The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-13
WHAT THE PLAYERS WANT
Is EXPLICITLY STATED TO THE
LEAGUE BY THE PROTECTIVE
ASSOCIATION
THE MAGNATEs GET 10 WORK
First Actual business Session of the
National League OF Ball
Clubs Is to lie Held
in New York.

NEW YORK, Dec. r12-After trying for
Two Gays the National league nagnates
finally got into. session at the Fifth Ave
nue. hotel tonight. When the meeting
was called to order by President Young
there We're present: A. H. -Soden, W. II.
Cohant and ]. B. Billings, Boston; W.
w. Kerr, Barney Dreyfus and 2. l.. Au-
ten, Pittsburg; A. L. Reach and Col.
John I. Rogers, Philadelphia; T. a. Abel,
Edward HanIon and Charles Ebbetts,
Brooklyn; Fred Knowles, New York;
James Hart, Chicago; John T. Brush.
Cincinnati, and f. De Haas Rot. ms on
and Stanley Robson, st. Louis.
This was the busiest Gay that tie
league magnates have put in. The COM
mittee appointed by the league to hear
the grievances of the Players Protective
association went into session in parlor
d r. The committee is composed Of
Messrs. Rogers, Soden and Brush. The
players organization demand that the
session be an open one and was acceded
to, and when the session began the par
Tor was crowded. The meeting was
opened by Mr.. Soden who stated that
as the result of correspondence between
MIR Taylor and the league magnates the
committee had been appointed to listen
TC the demands of the players. The com
mittee he said, was appointed last Sep
temher, hut for various reasons could
not meet the players committee until the
present time. Mr.-Soden said that the
committee had no power to act, but
would report the conference back to- the
meeting of the league.
In stating the demands of the players
organization to the league committee,
Mr.. Taylor said there were just three
defects in the present form of contract
that the players wanted corrected. They
are modification of the reserve clause,
the entire elimina ton of the farming
OUT clause, and the modification of the
clause relating to the power of club own
ers to buy and sell players or claim them
without first getting the players consent.
Before he would consent to present the
players demands to the leagues CON-
mlttee Mr.. Taylor eXacted a promise that
the committee would report the matter
to the league imm ediately and that some
action would be taken by the league at
its present session Mr.. Taylor demurred
TO treating with the committee at first
on the ground that it had no power to
act He asked that the matter be laid
over until it could be presented to a full
meeting Ct the magnates.
Both Chairman Soden and Col. Rogers
assured Mr.. Taylor that the matter would
be more eXpeditously treated if present
ed to the committee. This matter IS a
serious one to U.s., said Col. Rogers
contracts are nine-tenths of the assets
of club. This committee will make a
fair and truthful report to the league of
what YOU say to u.s.
Mr.. Brush said that officially the mem
hers Of the league had not been informed
as to the purposes Of The players or
Sftnizatlon and they l1okeG uDon it as a
secret organization into which many
pi9yers-playing nanagers-had net been
taken Mr.. Taylor denied this and after
receiving a promise of immediate action
he presented his case.
I'VE believe" said Mr. Tay'or. "thst
the players and club owners can get to.
Scther and adjust these matters without
reSortng to war. We are not looking
Tor trouble. We are simply moving with
an idea of putting the game on a higher
plane. The salary of the PLAYER, we
know, is regulated by the law of srl>S'V
and demand. II we can make the q me
mere popular we make it more profitable
financially and then our salaries will in
crease.
THE PURLIC'S IDEAS
The public has ideas about the ball
Ji-aNer. Today under the pres, Mt con
tract system, a ball player is locked Iron
IS a slave. He is a slave unCer Tn. re-
serve rue. We know that the reser. e
lie is the buwark OF baseball. but it
should rot be abused. What can be done
TO modify it? The players suggest that
it be limited and that no player may be
reserved by 2 club fer more than five
years.
I'VE don't think you have the right,
morally or legally, to hold a player for
an indefinite period. Would not baSeb II
be improved by the changing of star
players from club to club? What we
want is modification of the reserve
rule. Let each club not reserve more
than ten men,
AS TO the farming out system, we
want it abolished altogether There is
no justice in it at all for the player If
= To h
or you have somebody that can play his
position better, don't farm him out
Give him his release. Let him have a
chance to play with some club that need,
him.
AS to the system of buying. selling
and claiming players, the player want
the contract modified so that he will
have something to say in the matter. As
the matter stands now the contract is all
enc sided. The PLAYER IS powerless to
do or act
At this point Col Rogers brought up
the famous contract offered to the league
in 1881, by John Ward, as showing the
weakness Of Mr.. Taylor's contentious.
Ihat is an isolated case, said Mr..
IayIor, and dealt not with the transfer
OF payer, but with an entire club
Should, in the course Of events, the mag
mates desire to transfer one Or the entfra
team from one city to another the nav.
ers would not object.
TO IMPROVE THE GAME.
What we want is to help the magnates
put the game on better status The
players have talked all these matters
over. They agree with you that rowdy-
ism should be abolished at any cost In
this respect the players have put the
matter up to the owners. The players
are humane In the heat of a game
they lose their heads. But you have
the power to stop it. You have the
power to discipline miraculous players.
Why not administer fines? The ques-
ton of stopping the rowdy ball is up to
you. We want these things put in the
contract We realize that you mag
mates could easily get together and have
a secret understanding that would render
imperative the changes We ask, but we