Evening star., 1909-06-11

rectors was to consider an important
financial question.
At the February meeting of the Ma
tional League. in Chicago. the National
League entered into an agreement rela-
tive to the assessment of the different
clubs for league expenses. For years the
league has been conducted on fair.
equitable financial basis as far ex-
penseS went, each club being assessed q
small percentage of the receipts of every
home game. in addition to a regular
stated monthly assessment. to pay the
salaries of officials and umpires and
other expenses a budget which footed up
to So. 900 or $4,000 a season. The losing
clubs had to be game and stand their
assessment with the winners. but last
fall movement was started to abolish
that system and make the penalty for
winning pennant the payment of some
thing like 30 per. cent of these expenses.
Needless to say. this movement was
fathered by owners of chronic second
division clubs, who could see nothing
sportsmanlike in share and share alike.
but who wanted to operate with the
least expense to themselves.
In nutshell. John T. Brush. owner
OF the New York club. made the league
back down on rule adopted at the Chi
cago meeting, providing that the pen
nant winning club should paw nearly
half the expenses of the league. and
that the percentage paid by each club
SllOulu OepeIu On no" the teams nnlSn-
ed, the tail-end representative being re-
quired to pay almost nothing. What
ever they may say of Brush. he is no
quitter. and is ready to go as far as
the next man in sharing legitimate ex-
penses. But he was too i'll to attend
the Chicago meeting in February. and
the revolutionists put through their
scheme, the New York club not being
represented. AS soon as Brush learned
of the new rule he condemned it and
nt 10 10 r1ofn |,
he could not win out on a vote. SO he
studied the league constitution, and
there won his victory. He informed the
other club owners that he would not
stand for the new scale and forced a
retraction.
| AS near as can be learned the new
rule provided that the club that won
the pennant would be assessed for 80
per cent of the expenses, the club run
! ming second to contribute about 90 per
| cent. the third club Is per cent. the
fourth 10 per cent Presumably the
| four second division clubs would kick
about as much as the second club alone
At any rate, their combined assessment
was very small.
Brush notified his associates that he
| would refuse to stand for the agreement
and requested a reconsideration. And
that was why the National League had a
meeting at Cincinnati last week. and why
the presence of every club owner instead
of the board of directors was required.
and why they apparently deliberated for
many hours over a protested game The
New York magnate presented his case SO
forcibly and made his plea of unconStitu-
tionality so strong that the league went
back squarely on the Chicago agreement
and. voted unanimously to restore the per-
centage and monthly assessment system
| that has been in vogue for many years
In the National League.
In his straight talk to the other mag
mates Brush pointed out that club might
win a pennant and still make less money
in the event of close finish than the
clubs finishing second and third, and
therefore he urged that such taxation
would be unjust. 1t Is understood that
the Boston. Brooklyn and ST. Louis clubs
were the ones who started the new sys-
tenn, but any time they catch John T.
mapping they still have to go a long way
to beat him. Confederation Of these facts
will be forthcoming just as soon as the
light of publicity searches them out.