UNFAIR!

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1165, 28 June 1911, Page 8

UNFAIR!

I — ♦- :■ f A RACING CLUB'S PROTEST; AGAINST. ABOLITION, . [. MEMBERS' PERSONAL LIABILITIES; \ Tho first official'protest.against the rej- port of the Racing Commission was mada | yesterday .-to" the . Minister. for Internal I Affairs (the" Hon..'D. Buddo). Tho depuj tiitioii' represented. the liangitikei. (Bulls) • ! Racing Club. Its' members were 'Messrs. | I). Eraser (president of the club), J. Ct. I Wilson (vico-presidcnt), J. H.' Perrett, i i\ J. Mansell,' J. Walker,' and A. J. i. Bailey., Mr. Newman, M.P., introduced J: tho deputation. ' s ". ;. Position Outlined. [- Mr. ■ Newman 'said : tho ;dttb' had; been ! in existeii«;:sinc6"lßss.' In'eleed, one of-tho i deputation, Mr. D. Fraser, had ridden- as | a jockey-in tho first meeting.•• Since that f date the imeetings on New Year's Day .at j Bulls had been continuous,' and tho meetL ing ivas aii annual event for people over. »' tlio iVhdle''district.-' In his spcech'in tho j. House of Representatives, Sir Joseph f Ward had impressed upon members'- that ! the couiitry clubs were to' ha've justico'in i... the'readjustment.'• In this case tlio coiin- !'■' try club jvas recommended to bo -aboli ishod. 'A ■ few yoirs-ago • tho club / had ■ spent =68000 on the purchase of land' and' 1 buildings. All the:'appointments were-on..' j tho most .up-to-date style. Their debt was 1: now practically ~£3OOO, for which two !' gentlemen had. become guarantors— Messrs. J. G. Wilson and P. J. Mansell. " These 'gentlemen, in' the' event of the ! recommendations being carried, stood to j lose this .money. -'It .was an obvious int. justico for,'the..commission to suggest- tho [. oommcnceiiient'pf .two new- clubs and the i abolition of one which hiul been in existence so'many years,; with a liability of [. and no means of .liquidating that i amount. . The deputation wished to sugr } gest that-an'opportunity should be'given j them.(if things could not remain-as they !. were) to.'wipe out ..their liability. Their j two days were to'go to'the Marton Jockey [. Club, and the suggestion was that if tho L^Tecommenda:tidns-.0f,-the commission' were !. to be .carried out. the proceeds of those [.tyro days;of the Marton .Club go towards | : the-liquidaition' of tho debt of the Bulls j Club.'- It was surely never intended that i peoplo should>siiffer hs'avy 'financial loss rer. -acting' as'guarantors in 'what after ftll was.'a: legitimate' sport.

