Adrian Harvey The beginnings of a commercial (2)

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.Commercially accessible sport was largely concerned with entertaining those who were being administered.Throughout the period Parliament resisted all attempts to limit either category.This attitude was echoed at the local level, though the discretionary powers available to officials meant that there were some regional variants, especially in attitudes towards sporting crowds.Cumulatively, the authorities appear to have endeavoured to balance the maintenance of a strictly defined social order with the demands of a thriving commercial sector.Between 1816 and 1850 far more people appear to have expressed opinions concerning the nature and value of recreation.Whereas during the French wars interested pressure groups had been principally motivated by religious reasons, and usually focused upon the suppression of particular activities, their successors were far more diverse, often giving an additional emphasis to the fostering of recreations.Accompanying, and interacting with the growth of such pressure groups, was the emergence of a more interventionist government at both local and national levels.However, in many ways such a development was still embryonic and an analysis of governmental involvement indicates that the state was still far from being a cohesive centralized unit.Most initiatives were piecemeal and often motivated by a variety of incidental factors, rather than indicating the imposition102Beginnings of a Commercial Sporting Culture in Britainof a blueprint.Significantly, in the nation’s major sport, horse racing, the government renounced its supervisory powers, thus demonstrating its willingness to deliberately limit its authority.While a variety of repressive statutes were introduced throughout the period, and greater efforts made by both local and central authorities to enforce them, it is clear that they were less effective than some scholars have envisaged.199 While it is true that the working class proved largely incapable of presenting an organized defence of popular culture, in practice, they diluted and evaded restrictions.200 Attacks on‘cruel sports’ were often unsuccessful, animal sports proving particularly tenacious in Lancashire, where in 1850 concerned people advocated the formation of a local branch of the RSPCA to combat dog-fighting.201 The authorities dealt only with the most visible offences and by employing a degree of guile, such as staging prize-fights on the borders of several counties, illegal sports survived for much of the period.202 Pugilism lasting until at least 1860.A major innovation in the attitude of both local and national authorities in the years between 1816 and 1850 were initiatives designed to increase and regularize the provision of recreational opportunities, by providing time, space and facilities.Once again, this must not be over emphasized, for their imposition was often sporadic and patchy.It is clear, for instance, that much of the concern in areas such as London, Manchester and Coventry, with the lack of land available to the general population for casual recreation, was often exaggerated.However, on occasions, a fusion of local and national government with private initiatives created some new parks, notably those in Manchester that were developed in 1846.203 While the amount and type of sport which they permitted was soon restricted, such facilities were going some way towards restructuring the local recreational environment ina manner that would have seemed extraordinary in 1793 or 1815.204Many of the developments which most assisted the expansion of a commercial sporting culture were the incidental by-product of Acts relating to other issues, notably half-day Saturdays.Similarly, the creation of an efficient national police offered sporting events much greater protection than in the past, enabling its activities to expand, despite an increasingly well organized criminal fraternity.Sports such as pugilism, that by virtue of being legally dubious were deprived of this protection, were steadily eroded by the combined pressure of harassment by both the magistracy and criminal gangs.205 Similarly, the fact that ‘the police had in great measure put a stop to foot-racing on a turnpike road’ meant that commercial sports’ grounds developed.206 Retrospectively, among the most important pieces of legislation to be introduced concerning sporting culture was the Act passed in 1845 (8 & 9 Vic Cap 109), which meant that bets relating to sport ceased to become legally recoverable, thus closing a loophole which losing protagonists had often used to regain their stakes.207 Given that Parliament was unable, or unwilling, to provide active, intelligent, legal supervision, the removal of divisive and obstructive legislation enabled commercial sport to begin to regulate itself.The Law and Sport, 1816–50103While during the Napoleonic war both local and national government had essentially left sport generally, and commercial sport particularly, unmolested, between 1816 and 1850 a shift in stance occurred.Cumulatively, this created an environment in which the commercial sporting culture could flourish.This was accomplished by helping to remove various impediments and fostering particular conditions in which the opportunities for mass-spectating increased.Once again, it must be emphasized that this process was often far from deliberate, and generally stemmed from an assumption that society should largely regulate itself.What was the moral impact of this growth in the regulation and commercialization of sport? Before addressing such a question we must bear in mind that there was no agreed definition of ‘cruel sport’.A piece by ‘ZB’ is typical of this moral ambiguity [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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