The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1921-08-08
The Chicago Baseball Trial

The arrangement which made
Judge Lands the arbiter of the pro
ress.onal leagues is conspicuously
justified by his prompt statement
with rgard to the acquitted Chicago
players Regardless of the 'yerdicts
OF juriRs' he will bar crooks from
organized baseball
Amazed by news of the acquittal,
lovers of the game and its good name
were puzzled yesterday to understand
how the trial had resulted in such an
apparent gross miscarriage of Justice,
! Possible doubt as to the guilt OF one or
two OF the indicted players had been
Indicated. But that all should be ac-
quilted by virtue Of the, technjcalities
of the judges rulings and in spite OF
known confessions, was a conclusion
as stunning and disturbing as the origi.
nal disclosures.
Baseball is our boosted national
sport. A sentimental or hero Worship
ing condonement OF dishonesty in
conduct. would II il became gen
eral. be dangerous sign OF a moral
habbiness in the national character.
For this reason the affair of the Chi
cago players is more serious than If
IT concerned baseball alone The pos.
sible effect upon an impressionable
American boy of the acquittal and Of
the reported scenes in the courtroom
following the aequittal, is something
mot pleasant to consider
The psychology OF the Chicago
courtroom is hard to understand At
least three OF the accused men had
confessed to having betrayed their
teammates and the supporters of
the team in the climax of the 1919
season. or that fundamental fact
there appears no question. They
had sold Chicago out. Yet the court
room audience was evidently with
them. II this can be explained be-
cause the audience was made up
lsolcly OF their loyal personal friends,
ready TO stick to them right or
wrong, there is some relief from the
thought that il was an audience
representative of the Chicago public.
sinister implications. With its his.
tory OF stolen papers, its suggested
BACKGROUND of Chicago politics, its
courtroom performances and its
conclusion, il has been from first to
last an evil-smelling affair. The
lacquittal seems due to the exclusion
of testimony, to the fact that there
is no law against throwing" a ball
game and to technical refusal to
admit that such dishonesty consti.
tutcs fraud, either on those who
gamble on the results OF the game
or those who were legltimately paycd
for the right OF witnessing sup
lposedly honest contest. Under these
conditions the jury refused to find
that conspiracy had been proved
and the judge called it just YER
Dict
1t is to be hoped that an indig
nant public will throughout the
country support Judge Lands in
supplying the corrective which the
Chicago judge who prsided at the
trial and the Chicago jury which
listened to his charge failed to sup
ply. Judge Lands substantially
barred the players from participa
ton in organized baseball II is for
, Public opinion also to prevent their
proposed Transforming tour from
: succeeding or being tolerated
; In spite of the worlds series OF
/ 1919, the honor of American sport
, is high. Clearly conducted sport Is
itself builder of honor and char
acter that endure through the tosts
, OF life's more serious concerns. But
that honor and those influences
/, must he guarded with a proud and
lexacting pealuosy. Springfield Ropub
llcan.