The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-21
ANNUAL GAME NOT SETTLED Athletic Authorities Still
 Disagree. NO NoAUBURE-ALABAMA FOOTBALL Suggested That an Arbitration
 Committee Be Called. Alumni of Both Colleges Defend Posi- tson ef AtAIetie committees-Au-
 burn Rep.i. Idea That the
 as Tean |. EvsdinE
 Game.

That Auburn Alabama football dis agreement should be discussed with fairness, If at all, by the sporting writers. Partisans of the two colleges have been quick to judge the affair. In fact, it is a matter not for parti- sans to decide but for unbiased minds to adjudge. good suggestion Is that the trouble be submitted to an arbi- tration committee composed of alumni of the two institutions not now di- rectly associated with college duties.
 Auburn. or Alabama has. refused to play the other their annual football game: which is it? It Is manifestly unfaiF. in the light. of the evidence brought out to. say that Auburn has refused to play Alabama. It could be as reasonably contended that Alabama has refused to play Auburn. The one submitted terms for contract and the other submitted other terms. Neither was satisfactory to the rival
 Auburn wanted more than twenty men to be taken to Birmingham where 1t was proposed to play the game They also wanted a maximum allow penses. These terms were turned down by Alabama. Graduate Manager. Bragg. of Auburn. went so far as to guarantee that sh ould he be able to d0arter and feed his men in Birming- ham for. less than the stated rate the expense account which he would rem der would be that much less. He does insist, however, that his men be com fortably quartered and decently fed.
 Alabama bases her argument on last years terms to a large extent. Then Auburn reluctantly assented to a con- tract calling for seventeen men and s2 hotel rate. This lost the team mon ey. It was demonstrated that. on ac- count of the financial importance or the game, it was necessary to take along q half dozen men besides the substitutes and players to take care of the gates at West End. Experience told Manager Bragg that there should be- ample margin this year. So he asked for twenty-four men. This a.dtd not mean that Auburn. should be aa- lowed this number and Alabama only twenty. It meant that both teams should have the maximum number of men.
 It seems that The Age-Herald has taken a very abiding interest in this effort of the two rival colleges to get together. If 1t is acting as an arbiter 1t is certainly undiplomatic. Its writer charges that Auburn shows desire to .evade playing the game at all. If ignore the basic e6ntentions Of the Orange and Blue management. It seems that the writer Is possessed of about the same brand of Judgment as the Southern League is sleepy ag- gregation" entitled to only second division honors while Birmingham, with her adorable as well as invinci- bet. john w Gates would ask to be thrown in the cell with Harry Thaw If he should allow himself to plunge on such dope.
 The crux of the whole argument, it seems to the lovers of both colleges. is that it should be settled not by partisan newspaper critics who are not on the ground but by an earnest and candid investigation of the facts. When Auburn insists on so many men and on an umpire of such and such qualifications, 1t means that Alabama shall not suffer by the request but. indeed. that she shall share alike in all the efforts to do the square thing. be wrong.
 It is certain that Tuscaloosa is near CT to Birmingham than is Auburn and that 1t is to the financial interest of the Alabama management to hold out for the fewest men possible for either side. They could hold out for ten men for the side and then get the best of the financial argument Why? Be, cause, If more were needed they could transport them oh eaper than could Au- burn. Manager Bragg has clearly shown that there is room in so im- ipeFtant game for at least two dozen men including. coach and manager. Suppose that only twenty men were allowed Then if Auburn. to protect herself in the accounting of the re- ceipts and playing the game. should have to carry along twenty-four men, the excess would have to he paid out of her division of receipts. The rail- road fare from Auburn to Birmingham is vastly more than from Tuscaloosa to the same point. Thus Tuscaloosa can easily insist on the minimum al- lowance of men.
 However, it should not be tried in the newspapers but by arbitration in quiet, Alumni of both colleges are anxious to see the teams come to- gether but there should be no con demnatiou of either side until it is manifest that one, Is in the wrong and the other an angel Maybe. in the languages of the old judge of assizes Much canabe said on both sides"