New Britain herald., 1916-11-18
OWNERS PREPARE
 FOR IMPENDING WAR
ha8nateS Will Be Ready When
 Strike Is Called

h. , baseball is preparing for q new war.
 Tl1is will be one between the players and club owners. Tho fight is likely to start before spring; it is certain to develop before tho opening cf the 1918 caInpaiGn, unless tho Baseball Players Fraternity is rc#;G-cd 10 ac- cept conditions as they existed before James A. Gilmore fathcred his lato lamented Federal league
 This information was vouchsafed yesterday by enc of the most promi- nent nlaGnates of the National league. He rccucatcd that his identity be with hc!d fer tho present for fear of en- larta@a;11G President 1'cncr and his tcl,caSuca.
 "DctauEc of the new menace that laa Gri@cn from thc quarter Of the plaNcrs,' he said, "tho two league roctjngs will ba held in this city next month. That vii, give q chance to effect at once !cgis,atton mutually ina nortant
 rho fight wlt,s the nuu alaTerz is going to como because tho stars Of the gan'o--fra(cratty lncm heTa--havo banded togethcr secretly for ti1c fur- pose of rcTpet5ating inflated war time cont cts. Tie National league rub ownorS have decided to stand or fall tore' her. I am sure the Ameri- can league Ciuy presidents feel the same way.
 Scheme of the stars.
 Here is the schorlo of the stars: ThNv will refuse to sign contracts for .t1A17. Al t}e end oe tho next season tho" .'ol~ t0 declare 17oaluselv2s free arf17-'i @2,<3 ? throw their ao.F cea on fsa :. a",,rt t~ thn ;>ighc&t biIdor. In tli" !2;t f tAo Federal laavu0 against ersani2ca hosch&il 6 judicial opinion Nias ha1ded down that the present form of major 1os1gue contract was valid, but t,,at tho reserve clause was binding for only one year, following the expiration of contract Unless hoth parties n2utuolly agreed upon a new scale of ealary tho owners privi- 1egc cf option automatically furnished "a contract fer tho following season, but fc~ that season only
 "Many wartime salaries expired last fall. The players holding them FaNc agreed not 10 siGn new contra cts for 1917. They believe that refusal 10 do rc will still protect their jobs through 1917 at the 1916 salary scale, and at the end of next soaaon they will he free agents in every sense of the word. And they are quite right.
 ''But crganZcd baseball hopes to apply remedy. It has cast about for . new 'orm cf contract. all to no avai1. Tho truth has sunk homo that tho roGorVN c'au~o of organized base hall in effect before tho Federal 1oac7'o ca,~o ito tho field ha~ been inc hulwarl- CT the r&no. Major 1eaguc club owners arc prepared to foroe players to rea0g~1izo as valid a contract necessarily evil in that it i, ret quite equitable. Otherwise with falaries and ovo"Hoaod cvDcn"os scar ire every voar *70 ~no"t is hound to f~~ 70 the dog. Hr'7o~~ i" whero tho f~ht is coming. IT., nrnh7o,7, hoo to fo faced. Most of u4 holicv2 that TOW ;" t''0 psychological time
 Ay'no"v S+r;ls~ 7'..-st E7cv-.
 "'Tho rei~or leagues & r1,ol7 tho first Tlow in turning down the de;'ands of tho P'aTcrs' Fratcrnitr. This union #Eef playo~1 has no pcyvors over the 1eai7or ls2"1lcs. B"sinoas has been so Tad i'e the sticks th0t most all the onnr9 ter" would Wc1rono a strike T7ov. would be content to lock thair Tearl1a for 2 wear as q stroke to bring tho :2,r~ ro~~ p t3ici~ senses Once be- f~~o ~oH Johnson Was ready to shut 10 ~hco when 9 Gtriko was threat I1c T ".' '~ '-+ 37oo p1hlic iearn 10 do with out major league baseball
 ':.7Fct r>a+tcrG have ccme to such a Ja~~." continued this authority that 2 ~77~7~-Gotvn between employers and c-- r2f --'o~1 a ab oIutely necessary F-7,~ "+--, ~~hera 8?I"t be cleared. At IT, ~--r1'91 mccti2~ Ti Of the major 7oa~17c@ hero rcr~o policy will be f7on+od to force turn of old con- 6itions under c0t' r.1 Gf release and re- scrye clauses, h~| ss in contracts should not ho sol--5}..sed if q rule W ere raescd nrohibiti2~ unsigned players from taking ~~~ i1 championship games. That r'~ 't-.7 'crce players who sock to cvedo sue through the ortion tcc'--i~~= 'ted above to seek redress ir t,7~ ~"''"t~.
 "ThirC ~~ rlc Absurd, The talk O. 2 third major league is absurd he c22auded. With the Federal 1eagun experiences fresh in will attempt ar rutlaw ring for many years tQ come. There aren't enough good cities, to b0gin with. Either of the present ma iors could stand an- ether good city CT two And certainly there are n0t. sixteen major leagu> clubs in t'e@ field today. That's H." answer.
 "A third league is not necessary to revolution. Tho seed of revolution has alroadr heon planted by certain stars of fraternity leaningz. It is up n, o o-yo1 4or.E 4o cr,ppracs