TROTTING IN NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 247, 12 July 1919, Page 9

TROTTING IN NEW ZEALAND

• QUESTION OF PERMITS VIEWS OF A MINISTER CONFERENCE OF ASSOCIATION The annual eonferehco of representatives of trotting clubs registered with the' New. Zealand Trotting Association was 'held in the-Accountants' Chambers yesterday morning. Mr. John Rowe (presi'dent) occupied the ohnir. The Hou. G. W. Russell (Minister of Internal Affairs) was present. There was a fairly'largo attendance of' delegates. . ' The conference granted leave of absenco to a number of clubs-which .were unaka to semi delegates on account of the _ curtailed railway services. The president said he believed that, apart from railway difficulties, there was a growing laxity among clubs in the matter of sending delegates.' That laxity Wis to be deplored. President's Address. , In his presidential address Mr. Rowe Mid: "Compared with tho last four years Of restricted racing and other disabilities, the season now closing has been a favourable ono to most of the clubs. Had the improved,conditions prevailed earlieitho Whole of them would havo benefited. 'After the signing of the armistice,;and when tho season was , .well advanced, Cabinet granted restitution of the days of racing' that had been curtailed under tli'e Government reduction scheme. This aillowed all but a few of the olubs to wee again on the pre-war basis.- Those -which' did. not benefit by the Government's- decision were thoso which customarily raced prior to February 1. "I feel that in a short - time to come the sport of- trotting will bo such that considering the phenomenal strides it is making-and it is increasing daily m popularity—the trotting will . bo forced to find some way of obtaining . more facilities from the' Government. It appears ridiculous ,thnt thero aro only 37-licenses issued to trotting clubs (and there are only 25 clubs throughout tho Dominion) that the club in the capital city is allowed only one, that the large anil prosperous ' districts, of Manawatu, Waikato, the Provinces of Taranaki, Nelson, and Marlborough, have only ono each, and that in Hawko's Bay and Invercargill thero aro none it all. I maintain that in cases where clubs are granted only ono license they should bo allowed at least one more. It is absurd to think that in such districts ;s Gore and Winton in-Southland, Oainaru in North Otago, Timaru in South Canterbury, and tho others I have mentioned, only ono license each is allowed, All fair-minded people, including our opponents, must sec'-tho-injustice cf it. Here I am reminded that on u previous occasion our strongest opponents, whilst not sympathising with us -in our: request for more licenses, fully/ recognised' how unjustly -all along we had been treated, nnd what wo appreciated was the recognition expressed by our opponents that we were suffering an' injustice.' .nnd they pledged .themselves, and did their utmost . to have that injustice righted. ' Curtailment of Privileges. "Recently tho Trotting Association brought up the question of the best method of securing more. permits ,for .trotting, and it has heon, suggested that the association, in conjunction With tho conference, should meet in Wellington tliis week while we are assembled here. The war period which we have passed through was one of considerable anxiety to those of us who wished to do our duty to our country in its time of trial, and at the same time to maintain the sport for which we have so much regard. The position was made particularly difficult by the fact that our opponents' were endeavouring, to use the national crisis to effect tho object which they have in peace times so consistently desired,'but nave failed- to accomplish. There con be no denying the fact that there aro in our midst restless, ill-informed people who <h> not fail to take every opportunity to ■ promote theirUtopian'fads. The followers, of sport Were at brio'period slow, to combat the agitation of these would-b'e spoilers, and even to-day wo are suffering from statutory restrictions contrary, to the public interest and to Ihe' welfare of our sport. Since steps have been taken to provide an organisation to protect our interests, and to create a public opinion opposed 'to the extremists.. a greater feeling of security has prevailed. • Within the last few months wo have however,' seen vigorous attempts made to curtail our. privileges, and it must bo apparent to all what the subsequent steps would have been, had the recent attempts been successful. For these reasons I cannot too strongly urge the necessity for combining to maintain our. privileges and our prosperity. The New Zealand Sports Protection League offers itself as an organisation for this purpose. One of its functions is to oppose those candidates for Parliament who do, not support our aims and objects, and there can be'no doubt that the league has exercised- very great influerico in this and a great many other directions in the past. As the general election is pending, -I commend the league to your support."The Forbury Park T.C. is to be commended for its progressive policy .a few $easons ago of instituting the New Zea- . land Trotting Stakes for three-year-old unhoppled trotters, but I am not: satisfied that any real movement lately has been made by 'Other clubs to abolish hopples.. . , • ■ '

