of those" exhibitions" without being convinced that they aro utterly and irredeemably degrading to all who take part in thein. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Wesleyan and Presbyterian ministers in Masterton havo protested against the outrage perpetrated on the community by these brutalising shows, and have contended that in the interests of public morality the Borough Council should takes steps to prevent their repetition, This, of course, has roused the ire of the pugilistic fraternity who have heaped unmeasured abase upon these outspoken ministers'and told them to mind their own business, Such gentlemen will perhaps learn by degrees that it is pre-eminently the business of Christian ministers to concern themselves in all matters affecting public morals, and that tluy would hs notoriously faithless to duty if tbey did not unsparingly denounce the infamous prize-fighting business, We are gUd to see that the action of the ministers in this matter has been endorsed by the Wairabapa Daily, and it is to bo hoped that Borough Councils everywhere will take effective measures to put down what is undoubtedly a growing evil, One of the biggest theatres in Brooklyn was crammed to witness a stand-up fip,ht between two women who are profes-< eional pugilists, and four out of the six New York dailies gave next morninga detailed account of the disgusting performance, That is a horrible depth of degradation that we have not yofc reached in New Zealand, but if we are not to reach it we must do all in our power to bar the way that leads to it. Let all so-called glove-Bghts and pugilistic encounters be put under the ban of the law as inimical to the peace and good order of society, and let an honest endeavour be mado to put the hw into force; wo shall then bo delivered from what threatens to bo a serious drawback to tbe moral progress of the colony.