Electors of Battersea ! 



Read the following letter* and take notice of the fact that "the retired Army Offlow" 



who . willing to accept the 



VAIN-GLORIOUS CHALLENGE of Mr JOHN BURNS 



WAS THE LATE 



Major H. S. DALBIAC, who led the Middx, Yeomanry into Senekal 



And was shortly afterwards KILLED at the head of his Men. 

 This it the class of Man whom Mr Burns 



REVILED, BUT DARE NOT MEET, 



Whom he described as a ''gilded popinjay." 



Prove by your Votes at this Election that the memory of what MAJOR DALBIAC was 

 willing to do, and what he did, has helped to defeat the 



BUMPTIOUS BRAGGART 



at the Polls, though he shirked standing to his own Challenge and meeting the living 



Speaking at Battersea on the 10th August, 1895, Mr John Burns, M.P., made 

 use of the following words, among others, in regard to the Sporting League, and 

 in effect issued a challenge : 



" I am almost inclined to say to the Sporting League, that if they would select one of their members over 

 S6 years of age, I would be almost prepared to measure their and my appreciation and practice of English Sportt 

 by being willing to test his prowess at cricket, football, running, rowing, walking, tennis, boxing, skating, or 

 wrestling. There is one insuperable drawback to this, and that is, you could not wrestle with a Sporting 

 League sweep without being covered with dirt, and as pigs cannot be encountered without covering one's 

 self with mire, I leave them to themselves, as sport is degraded by association with their name. Their 

 object is to encourage gambling, the bane of true sport, and to foster the cursed betting and gladiatorial 

 instincts that, whenever allowed to dominate the old English games, has either discredited or killed them. 



In reference to this challenge Mr Burns very soon received the following : 



To John Burns, Esq., M.P. 



SIR, My attention has been called to a speech of yours, made in Battersea Park, in which you are 

 reported to have said that, but for "the contempt" which you feel for the members of the Sporting League, 

 you " would issue a challenge to box, row, run and jump any one of them the boxing to be done first." 



I write to ask if it would not be possible to temporarily smother your contempt in the interest of 

 your constituents, for under proper management such a competition as you suggest would draw a large 

 11 gate," which could be distributed among the poor of Battersea. 



I have no desire to overmatch you, and would nominate to compete with you a retired army officer 

 over forty-five years of age, height 5ft. 9in. He was badly shot through the body at Tel-el-Kebir, and 

 though an ei-member of the service which consists, according to your view, of "popinjays," he would, I 

 think, suffice for our purpose. 



I shall be glad to hear from you on the subject, and the sooner the matter is brought to a head the 

 better. Yours, etc., W. ALLISON (Hon. Sec. Sporting League). 



4CA, Pall Mall, S.W., August 14, 1895. 



The above letter was published in every paper in England, and the following 

 also went the rounds of the Press : 



MR BURNS, M.P., AND THE SPORTING LEAGUE. 



TO THS BD1TOR OF THE " MORNING ADVERTISER." 



SIR, I have been requested by a private gentleman to offer a cnp, of the value of 100 guineas, in the 

 contest between Mr Burns, M.P. and the representative of the Sporting League, if Mr Burns will screw up 

 his courage for the match. I am, Sir, yours, &c., B. T. KEEXAN. 



4, Edward-street, High-street, Deptford. 



Notwithstanding the publicity given to the above letters, and the innumerable 

 comments on them, Mr Burns did not venture to stand to his words. He lay low 

 and preserved discreet silence, so he in due time became the recipient of the 

 following letter, which was also widely published : 



46A, PALL MALL, S.W., ACGUST 26, 1895. 



SIR, On the 14th inst., I sent you a letter in which I indicated that your suggestion of a series of 

 contests between yourself and a member of the Sporting League was acceptable to us and could be carried 

 out with much material advantage to the poor of Battersea. 



As you have not thought fit to reply, I am forced to the conclusion that you are deficient both in 

 courtesy and courage, and that not even the prospect of honestly earning 1000 or more for your con- 

 stituents will induce you to incur any personal risk. 



In a report of your speech of the 10th inst., in which you issued your provisional challenge, you are 

 tated to have used the following words in reference to the Sporting League: 



" This association of racecourse touts and glorified potwallopers, the dregs ot the betting and 

 gambling world, played an active part in the election, and specially against myself. . . . Sport is 

 degraded by association with their names. . . . Their object is to encourage gambling and to foster 

 the cursed betting and gladiatorial instincts." 



It may be well, in connection with the above, to place on record the names of the Executive Council 

 of the Sporting League to whom your remarks were applied : The Earl of Coventry, the Earl of Durham, 

 the Earl of Lonsdale, Sir James Forrest, Bart., the Earl of March, Right Hon. James Lowther, M.P. 

 Lord Hawke, Hon. J. Scott Montagu, M.P. 



It will not, I think, be denied by any impartial critic of your observations purporting to describe 

 these gentlemen, that, however low you may rank in regard to those physical attributes which you hav 

 so vaingloriously claimed, you may safely challenge the world to compete with you in mendacity and 

 insolence. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, W. ALLISON (Hon. Sec. Sporting League.) 



JOHN BURNS, ESQ., M.P. 



Comment on the above is needless. The Battersea Electors, or any other 

 British Electors, can form but one opinion on Mr Burns' conduct. 



Printed by Koapp, Drewett L Sons Ltd. , 30 Victoria St., S. W. , and published by the Sporting League, at 46a Pall Mall.Loodoft 