i ; . A Hardship. ! "We don't cortie' to 'blame tho Governf ment for Eottiny up a commission,", said V Mr. J.G., Wilson, one. of the trustees j mentioned by Mr.; Newman. 1 "The" com'-; [ missioiiiers •no ..dotfliti Kave (lane tlMfr-'best. !: Imdor the- circumstances. But tho com- [ missioners were not in a position to know i the financial position-of the club.".. The commission, bad been told of the debt, i but'not of the fact that a .lease had-been f.given-of tlio grounds to a gentleman'for i. grazing,purposes. The lease was for seven ' years at.Xoo'a year, the highest sum obj tiiinable with the restrictions it was neces- ;■ eary to place on the lessee! The club had • had to pay iMo an acre for ..the land becauso| of the'necessity for selection; but ;. if pressed now to selLthey could only get ! tho price of surrounding properties, viz., l <£28 an acre.; But-they con Id' not sell the !. land until the lease expired. No one. i'woujd be" satisfied witli the small return ' from the lease. If' the license wore taken \ frpm them the position'would be: .They ■ Sad' on .income of JG3S, and they. had . to 'meet annually interestcharges, of «£156 ! ..las., which-w.ould leave them «ElOl 15s. to t find annually until the land could be sold, i' If this money were riot found, they would | be treated as defaulters, and the property I Bold, and . Mr. llansall and himself, as ' guarantors•for the ■debt,' would have to S hear the. loss of about .£IO6O. No doubt [ some members of the club would help ■ them, but even then tho position was 'not ' a fair.'.bnc.-, Though the direction to the : to'raluce the days'of,rac- '■ ing, it. was surely, a. remarkable thing, for ; two to be given : to,' I Marton. 3S they' could be reallocated ■■ the ! two days as, asked for by Mr. Newman, ! it Voiiid bo possible, perhaps,. for' them i to pav'their' way. If tliey amalgamated j.«ith Marton'there was provision for the latter'club taking- over any assets Bulls : might have, but no liabilities. "Tho j question;,really is, haVenpt the commis- ; sionors 'gone; outside .their' legal 'powers? lit is. understood they did so in their ' original recommendation, and were told Lby the Crown Law Officer that they must i.come together again and. rectify it. Might jit not. bo. so also._iu this case?" If 110 I redress. cotild be given the case was coritainly one.for compensation. 'Mr. Wilson 1 also said that the Act directed the Minister to:give effect to the commissioners '■ report, but was silent as to the conditions [he had to impose upon the clubs. There I was no doubt that the report favoured | matropolitan clubs, though he did not \ wish to dwell upon that point. Since i the commission had been called together I once, could the samo thing, not be ' done again to enable the club to place | 'their position before it? ,_He felt sure' jthe two days would be given back_ to 'them.. The commission could not m jus-; ! tice. say these two days should be taken [away from them. ~ [ JJr D. Fraser, president 'of tho llangiitikei 'Racing Club, described the action lof the'. Racing Commission as . tho encomia gem ciit of monopoly.

L An Inadequate Investigation. ' Mr J'! H. Perrett (Sandoa) ;said,tkeir lilub was fourteenth or fifteenth in position of-importance in the Dominion. Ibo jcommission had been at Hulls ten or 'twenty; minutes, travelling to ami trom itlie course in motor-cars: ant! on this ex'perience' they recommended the abolition lof the club. Ho did'not think they had i'civoh the matter sufficient consideration. i'Chcy Should have had more ovidenco. beffoto them, because, as would l:c seen ifrom What had been said, the proposals 'involved serious less to some gentlemen. It was'not a'matter to'be dealt with lightly." Also; in the Act, full provision had been made for clubs abolished which :hail assets but not for those with liabili■ties. It seemed to the speaker that the minds'of the commission had been made up before they had visited the course. : Mr. Wilson pointed-out that for many : years an officer of their club had represented'the district at' the Itacing Conferience, which showed the feeling entertained 'towards the status-of the club. He suggested -that an amending Act be passed to enablo the Minister to give them a >Kow Year meeting to recoup their liabilities. This would not increase tho racing days.-; Minister Can't Help It. i In Teply, the Minister said he had fully 'expected many deputations as a result, of !the report of tho commission. ■. Hardship must bo done to some clubs. It was quite 'clear that tho Ifangitikei Club had experienced its full.shore of hardship. lie Could not, make any . comment now, be'cause it would,-in.a sense, be sub ji)dico. ILe" referred to the Crown Law Officer s refusal to bo' satisfied with certain aspects of the first, report of the. commission. 'Hie amended TejK>rtr was now'before the Officer, who would say whether it conformed to the Act .or not-; and. until ho did so the Minister had practically to remain silent. He recognised the club had hoen put in a difficult position. But J\e did not see any other alternative for him than to follow tho recommendation 'of:the commission, . i Mr. Wilson: But you may make con[ditions? • : The 'Minister: There may be conditions, but the Act is practically I will take advice, however, on that point. iAs to the suggestion that the Minister could revoko licenses, it was clear that the power wis given not to revoke licenses ■recommended, but only in cases where Jsufficicnt and efficient provision for racing 'niul the public was not made. After the Ifirst year succeeding the report of' the 'commission, tho Minister would have to isay ns to the allocation of_ the licenses, but it would necessarily, bo in accordance 'with the terms of the Commissioners' report. • However, ho would take legal advice. Tho commission had been well 'qualified to deal with the matter. Mr. Wilson: From a metropolitan point of view! , t , ■ The Minister, in conclusion, said he did not like tho suggestion regarding an ■enabling Act. Ono didn't want'to excito the public mind. The only point that _?uld be considered would be the allocation of -permits,

