ACCUSATION OF SHARP PRACTICE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 25, 24 October 1917, Page 6

ACCUSATION OF SHARP PRACTICE

ItKPLY BY KUROW JOCKEY CLUB. Sir—ln to-day's issue ,o£ the " ot:l S[> Daily Times" there is a small P ara S'?P, from its "own correspoiu-ieiu Iron.i\\cUfnston. under the heading ot the Njnd ham lacing Club." I'ln? dent" recounts how the ftyndhaui Kat iug' Club had applied through Mr. An derson, member for Mataura. foi a per init to rase on the bouthland Clubb ground at lnvercargill, This. dent" then, reports the of 1 ternal Affairs' reply m the Huse. 1 this report is a true and faithful one ot Mr. Russell's reply, then 1 must take £he opportunity of stating that the * ister is absolutely wrong ' hat he says about the kurow Jocke.vCl ib » per in it to race in 02-nlu.ru 1 stoutly* He is reported to eay "be was not going to allow a piece Of sharp practice on the part of the liurow Jockey Club to form a precedent for future concessions. Jf he did say this then he that tne luirow Club resorted to t»Uarp practice" to obtain/ their permit. Ihw I absolutely deny, . By saving it to Minister docs a big ,u V"£? O aJ] B Kurow jockey Cluu, to all its and to all Us members. Ihere liejer was any intention on the pait of the club to deceive the Minister or h«| Department. and it is nmust on the Minister's part even to hint at such a thm„. Che Samaru "Hail's" "special ernes pondciit" goes even K the article as "Charge tice" and if anyone reads tho article in the "Otago Daily limes and then reads tae article in the Oamaru lie cannot fail to notice lunv tho Ma:H !■ wpSTte twisted so much more to the , detriment of the Kurow Club and s calculated to put a far nastier taste m one's mouth than the ot he. rather neculiar, when one considers tnay the focal paper lias in tlie past much financial support from tlie ciud. To justify tho Kuiw Club's honour, el me state here that there wa* no in of auTe had the sanction rf the District Committee who " cotu " iend . f ° uates, etc., to the Racing Confeience, the sanction of tlie Trotting Association a so tho permission of the North Otago Kate courJS Trustees and the Jsoith Otago Jockey Club. Then our pro— wa advertised freely and openl) i 1 . Kurow, but ns we that it was requisite to do so, it &uieiy does not warrant the Minister or anybody else in mating such an as "sharp practice against the Jocke-v Club, which virtually is against its president, secretary, and and other officials and members j"" 1 feel it my duty to the ciuo and to my fellsw members to. protest against any such accusation. l- c O d ™ ru "Mail's" special coiTespoisdent ic norts'the Minister to say: And, a( }dea t£e Minister, "I am not going to allow a piece of sharp practice bv Kurow- to S73"~.r,SS " S.«»;> s.*rsn"tatv« justify his position, eo do we. _ I have stated above the whole circumstances, and proved beyond a doubt tin# the accusation of sharp practice is absolutely unjustihable and tota.ly uiwarranted. I now seek to poiiu t where the error lays. By reterring - the njove two articles, one learns from the "Minister's own mouth tliau die Kurow Club applied tor its permit m the ordinary way without drawing altention to the fact that it was racing in Oamaru." I may be wrong but I <io not think that the application for a permit requires this information, anil certainly as it was widely known and advertised there can be no question o! the club's trying to deceive the Minister. Then Mr. Russell states that "every application for a permit has to come 1.,"i0r~ him." Shortly after this ho states his "utmost surprise" that the Department had granted the Kurow Club permission to race in' Oamaru. How did the llep.Tt'uent know and not the Minister? And why <lid the Minister fail in his duty in not having the application before him instead of it going before the Department and being granted, by the Department? Therefore, I say, if any,* blame is to be attached to anyone over tlw matter, that it is to the Minister, and not to the Kurow Joekey Club. I trust I have written enough to vindicate the honour of the ICurow Jockey Club,' and to show to the public that the charge of "sharp practice - ' was totally unwarranted by tlie Minister. Before finishing, let me add that it was an impossibility for the club to race at Kurow, and had the 'Minister withheld the permit to race at Oamaru then scores of people would have missed a most enjoyable outing, and man?" horse-owners would have been deprived of the chance of winnir.fr a proportion of the stakes given by tlie club.—l am, etc., ROBERT fl. GILLIES, President K.J.C. October 18. IM7.