Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-09-09
By RosEMAN eULoER.


That the baseball public may. better
understand the object and aims Of the
new Baseball fraternity THAT is tue
official name sof it-Christy Mathew
son, who represented the New York
players at the meeting, explains that
the organization Is intended as 9 bene-
fit to the game and not as q benent
to the game and not asa body hostile
To the magnates.
I'VE had not intended discussing
the new organization, says Matty,
until 1t was on its feet, but asfl0ng
as the news has leaked out think i
hest that Ne rnaise~a candid aexpIanaz
ton Of its purposes.
I'm the first place the Baseball Fra
ternity, as It Is to be called, Is not q
union in the commonly accepted mean
ing Of the word. The questions Of
wage and hours are not considered.
We have no intention of going out on
strikes, for the ball player has always
had an averfion to going out that way,
especially IL the bases are full.
I'VE want to get the players togeth-
er so that they can speak as body on
important questions and not as In
dividuals. There are many questions
arising that need an expression from
the players as a body. The owners
are well organized, and think the
majority, of them are In favor Of the
players getting together. Understand,
however, the Baseball Fraternity as
yet has not been organized. We held q
meeting and elected Dave Fultz as
temporary president. It is up to the
players to ratify this action. II they
do not want an organization they
won't have one.
Contracts Important Feature.
"As stated in ,uor first draft OF
constitution. the object of the frater-
nifty is to further the interests Of base
bal las a sport, and that covers the
whole situation. Naturally, the ques-
ton Of contracts, or rather the obser-s
walton Of them, will be an important
feature of tie organization. but this
will he Of benefit to the magnates as
well as players. We want to force
PLAYERS to live up to their contracts as
well as the managers. and the piayers
would like to nave q means OF freeing
themselves from Objectionable men
who are sometimes reflection on the
profession of ball PLAYING as whole.
There are many little things that
could be taken up by this bodv. For
instance, where a PLAYER is tried and
suspended without a hearing we could
take hand. Personally do not th.ssx
IL right for the president of LEAGUE
Il: suspend player first and then hear
the evidence later II Ia not American.
Take the case OF Ty Cobb. Whether
rieht or wrong. he was placed under
suspension before any evidence. ex-
cepting the umpire's report, was
heard.
"As a rule, the owne. o. baseball
club is inclined to do the square thin.
by player, but there have been cases
where magnate, taking advantage OF
his immense power, has used it to
take out a petty spite. While we have
Aon. of these things In mind right
now, merely mention them to show
how advantageous 1t would be for the
players to speak as body on such
questions"
May Have Representative.
Is it your purpose to ask for a rep
Resentative on the national commits
siGnT' asked the big pitcher.
@That has not been considered, but
I think 1t would be a good thing. In
fact, nothing of that kind has been
taken up, for the simple reason that
We are not yet organized. 1t depends
entirely upon the wishes Of the play
erS. who will vote on the question OF
having a permanent body. We have
selected an able man In Dayy Fultz
for president, and I think he will be
able to get things to a head without
any friction whatever. I understand
that most of the owners are in favar
of a players organization. It would
put them in position to handle big