Evening star., 1912-06-04
BY n. C. BYRD.

The meeting of the amateur commission
last night was. to say the least. very un-
satisfactory It is hard TO see wherein
the meeting accomplished a single thing
in the way of settlement of the diff
culties that now exist over the contro-
versy between the Capital City and CO.
lumbia leagues. If there was one thing
that was done it was only further to
separate the two factions.
For two hours last night the members
Of the commission arose, hurled personal
remarks at each other. and gave their
own opinions as to what object the others
had in view in trying to set forth their own
case in the best manner possible. Charges
entirely irrelevant to the issue were
made, reiterated and then answered. Had
the meeting of the body been adjourned
fifteen minutes after 1t was called to
order the status of the case would have
been just as satisfactorily settled as is
the case now. Two hours OF personal
wrangling left the situation just as 1t was
before the meeting.
There was one motion put before the
house and it need not have even been
voted on. as the constitution of the COM
! mission sets forth very clearly the status
OF such a case 1T was moved and sec
onded that the Sewage Pumping Sta
tion be considered not a member of the
Columbia League, and when put to a
vote carried. President Beach of the
Capital City League need not have made
the motion, because a section of the con-
stitution which governs amateur base ball
declares that team cannot become a
member of another league while 1t al.
ready holds a franchise unless an AMIGA
| BILE agreement is reached whereby the ar
| rangement may be made. That clause
settled the status of the Sewage Pump.
ing Station as far as its relations with
the Columbia League were concerned and
defined the fact very clearly that it was
a member of Capital City League until
after that circuit was officially declared a
defunct organization.
Purposeless Wrangles.
To show the absolute purposelessness
Of almost the entire wrangle, it might
be mentioned that the two motions which
caused all the talk and back talk were
unconstitutional, and could not have been
carried without previous amendment
to that instrument. When men get on
the floor and wrangle over motions that
are directly against the provisions of the
constitution which governs the body,
then 1t is up to somebody to have them
ruled out of order. which would have
been sustained by the chair last night at
any moment Of the discussion.
The members of the commission did not
go to the trouble of addressing the chair.
but fired their opinions directly at each
other. and the opinions, the majority of
times. had absolutely nothing to do with
the question involved. And to come down
to the fine points of the matter there
really was no issue at stake. as the con-
stitution provided for everything that
was brought up. Every matter that was
mentioned at the meeting could have been
disposed of by simple recourse to the
laws of the body. and why somebody did
not demand that the whole thing cease
is hard to understand.
Why the commission itself failed to act
Is unanswerable. Mr.. Beach. president of
the Capital City League, stated his case
Tne manner in which he handled 1t
showed that in his efforts to keep the
league together he had been entirely