Clipping:The arbitrary power of the IA judiciary committee; Craver reinstated
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| Date | Saturday, August 24, 1878 |
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| Text | The recent action of the judiciary committee of the International Association on the “Craver Case”–whereby they have, by a vote only of a majority of the committee, given license to that expelled player’s taking active part in International-club contests–calls special attention to the position the committee occupies in its absolute and despotic control of the affairs of the Association. The members of the committee in question are Messrs. Gorman of the Tecumseh Club, Butler of the Lowell, Kelly of the Manchester, Spalding of the Buffalo, and Waite of the St. Louis Reds, the last club being one which has taken no active part in the International club campaign this season. Of these five, but the last three could be induced to consent to the practical nullification of the majority vote of the convention that gave the committee its existence, which their action in the Craver case has amounted to. The working of the constitutional law which gave to this committee the absolute power they have used so unwisely and injudiciously has been such as to render the government of the International Association little else than a mere legislative farce. A convention of the representatives of thirty odd professional clubs is held; the club delegates at this convention adopt a constitution and by-laws, one of the provisions of which, by a majority vote of the convention, is very properly made to exclude players who have been expelled from the International “or any other Association” from taking active part in any International club contest. By a clause of the Association constitution the power is given to the judiciary committee to amend the constitution, by-laws and rules of the Association at their option, provided the vote on the subject is unanimous. The first important case they are called to adjudicate upon is one which results in a divided opinion, and it is found that the unanimous-vote clause is in the way. By some means or other the committee is induced to change the law on this point so as to make a majority vote of the committee decisive; and, this being done, they go to work and by this majority vote license a player expelled by the League Association–which Association refuses to reinstate him–to play in International-club contests. Under such circumstances, it may justly be asked, of what use was the adoption of a constitution and laws by a majority vote of the International Convention, which the practical effect of one pernicious clause of the constitution is to give th whole government of the Association into the hands of three men–three out of the five composing the judiciary committee really having despotic control of the entire Association. The pernicious effects of such a law are apparent to the most obtuse understanding, and it only needed the instance of this Craver case to show the evil of it in a very striking manner. The action of the committee does not reinstate Craver–it cannot reinstate him, as it is not in the power of any Association except the one which expelled him so to do. It simply says, in effect, to the majority of the convention delegates who voted to have nothing to do with expelled players until they were reinstated by the Association that expelled them; We, the minority, have determined to gain our point, and we have done it in spite of your majority vote. Messrs. Dauchy, Underhill and Arnold, and those who have backed them in their peculiar ideas on the subject of “giving expelled players a show” have won their little game, and they should now give it a sequel by “reinstating” Devlin, Nichols, and Hall of the famous Louisville quarter of hard-used players, who “couldn’t get justice done them” either in Louisville or in Cleveland. |
| Source | New York Clippber |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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