Yards versus Time Starling. "As you will sce.ia the order paper, the governing body will bring forward u". proposal which aims at making distance handicapping universal and compulsory., The question of the distance to be allowed per second tho association has evidently left over for consideration, as probably the basis of 12 yards per second might not meet all cases; but whatever the allowances may be, it must be uniform, otherwise it would lead to inter, niinablo, confusion. I should like to say regarding the proposed system of .uniformity of starting of races, that if it shouid become compulsory it does not necessarily follow that those clubs which aro not so affluent as others*need go to much extra expense.' The barrier system in Auckland, for instance, would be too much for some of you, perhaps,- but probably some more simple and less expensive arrangement would suffice. Any system of starting which tends to eliminate prospective complaints, inquiries, fines, and disqualifications, should be acceptable to every ■ well-wisher of the ' sport. After carefully, noting the' results atta.ined .from the various methods of starting, I (inhesitiftingly affirm that the yards system is the fairest. Under the time system heavily-supported horses.have been called off for anticipating their bells, investors do not get a run for their money, owners have no prospect) of winning, whilst drivers and nders are often fined, in addition to, being liable to further punishment, ■these elements aro practically absent' <.¥} ISM ( "' e started by distance. It would not, of course, be fair' to make a comparison between this season, which saw the return of practically our usual- days of racing, and last season, when there -were so many disabilities. You will notico that there has- been an increase with respect to the prize-money of over -,£20,000. This more than makes up tor the denreaso of i'lii.OflO which occurred in 1918, caused by the one-third reduction scheme. The race tracks and grounds generally show that a great deal of labour lias. been expended on them, the improvements effected being greatly appreciated by owners, trainers, nnd the public, the general conditions reflecting credit on the respective caretakers. Yet tliu- constantly-increasing attendances clearly show members of several clubs that the accommodation provided has become quite inadequate. Possibly the high prices of necessary materials, and in some cases, the want of space, has Preveuted further improvements being made. With the war over, and tho Prospect of better limes ahead of us. it is hoped that scon we shall have opportunities of carrying out what is required,"

Hon. G. W. Russell's Views. Tho Hon. G. W. Russell thanked the conference for having invited him to attend. Ho appreciated very much the manner i» which the sport of trotting had been conducted. The sport was now on a substantial foundation, and likely to grow.' Mr.'Russell made a comparison between tho number of days allotted

