RUGBY'S BURDEN.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1404, 2 April 1912, Page 6

RUGBY'S BURDEN.

THE ATHLETIC PARKFOOTBALL FINANCE. imimws or juries kequksted. llow {o provide playing grounds is n problem I hat is exercising (lie Wellington Kugbv I'nion very seriously just wow. There is an idea tliat the Rugby t.nion, having ils own ground, is comfortably oil' by comparison with oilier smaller .struggling sp.irls bodies, bill ii I lie union has a l>i K iconic it luis also a big expenditure, The game is supported wholly Irani Ine gate receipts at nialelies, and all but an ineonsidoru'jle amount of Ills revenue from this source is taken at the Athletic Park. Out oi this revenue grounds have to be provided for matches which nre not interesting cxccpt to tlio players, anil all the other -expenses found lor keeping the game alive. At present the liitgby Union . controls Hie .U.ilelie I'ark under a lease. The area is a JCaiivc reserve, and tlie law is that the rental payable shall be Jive per cent, on the unimproved value. The ground was taken over in ISUIi for a period of '_'l years bv the Athletic i'ark Company, at an annual rental of ,tlti«. Wellington Union's Burden. Fonie years ago (lie Wellington liitgby 1 niou took over the lease, and paid tor the privilege the sum ol .CfOOU, which amount was lent to tliem by tlie N.Z.U.I.'. from the proceeds of (he "All iilaek" tour. This money Hie Wellington I'nion is paying back at the rate of .tfijll per year. In addition they have to pay tiio annual rental of „Cl(i(l, and J;2ot) in rotes and taxes. They have also to pay a caretaker Jil'if) a year, and wages for other men engaged during the year amount to ,£IOO. Altogether it costs very nearly JllaOO a year to run the Athletic Park. Tits union pays also every year alxnit <C6OO for rent of other grounds. The season before last there was a deficit of .£SOO, but last season was a phenomenal une—not a single wet Saturday, and the championship decided by the last match—and that deficit was paid off. An uninteresting series of cup matches, or a few postponements, each one of which 'costs approximately .£IOO, would entuil serious Joss to the iiugby Union. The lease expires in . November, 1!)H, by which time (he principal outlay of ,I'iOOO will have been repaid, but after that the union will be faced with a new, difficulty. The Government valuation of the ground has been raised in the meantime to .£18,500, and the rent charge will therefore be something like JJOOI). The prospect, is not an encouraging one, and Hi? union committee is puzzled what to do about it. Also, thero is n rumour that the rich. Sydney League is ready and willing to assist the professional game here by taking over the ground. Appeal to the City Council. Yesterday a deputation from the Eugbv Union, consisting of the chairman (Sir. El O. Hales), and Mr. W. Perry waited upon the Finance Committee of flits City Council, and asked for a remission of rates on the ground. Mr. Hales recounted some of the facts related above, and pointed out that the Hugby Union made nothing from the ground except that it enabled tlieni to foster a game which they hoped was doing good to the youth of this country. Practically the ground was a public park; tor it was made available free of charge to the children of the public schools in use every Friday for cricket and football. If the union could not hold the Park the council would lose considerable revenue from the trams, which, at a very low estimate, amounted to .£350 a year.

Legislative Relief. He did not know whether if was legal In vomit the rates, but if nut Hie union would be jliii! if the council would as.-i:-{. in Retting flic necessary legislation pushed through Parliament. Tfio union made tins iw|ticsl because they recogmVcd (hut within three years Hie 'Park must, go unless they could get some relief. (.'(imieillor Frost suggested that it might be possible that on revaluation the value would be reduced considerably. Mr.'Hales replied that the lowest reduction that seemed possible was to .EIC.OOO. So, at any rate, the Valuation Department had advised. It" the union were not prepared to accept Hi AI. the Public Trustee would probably cut the ground up into building allotments. Councillor ShirtcliuVthought that tho council could not l>o a party to a schenii) which would, ultimately benefit (he private individuals who were the owners of tho land. Perhaps (.he council might find otlrer grounds for football. Mr. Hales: Give us a decent service through the tunnel and we can go out that way. We tried it once at Miramar, and it nearly killed us. We have only got an hour (o put three or four thousand people on the ground, and the service through Iho (imuel can't carry them. The Acting-Mayor ventured the opinion that if there was power fo charge on the Duppa Street ground the difficulty could be got over. "Only a Ministry Pro Tern." Mr. Halest Tf the original Act that this Council put before Parliament had gone through we would have been in clover. But it didn't go through. The Acting-Mayor: It may be possible lo bring it forward again. Mr. Hales: It may be very difficult to get it. through with Mr. Ell in the Ministry. Tli'.! Acting-Mayor: But he may not be in the Ministry very long. Councillor Frost: It's only a Ministry pro tern. The. AcMng-Mnyor promised that the council would investigate Hie matter, but he was advised that legislative sanction would have lo be obtained before the rates could be remitted.