Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-12-29
. THE DIAMOND z


The action of the magnates in refus-
ing to give the players a rehearing is
not Endorsed by the public, says the. Gin
cinnati Enquirer. A criminal of the
worst type is entitled to a hearing. and
always gets it. The failure of the mag
mates to open the letter from the Play
ers' committee may have been an over
sight, but it will be a most difficult task
to convince the great army of fans that
it was not a subterfuge resorted to in
order to delay matters until after ad-
journment. Both magnateS and players
have many things in common, n their
interests : are more or less ideltical.
What helps one will help the other.
For this reason the club owners should
certainly ave complimented the stars
of the diamond by at least giving them
a respectful hearing. The men who play
the game are the idols of the fans. 1t
matters little to the baseball crank
whether the club is owned by Mr.. Smith
or MI. Jones. The rank does not pay
his money to see the magnate. He does
business at the box Office for the pur-
pose of witnessing the efforts of the
players, whose career on the diamond he
has probably watched with intense in
terest for years. X is only natural then
that the enthusiasts taxi a kindly in
terest in the diamond luminaries and
sympathize with them, no matter
whether their grievances are real or
imagined. The magnateS would do we'll
to take a tumble to this fact, and grant
the players another hearing. Such a
course would be only fair, even if the
magnates do not intend to grant any
concessions land nave prejudiced the
cause espoused by the players. If the
players are demanding something un-
reasonable, why not give them a hearing
and tell them SO openly n frankly?
The ball player of today certainly has
enough sense to listen to reason. Play
ers realize that the interests of the
magnates, as we'll as their own, must
be protected. Messrs. thinner. Griffith.
Jennings and Taylor are all young men,
! who are fully capable of discussing the
various phases of the baseball situation
in a lucid way, and it is really an insult
to their intelligence for the magnates
to tell them that they are not capable
of taking part in a sensible discussion.
1t seems to be the disposition of the
magnates to rule with an iron hand,
and their action in New York was ar
bitrary, to say the least. OF course,
magnates have their money invested in
baseball, but this does not give them
the right to deny the players free speech.
They should by all means ask the play
ers to limit their requests to a reason
able number, n then hear what they
are. Both sides should act with reason,
and the sooner they patch up their diff
erences the better it will be for base
ball.
Il understand that McGinnity is
quoted as having a grievance on the sal
airy question:" said Ed Hanlon, the
Brooklyn manager, during the league
meeting. Il don't think that he ha
been quoted right. l pride myself on
never having treated a player unjustly
McGinrity received twice as much ir
Brooklyn last season as he I'D in Balti,
more in 1889, and ne will get the limi.
next year. There is one fault with play.
ers who become stars that they do no
realize because they do not give til,
matter sufficient thought. They do no
realize that the time will come whe,
they are getting big salaries to sit OF
the bench while younger men are max
ing their regulations, and are earryin:
their clubs to victory. Take the cas-
of Mcmahon, of the old Baltimore team
We carried him a season and a hall
paying him a fancy salary. although hi
usefulness was practically gone. Tha
was a testimonial to his past greatness
and he deserved it. The same may b
said of other stars. McGinnity is a ma,
!. OF intelligence and will appreciate thes
things. I do not think he will retire
, but if he does l will ave lost thre
great pitchers In two y~ears-Hughe!
McJames and McGinnity. If we los
, Joe I guess some one else will tur
!, up, because we will have to get on jus
r the same. I would not be surprised