Evening star., 1901-09-25

StupendOus Plan Forming to Control
the National Game.

StuDendOus Plan Forming TO SOmtFol
the National Game.
great trust in base ball and profess
sional athletics is being organized BY mag
mates of the National League, headed by
Presidents Hart of the Chicago club and
Freedman of New York. Articles of incor-
poration of the National Athletic Com
pany which is to be the name of the new
combine have been drawn by the firm of
Guggenheimer Untermyer & Marshall of
New York and the promoters expect to
complete the project so rapidly that they
will have control of professional athletics
before the opening of the season next
spring.
A tremendous saving in expenses and
the abolition of the costly warfare now
waged continually between rival organlza-
tions and between magnates and players
is contemplated. A terrible blow is intend
ed to be dealt the players The promoters
of the trust plan to buy all the base ball
franchises in the two major leagues, at
least, and will disband all superfuous
teams. limit the number of players in each
club and, above all, regulate salaries.
Whether Messrs. Hart and Freedman and
their associates expect to seek the control
at once Of cricket, athletic sports and other
branches outside Of base ball they will not
say. Neither will they divulge whether
their scheme contemplates absorbing the
principal minor leagues. But they do not
disguise that the main object of the COM
bine will be to merge the National and
American leagues, and thus do away with
the warfare and expensive conflicts of
dates that have tended to make base ball
less and less profitable each year.
Another inducement the projectors are
going to hold out to the stockholders in
the various minor league clubs is that with
independent ownership abolished in each
city an interchangng system can be adopt
ed by which weak clubs can be strength
ened without expense or friction, while
the base ball players will be at the mercy
of the organization and will have to ac-
cept whatever salary the employers see
fit to give, and will have to play with what
ever club the magnates choose There will
be no breaking of contracts by players in
the coming golden days, the trust pro-
rnoters say.
Although rounding into shape, the com
bine Is by no means completed yet, and
there are many obstacles in the way of its
ever securing full control of all the clubs
in both big leagues. The contemplated
capital stock is S50,00O,000, and the fact
that the subscription of this enormous
sum will be sought indicates that the men
behind the project anticipate facing an
enormous outlay. In fact, there is great
opposition on the part of some magnates
The very lack of harmony that has reduced
the profits and destroyed the peace Of mind
of the base ball magnates is now operat-
ing to prevent the consummation of a CEN
tral business management that will deal
arbitrarily with all questions.
the subject several months ago He had
first exhausted. every argument to induce
his brothers in the National League di-
rectory to make terms Of peace with Ban
Johnson's American League Presidents
Brush, Freedman and Others however
would not join in that harmony move
ment Freedman at first was equally
averse to the trust idea. But it had so
many seeming advantages that he at least
joined with Hart in the preliminary nego-
tiations.
The present articles of incorporation are
merely tentative Great secrecy has been
thrown about the project, and even the
presidents of several National League
clubs have not been consulted as to their
views Soden Of Boston and Rogers of
Fniiauelphla are two Of those so far left
out of the negotiations 1t is reported
that Robinson of st. Louis is interested in
the matter already, but the inner circle is
belng Kept small and none of the men
known to be involved will talk of the de-
tails.