The Washington herald., 1915-01-22
.Addington Opens Attack
On the Ten Day Clause
Claims Clause Is Eliminated in
Contract in Form Only and
Spirit Still Lives.
THEORY OF COMMISSION

! Chicago, Jan. @l.-There we're just as
! C,any baseball fans in Judge lands
( courtroom today as there were yester-
day. but a number of the magnates were
among the missing when Keene II. Ad-
dinGton, representing the Federal
/ League. renewed his attack on organized
baseball in the injunction suit against the
national agreement.
M-. AGdington confined his argument to
an attack on the ten-day clause in the
contracts Of players.
with the coming Of the Federal
League" he said. many OF the organized
baseball clubs eliminated this clause from
their contracts. But though the clause
vas generally supposed to have been
stricken from the contracts, il was elimi-
mated in form only. The spirit of it lives
still
Mere Piece of Paper.
despite the elimination. the players
contract revcrts to the national agree
ment. The contract is a mere piece Of
paper.
The whole theory Of the contract as
il now stands is that il would be mighty
good thing to present in court if case
like this were ever heard. The contract
implies that a player must make good
before il will be observed. The theory
Of the national commission is that the
payer must DdCk 10 the llllllOIS IL 4lt
fails to make good
Just before Attorney Addington fin
ishcd his argument, the question of
the courts jurisdiction arose uneX-
pcctcdly.
judge Landis brought up the ques-
tion by asking the attorneys on both
sides TO prove to him that he Nhad
jurisdiction.
Proves JurisdictiOn.
Attorney Addington said at once
that the case had been brought in the
Federal court because the Federal
League and the National and the
American League operate in many
States.
During the adjournment Attorney
Pepper and Attorney George w. Mil
Ter. who are chief of the counsel for
organized baseball told newspaper
men that they were ready to go into
the question of jurisdiction as soon
as court rcconvened. They said that
the case should have been brought in
the State court.
Judge Lands evidently impressed
by Attorney Myers argument. ordered
the question of jurisdiction set aside
and ordered arguments in the case to
proceed.
Pepper Full of pep"
George Wharton Pepper, of Phila-
dclphia. then put organized baseball
on record as denying a reserve clause
in the new form of contract between
maEnate and player. Pepper, firing
the first legal guns for organized
baseball. lived up TO his name. He
was full of pep" from the start.
In the new form OF contract" he said,
there is no reserve clause. The con-
tracts as now made provide that 70 per
cent of a players salary is a salary and
that - per cent of his stipend is for an
option on A future contract. In other
words - per cent of what A player gets
for the year l9lI is to give his employer
an option on the mans services for the
year 1916"
Attorney Pepper also said that the
present form Of contract makes no men
tiOn OF the national agreement
1t is simply n contract between two
mon. legal and binding in every way" he
At tn" afternoon session the injunction
case was laid aside and tho court heard /
arguments on the question of jurisdiction.
Quincy X. Myers. formerly of the Su- !
prCmc bench Of Indiana. cited numerous !
cases TO prove that Judge Lands might |
properly hear the case.