The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-07-28
SECRETARY OF WAR WANTS BASEBALL
 AFTER SEPTEMBER 1
Baker Expresses Hope That Game Will Continue With Men Not in the
 Draft Age

That the Secretary Of War is an arr dent baseball fan and wants to do the fair thing by big league moguls is evil denced by perusal of the statement issued by him extending the time of the duplication of the work or fight" order to players until September 1. It will be noticed that Mr Baker is hopeful that the enforcement of this ruling will net entirely wreck the game and he expresses the wish that it "be con- tinued by the use of persons not avail able for essential war service" but very naturally refuses to make an ex- ception in favor of the national pas- time when other more fundamental in dustries are made 10 suffer
 Secretary Bakers order, in the form of memorandum for the provost mar shal general, follows: s "A petition has been filed for an ex- tension of time, within which profess sional baseball players shall seek es- sential or productive employment, and the order asked is one which will ex- tend until October Is, 1918 As ground for this request it is alleged that there are but 237 persons affected by the so- called work or fight order; but that, in spite of this small number, their talk ing would lead to the immediate break- ing up of the entire game.
 Tt is further said that the notice is too short to allow the leagues to adapt themselves to the ruling, and that the failure of the clubs to adapt themselves to the ruling is due. to the fact that the Secretary of War caused to be known through the newspapers that the question of the application of tho order to baseball players would not be decided until an actual case arose. "A hearing has been had on this sub Ject by the provost marshal general who reports to me that it is not clear to him that the game will have to be. discontinued even if the order is made imm ediately applicable.
 The purpose of the work or fight order. so far as the war departm ent is concerned is to strengthen the military forces of the country, and not 10 con- trol the labor situation. Incidentally, | it will undoubtedly have the effect of adding to the number of persons use fully employed. and decreasing the number of persons uselessly employed. In this way the order will strengthen the military forces by making it less necessary to exempt for industrial req sons men who would otherwise be taken into the military service. This is an. indirect result, but ono of very great importance. and if exceptions are made, or postponements are to be made 1 in the enforcement of this order, it will require & very careful study tG determine whether these exceptions ought to be the persons in whose be- | half this petition is filed or some other l group out of the large number affected l by the order, many of whom have al- ready compiled with it. and brought | about readjustment of the trades and occupations which they had previously follow ed.
 q think it would be an unfortunate thing to have so wholesome recreation i as baseball destroyed if it can be con, l tinued by the use of persons net avail able for essential war service. Rut it 1 would be much more unfortunate | thing to preserve even SO whole some an amusement by making an exception 1 in favor of baseball players which is I denied to great classes of persons in l the United States whose occupations have been held similarly nonessential, | although they are Immediately asso- Iciated with the distribution of food and other process of our daily life more fundamental than any mere amuse- ment
 l Tt does happen that baseball is more | integrated than any other occupation in I our country. at least in the sense that
 
 ! preservation of all the major league ] teams scattered throus hopt the com 1 try, while in most occupations the work l or fight order has merely series of i local and more or less personal eff l fects. | ''I am impressed. too, hy the represen- l tation made that the baseball players may have been put in less favorable attitude by reason of their reliance on my statement that tho question of their inclusion in the terms of the | order would not be decided until case had arisen.
 For these reasons it seems t, me entirely proper and fair to extend the time during which the readi tnlent can take place. merely in order that jus tice may te done to the persons in- volyed, and I 1o theref fore, di ,ect that the application of the order ne made to date rem September i. The order for the extension to the 18th of Oc- tober is denied.'