Norwich bulletin., 1916-12-07
1N-ERNATIoNAL MAY
 OPERATE IN ALBANY FIELDS.
Proposition Offered n That City and
 in Troy.

..The International League would welcome 6 players strike" said Presi- dent Ed Barrow of the Internationals, on returning to New York from the leans,T where the National Association turned down all the recent requests of the Players Fraternity.
 If our players struck we would have a splendid opportunity of bring ing our salaries down to an equitable basis continued Barrow. Admitting that our salaries are lower than they were before the Federal League in vasion, they still are considerably higher than our business can afford, What must be brought home to our 1 players is that if minor league condi- tionS ga back to what they were around 1900 salaries necessarily must go back to the salaries of that era. A threat of a strike is the last thing that would worry us.'
 Barrows says the fraternity requests were coolly received in New Orleans. | Tt seemed to us that FultZ had gone l out of his way to find grieya nccs. For | instance, he was not even familiar with the subject he wanted legislation on. In fact the day before the open | ing of rhe annual meeting in New
 Orleans he telegraphed he has dis
 covered he was wrong on one point and asked. to haveaa request with
 drawn.
 l Tt was the one that had to do with paying an injured player in full or giving him his unconditional release with two weeks payment. The minor
 leagues had been doing this for three 1 full ye ITS.
 Even Branch Hickey. former player and a man of the same type as l F,uitz, gave Dave quise a tearing out
 down inNew Orleans. Hickey, who
 like F'ultz is a lawyer, said he attend l ed the meeting to hear Fultz argue his
 case and was greatly surprised to find he was among the atsent.''
 l Despite the fact that Ban Johnson president of the American League and
 the biggest single power in baseball
 came out with quite boost for third
 major league. comprising tine best
 cities in the International League and
 the American Association, Barrow was l lukewarm on the subject.
 | In Chicago Ban was quoted as say 1 ing he would not opose" the forn,a- | ton of a third major league. Tn fact 1 I rather like the idea" said Big Ban | According to Barrow, tie subject oi 1 consolidating the best cities in the In. | ternatlonal League and AmericanaAs. | sociation was preached by an associa.
 tion club owner during the last world:
 serles- However. this club owner had l no thought of starting a major lea 1 gue," said Barrow. His suggestion | was thst if business remained poor il the International League and th' | American Association during the 191'
 season, in 1918 we should merge tn, best cities Of the two lea gues and form a minor league of the highest class l and secondary only to the majors Such league would ask that the draf l be removed, and would endeavor t,
 give the fans of present Class A ci ties a higher brand of ball than the. have been accustomed to.
 However, fer the present the In ternational League is setting plans fo l the 1197 season. The three Class A leag gues, the International and Pacifi | Coast lea gues and the American ks
 sociation, nave received permission from the National Commission to re
 move the draft from our leagues w I figure such a concession wC.iid giv us more prestige. It is entirely ID t,
 the big leagues.
 l Our circuit for next year will b the same as # was :n 1917, wirh tn possible exception that Montreal ma be out of the league. Sammy I.ichtcn helm, president of the Montreal ciut l has, become tiredhofs losing money. an
 may dispose of his club. Montreal
 a tough jump, and we are consider
 ing several places to place the fran
 chise. We have one proposition iron
 parties who would operate a Troy-Al
 bany team, constructing their par ! midway between the two cities, an
 making bid for patronage frou1 eac city"
 Barrow predicted the minor league
 would derive great deal of henef
 from their proposed board of arbitra
 tion should the National Comu1issio
 sanction it. Such q board would hay as representatives the president an secretary of the National Association
 a representative from each majo
 league and 2 neutral chairman.