LAWN TENNIS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1375, 28 February 1912, Page 8

LAWN TENNIS.

MEETING OF CHIEF CONTROL. ENGLISH VISIT. AND FUTURE CHAMPIONSHIPS. A quarterly meeting of tho Council of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association was held last night. .Mr G. A. Hurley presided, and (hero were also present:— Messrs. Barry Keesing (Auckland delegate), Harold Brown (Canterbury), C. White-Parsons (Canterbury), l'\ W. Grady (Hawko's Bay), P. P. Wilson (Hawkc's Hay), 11. G. Didsburv (Nelson), T. Gray (Otago), A. L. Berry (Otago), A. J. Dixon (Taranaki), C. A. Jeffrey (Wanganui), D. M. Kean (Wellington), and C. A. Lawrence (Wellington). It was reported that a'copy of a letter from Mr. A. Wallis Myers "to the Australasian Association had been received.. Mr. Myers hopes to arrange for a team consisting of C. P. Dixon, A. E. Beamish, P. G. Lowe, and himself, to visit Australia in October next. The Australasian Association has offered half proceeds with a guarantee of .£4OO, and has suggested that tho tour might bo extended to NewZealand. Tho offer is subject to tho team coming with tho sanction of the L.T.A. Tho matter is under consideration by the management of tie Neiv Zealand Association.

The English Visit, A member asked if the Management Committee had any intention of reducing the charge made on the associations, seeing that the former had a largo balance. The chairman replied that ho thought that ho could answer {jr the committeo in that. _ He thought that the committeo had no intention of reducing tho charge. The committee looked upon it as a good thing to have a "nest egg." Por instance, they would have to look forward to an expenditure of .£IOO for sending a team, to Australia., This was only his personal view, but, 'if they wero going to keep up tennis, these things wero necessary. Mr. Hurley said that the English' team spoken of in the report was to do an eight weeks' tour of Australia. If thev extended tho time to twelve weeks, tlirce weeks' playing might bo done in New Zealand, and tho New Zealand Association would guarantee .£l5O and half the takings. It was proposed to get thirty enthusiasts at £b, or sixty at £2 10s. to guarantee the association. A member: "If you cant get tho guarantees, are you going to make the association responsible for tho matter? Mr./ Hurley: "We have already done that."

The New Idea. Mr. Hurley vacated the chair in favour of Mr. Gray, in order to move the motion he had eiven notice of: That in the opinion of this council the New Zealand championships should, as far as possible, ho held only in the four principal cities, alternately in the South and North Islands. Mr. Hurley said that tennis in New Zealand was not now tho "ono horse 6how JJ that it used to be. At present tho annual championship meeting was allotted to some place which the council considered was due to get the honour and the advantago of tho gathering. Tho question resolved itself into a matter of the interests of tho actual competitors at the annual gathering against tho interests of the whole of the players in tho Dominion. Many of tho competitors would no doubt prefer that the meetings should be held in the country rather than in the cities for tho reason that they were treated beter—fifty per cent, better—in the country than in the cities.' A voice: Hundreds, per cent. However, said Mr. Hurley, continuing, there were other interests to consider. Tho players who took part at tho meoting numbered about 100, while thero were about 10,000 players in the Dominion altogether. He had no hope of carrying a proposal of this kind-at the first time of asking. His ultimate goal was to have one place only as tho centre for the holding of the annual meeting—to have ono homo for tennis and to have their own freehold there. If they held the annual meetings at the four centres they would get better gates than they could hope for in the smaller places. At present the plajes had tho championships allotted to them once in about 13 years, which was rather a long time to wait. His objoot was to make the "nestegg" bigger, and to mako a home for tennis in New Zealand. Under tho present system there was a great deal of recurring expense. Then tho local committees tried to get tho best of the Management Committee every time, and they generally did. Mr. A. L. Berry (Otago delegate) seconded. Mr. Brown moved to add as an amendment that in the event of the championship meeting being held in any other centre than Wellington, the conduct of the meeting should bo delegated to tho local association. Mr. Hurley said he was agreeable to that. Mr. Gray ruled that the amendment was in order, but subsequently decided that it was not in order. Mr. Hurley then moved an adjournment for a mouth to permit of Mr. Brown's giving notice of motion. Mr. Wilson seconded. A long discussion followed, and at length Mr. Hurley moved that the meeting disagreed with the ruling of the chairman. This motion was lost. Mr. Hurley then renewed a former motion in the form that thero should bo an adjournment for five weeks. Mr. "Wilson seconded. A vote was taken on a show of hands, and thero _ was _ a tie. The chairman gave his casting vote in favour pf tho motion. It was remarked that Mr. Wilson, the seconder of tho motion, did not vote. Mr. Wilson remarked that he had been thinking the matter over. A division was called for in order to mako all present voto. Mr. Wilson then left the room to avoid voting: in his own words, to seo what the night was like. On the voting strength of tho delegates, the motion was carried by 19 to 16.