St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-25
NEW NATIONAL AGREEMENT
Is ADOPTED, EMBoDYING SOME I'M
PORTANT AND RADICAL
CHANGES.
GRIEVANCES of MINOR LEAGUES
likely to Give n Great Deal of
TrOubie-DecisiOn in Favor of
EI-CaDt. j. Nj. Ward.

league representatives was begun at
the Fifth Avenue hotel today AS in
former years, there was large num-
Der Of base ball men in attendance in
Guiding presidents managers and play
ers. There were many rumors to the
erect that the spring session this year
would be a very lively one, but the
f1rsf days session passed off very
quietly Among the most prominent
base ball men who put in an appear
ance were Messrs. H. H. Soden and
w. H. Connant, Boston: A. J. Beach
and John l. Rogers, Philadelphia; ].
Earle Wagner, Washington; Edward
Hanlon and II. r. Won der Horst, Bal
timore; d. r. Kerr, in the absence of
j. j. Kerr Pittsburg; James A Hart,
Chicago; F. De Hass Robinson, Cleve-
land; John T. Brush, Cincinnati; DR..
l. H. Stuckey. Louisville; Andrew
Freedman and J. w. Spaulding. New
York; c. H. Byrne and F.. A. Abel.
Brooklyn.
President Won der Abe, of St Louis,
was unable to be present through ILL
ness. He was represented at the meet
ing by his lawyer, w. M. Heel. A
great many of the prominent players
crowded the corridors during the day,
where they hob-nobbed and talked
business for hours at time Ex-Cap-
tain and Manager John NJ Ward was
early on hand, and with the exception
Oh the time he was in the meeting room
he was surrounded by his many friends
In and out of the profession Capt.
Baby Arson was among the alb
sentees, and the fact was noted by
nearly every one who had all interest
in the game. This was the first time
In years that Arson had missed a
spring meeting in this city, In the
forenoon the national board, which is
composed of Messrs. Young, Soden.
Byrne and Brush, entered Parlor r.
and as soon as President Young called
the meeting to order they took UP
THE CASE OF JOHN WARD.
who petitioned for the removal of the
reservation which the New York club
management claimed they were en-
Titled TO. Both eX-Captain Ward and
President Freedman were called be-
lore the board and examined at great
length. After they had left the room
the stenographer's notes were read IN
the board, and after celebrating for
over three hours, the members voted
unanimously in Wards favor. declar-
Ing at the same time that he had been
Illegally reserved for the season of
1896 by reason of the fact that he was
not under contract with the New York
club for the season of 1895. and did not
refuse to sign a contract with said
club for said season. He was there
fore released from reservation under
the provisions of section 9 of the ma
tional agreement.
In the case of Elberfield whom the
Montgomery and Dallas clubs both
claim. the matter was referred to
chairman Young, with power to settle
IN accordance with the evidence The
board then adjourned until o'clock
tonight
The regular league meeting was then
called to order and remained in SEES
sion until o'clock behind closed doors.
when they adjourned The secretary
stated that the entire time of the ses-
sion had been taken up in the adop-
ton of
NEW NATIONAL AGREEMENT
The material changes made from the
one in vogue are as follows:
The national board will in future be
called the national board of arbitra-
ton. and its membership increased
from four to five.
The board shall determine the cIassi-
f1cation of the clubs which apnlv for
protection and classify under the ma
tional agreement in proportion to the
population Con the basis of last CEN
sus) Of the cities where they are To-
Gated, or where there are two or more
large cities, the aggregate of the pop
ulation will be considered. There will
be SIX grades, namely. A, B. c, D, e
and L, and the fees including right Of
reservation for each club D.. in these
grades will be $75. $50, $40, $50, 500 and
$40, respectively.
The limitation for the selection of
players from A to B and so on down
will be from the 1st of October to the
LIST of January. The drafting Of play
ers from these classes will cost as
follows: Class A, $500; B. $500; c, $500;
D, $500; e, S75, and F, $50
Clubs are forbidden to negotiate with
a player in minor club during the
season, without notifying the club to
which the player belongs
Applications for membership rorst he
made annually, as membership will
cease at the end Of each season. Anv
club member of any minor league
a party to this agreement who shall
enter into any negotiations to become
a member or cooperate with any or
ganization whose existence will, in
any manner, conflict with the letter
and spirit of this agreement or the
interests of any of the clubs operat-
ing under it, shall forthwith
FORFEIT ALL RIGH HTS
and privileges conferred by this gree
ment, said forfeiture to include it's
membership in any association a party
to this agreement, and all rights or
reservations of players. The
peaalty here imposed shall be
positive and final, and shall
not be revoked unless by the
unanimous consent of the board or,
upon appeal, by a three-fourths vote
of the major league. This also applies
to managers and players.
The national board resumed it's ses-
sion at 7:30 o'clock tonight in order to
get through with the business which
it has to discuss and pass upon as
quickly as possible.
The schedule for the coming season,
it is understood, will be adopted some
time tomorrow, but in all probability
it will not be given out for publication
until a late hour tomorrow.
There was a strong representation
from the minor leagues in evidence to-
day, and it is expected that the mag
mates will have some trouble in salts
flying the minor league presidents who
claim that they suffer from number