to trotting and racing respectively in the various- provinces. He stated, that the total number of trotting, permits for the year was. fiftynine while the auuibsr of permits for the other form of racing was 222, Hawke's Buy had one day's trotting per 77,000 people; Taranaki, one day for 53,000 people; Waugnnui, three for 83,000 people; Wellington, two for 113,000 people; Greymouth, nine for 60,000 people; Canterbury, 2;i.for 203,000 people; Dunedin, nine for 190,000 people.. He could not, as Minister, make any policy announcement upon the extension of permits, and tho opinions ho might express would therefore bo largely personal. Ho had formed the opinion that wherever trotting was properly conducted it was the .coming sport. It was evident that unless greater facilities were provided-it would be impossible for trotting to establish itself in new districts, or expand where permits were already granted. Unless Parliamentary sanction could be obtained, there could bo no. increase in the number of days allotted to trotting. If tho conference wished Parliament to adopt tho suggestion for .increasing the number of permits it should communicate with the candidates for Parliament at the next general election. Visits of Lord Jellicoe & Prince of Wales, It I/ad been proposed that a combined trotting nioeting 'should be hold in Christchurch in connection with the visits' of Lord Jellicoe and the Prince of Wales respectively.. Under the castiron limit fixed for permits now, it would bo extremely'difficult and possibly, even probably, illegal, for tho Minister to grant permits even for two great events like that unless some clubs were prepared to sacrifice the necessary days. lie thought that the people of the country irould like the Prince and Lord Jollicoo both to see an exhibition of what New Zealand trotting .was like. ' It seemed to him that father tho present cast-iron' limit to the number of permits, should be abolished;and] the responsibility for the number" of permits granted should be vested in the Minister, or that some; latitude should be allowed to the Minister l so that on special occasions suich a 9 those- mentioned he might without breaking the law allow permits to be issued. The Totalisator. During the lost few years the tremendous feeling against tho totalisator appeared to have stibsided—in consequence, he had no dou'b't, of the good management of the sport, and of tho Government's carefulness to minimise the possibilities of trouble. The. Government had received many congratulations ' on one of the most recent developments "of tho totalisator system, viz., tho appointment of totalisator inspectors. This'had increased the public confidence in the machine. He believed that while trotting continued to be conducted as it was today, its supporters could go forward with confidence, and the Question of mw legislation would depend "entirely upon thosq who were returned at the general election. ' Me'thods of Starting. A deputation from tho Canterbury Owners'and Breeders' Association waiteu upon the conference' to urge the claims of the clock system' of starting against •those of tho standing, or starting by yards, system. Tho .Canterbury owners had no ,desire to'dictate to other club 3, said Mr. It. J.-Munro, their, spokesman, They had, however, found the system that they advocated, a very satisfactory one, and they hoped'that the yards system would not be imposed upon Canterbury, though Canterbury was' prepared to stand loyally by tho decisions of tho conference. - •-.''■ Mr. P. Solig moved the following remit from .the New Zealand Trotting Association: "In. nill handicap events tho handicapper shall, make n, distance allowance and not a time allowance." The chairman explained that a threefifths majority of the votes was necessary to carry the proposal. / ',' An amendment "That the matter he deferred for one year" was carried on a show- of hands. Mr. C. E. Mackay; (Wanganui) moved: "That the Government be urged to reinstate the double totalisator." Tho motion was carried. Inquiries and Appeals, .. Mr.,.•; Mackay also, proposed a motion urging that inquiries ana appeais should' in future be_ open to the.. Press except when there is the strongest reason to the contrary. He argued that the. present observance of. secrecy was not calculated to inspire the maximum amount of confidence.in the public. Mr. Mackay incorporated in his motiou a suggestion that greater protection should by legislation be extended.to witnesses,-, and that greater powers should' bo given to thosft conducting inquiries and appeals, to ensure the production of all available evidence. Mr. Selig pointed out that inquiries conducted by the Trotting Association were not in camera. .Mr. Mackay's remarks would-apply to district committees. ..''.-_ After a discussion the conference decided -that this question also should' be deferred for twelve months. . Alterations to Rules. The Trotting' Association suggested a number of additions to rules. They were discussed and were disposed of as under:— - ' '!; :" • 'That the association be composed of nine members, : sfiven of whom shall be elected for the South Island'and two for . the North Island; ih the year 1919 and thereafter-.". The suggestion was adopted. . ■ "That application for. the .registration of new clubs be accompanied with .£lO 10s.,- the fee for registration." The remit was adopted. Tho' association asked' that the follow, ing words be added to the definition of "joint interest" in Rnle 129: "And every lease of..'or'-instrument by way of security over any such horse." The remit was carried. "It any gear be broken, lost, damaged, or tampered with during the race the rider or driver of the horse shall on Returning tc the saddling paddock Teport the case to tho stipendiary steward." Tho conference adopted the remit.. ■ Rule 1.16 was amended to read: "Every owner shall, register his racing colours, and shall not race a horse in other than his- registered colours, .except -by permission of the stewards, -which • permission shall be grnnted only under special circumstances, and upon payment of the sum of 10s. for each time a horse 'belonging to such owner starts in colours other than his registered colours." A remit from the Winton Trotting Club, "That the 'New Zealand Trotting Journal' be made the official calendar for trotting in New-Zealand," was lost. Mr, "Rowe was re-elected president and Mr. E. H. Roberts vice-president. Other officers elected were: Executive, Messrs. OHivicr, Mnckny,'and Hodges, :