Mr. Wilson: If our position were placed before Parliament, I think they would givo ns justice. : COMMENTS ON THE REPORT. CLAIMS OF THE -COUNTRY CLUBS. ■ (By Telegraph—Press Association.) Christchurch, June 27. ' Regarding the report of the Racing Commission, Air. .Ci Hood Williams, the ' 'president 'of the. .Christchurch Racing Club, and representative of several country cliibs on thi> Racing Conference, stated in an interview that lie hold no brief either for the metropolitan or country clubs, and the solo object of his remarks to follow was that in his opinion it was hot. in the best interests of racing that the Racing Commission, in dealing with tho subject' of reducing the number of days of racing, appear to have.paid too much, attention to the subject ot reducing the number of days of country clubs, and too little to the possibility of giving fewer days to . the metropolitan clubs. Everyone will of course admit, lie continued, that tho metropolitan clubs havo done yeoman service-in conducting their affairs, in'such a manner that they have been enabled to ■ give stakes which -not only encourage breeders of thoroughbreds, but also afford attraction to and gain tlie support of' the general ' public, and also enable powerful owners to win money to assist to maintain their largo racing establishments. On the other hand, there are owners arid trainers; possibly not so wealthy, who own or train two or threo horses, not first-class-ones,-and not equal to successfully compete l with the beforementioned largo .racing establishments; and hence, these owners look, to some extent, to country racing clubs to provide them with stakes which will enable them to successfully conduct their calling. It must bo admitted that local owners of not first-class racehorses have not a "Buckley's chance" of winning races at metropolitan-meetings,-where the pick of tho horses of tho Dominion are gathered together attracted by the rich stakes which the principal metropolitan clubs are enabled .to offer. Quoting from a return of stakes paid by the eight metropolitan clubs of Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Dunedin. Taranaki, Wangariui, and Greymouth, it will be. found that they paid, in-stakes during tho racing year 1910 tho large earn of. .£107,700, but country clitbs paid stakes during tho period of .£101,128, and trotting clubs paid .£11,627, The total for country, racing, clubs and trotting clubs combined was ,£142,775, and these figures entitlo the latter clubs to" a more equitable adjustment'both in regard to their totalisator permits aDd, in reference to the country clubs, better representation upon the Racing Conference. After referring to the recommendations of the commission as to the day.s of racing, and pointing out the difference between the number allotted to metcopolitarf and to country clubs, he said:—"This appears to mo not- to. be a. fair proportion, and-1 may be allowed to express the opinion that it would have been a wiser , and better policy had the Racing more fully, considered the claim of clubs, more especially those which held only one day's meeting during the year. This certainly could have been done by further reducing the number of racing days of the metropolitan cliibs, and of the country racing clubs which are at present recommended for three days, and up to five days for tho year's racing. The reason furnished by the Racing Commission for not recommending the Christchurch Racing CJub for a totalisator permit, namely, 'contiguity, two miles from. tho Riccarton course,' is not in my opinion a sound we, as the Christchurch Racing Club catered for a class of horses which, as a rule, -were not equal to successfully compete at meetings, of the C.J.C., • where horses calne from all parts of New.-Zea-land to..fulfil their!.engagements.".'