Cahill Will Not Be a Candidate
In quite a length circular letter bearing the signature of Thomas W. Cahill, honorary secretary of the Untied States Football Association, he announces that he will not be a candidate to succeed himself despite the many urgent requests he has received to reconsider the matter and permit his name to again be placed in nomination. His reason for this action, he asserts, is that the confinement of the duties of the offices has always hampered him in his efforts to extend the U. S. F.A. in territory, in membership and in influence. He contends that he has labored hard in his efforts to put the sport on the road which now seems filled with promise and success and during that time his personal interests have suffered and the time has come when he must look after them. He says:
"The development of the U. S. F. A. has not come about accidentally, or without hard work under intelligent direction. The principle of absolute fair play has always been the cornerstone of our organization, and those who have contributed of their time and their intelligence in brining about existing conditions have reason to be proud, for at the time of our organization, there wasn't a great deal of organized soccer in the country, and what there was roused little interest outside of a limited public, which did not grow from year to year, because there was no one sufficiently interested to cultivate it.
"But with the growth of the organization, the volume of administrative work has increased correspondingly. For several years now my time has been demanded constantly in looking after the direction of its affairs, insofar as that direction lay in the office of the secretary and I have had to sit and watch the elements of success which we must cultivate dying of neglect. For one thing, we are feeling the tight pinch of a lack of suitable playing grounds. If our game is to be expanded to the limit its inherent qualities deserve, this is a matter which must have attention, and to secure proper grounds, we must interest outside capital in our promotion. This is one of the things which I wish to look after, but to which I would be unable to give attention if still obliged to act as secretary. Then there is the matter of organizing the game in new files, in order to populate, in a soccer sense, the areas between the cities in which the game has shown the progress that is to be expected of it. We want to link up the East and West more closely, by developing the game in the sections in between where now it is played only in an unorganized manner. Some of these things I might be able to attend to if I could always rely on the cooperation of all our members, but here has always been an element which seems to be unable to realize that the association can thrive without their occupation of the executive offices. When defeated, instead of seeking to win in another election by proving their worth to the organization in helping to build it up, they have chosen rather to attack it, both openly and covertly, and their idea of proving themselves worthy of selection has been to attack those who were chose over them. Fortunately, and rather naturally too, this element has never been large enough to seriously hamper the work of the men who were responsible for out development. Those who attended the meetings with constructive ideas in their heads, and with the well-being of the organization at heart have always been in the majority and I have no reason to doubt they always will be. Nevertheless, the obstructive tactics of the other elements have hampered our grown in many ways. Their bitter, and in the main, stupid campaigns have, however, necessitated additional work. Their efforts to violate rules, or to skate along the thin edge of what is permissible and what is not, and to protect those of their friends who follow their example, have precipitated protests and reams of wholly unnecessary correspondence, and time-consuming annoyances.
"I am not setting this down in malice, or with any hope that these discordant elements will see the futility and unworthiness of their conduct, but merely as a reminder that it is a condition to be considered. Our association is not the only sporting organization which has had this experience, nor will it be the last. As long as this element can be kept innocuous by the limitation of its members, the organization can thrive; once it gets in the saddle, its destructive habits will have full sway and the end can be looked for just around the corner.
"In leaving the position which I have occupied for so long, I want to express my most cordial and sincere thanks to those who have so loyally held up my hands and helped me to meet and solve the serious problems with which we have had to wrestle time and again, an aid and cooperation without which I greatly fear that I would many times have been overwhelmed. It is not often given to a man to have so many loyal friends as I have found in football, and their kindness so far outbalances the spleen of those who regarded their selfish desires as paramount to the interests of the organization, this letter can be easily forgotten."