Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-12-22 | Page 29 | Taft Makes his Position Clear

TAFT PAKES HIS POSITION CLEAR Pormer President Eelieved He "Was to Act Only in a Legal Capacity. Harry Frazee of the Red Sox and Harry Hempstead of the Giants, who made promises of leading a revolt against the national commission and suught William Howard Taft as the man to lend dignity to the national pastime, were not quite frank with the former president when they asked him to act as baseball's arbiter. Mr. Taft realizes now that they did not have authority to ask him to act in any capacity. Apparently Frazee and Hempstead led hyn to believe that his services were retired only in a legal capacity. Mr. Taft made the following statement recently of hLa position in the matter: "Air. Hempstead and Mr. Frazee came to me some time ago and asked me to serve as an arbitrator between the two baseball leagues. I assumed that this arbitration was a mere legal arbitration, arbitra-tion, and said that if they would write me exactly what they wished, and it proved to be a legal arbitration, -I would consider it. "It now appenrs that neither Mr. Hempstead nor Mr. Frazee had authority of the two associations to invite me to consider the question of acting as an arbitrator ar-bitrator between the Uvo associations. "It further appears, so far a3 1 am advise ad-vise 1 for I haven't since heard from Mr Hempstead or Mr. Frazee that what they had in minJ was to substitute me for tlie piosent national commission, whose function it seems to lie . to pass on controversies under Hie rules of the game, to act with reference to the penalizing of players and the conduct of umpires, ard to deal with the technical questions of baseball in reference to pnr-tieu:ar pnr-tieu:ar games. I could not consider such an o Tf.'jr under any circumstances.