TEEMS OF THE GIFT

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 48, 25 August 1933, Page 9

TEEMS OF THE GIFT

"AUCKLAND'S PROPERTY"

MEETING TO BE HELD

In a statement made on Wednesday at the request of the executive of the Auckland Yacht and Motor-boat Association, the cli airman (Mr. C. 11. Palmer) emphasised that although, the Sanders Cup was tho property of the Auckland Association, Mr. J. Hislop, the Auckland manager of Messrs. Walker ajid Hall, the donors, had offered it to the Kew Zealand Yachting Council, which had accepted it.

"Tho cup was given by Messrs! Walker and Hall in. terms of a letter written by Mr. J. Hislop, the Auckland manager of that company, on February IS, 1921," stated Mr. Palmer. ["Among other things the letter stated: 'This cup is. to be the property of tlieAuckland Yacht and Motor-boat Association and to be sailed for under the rules and regulations drawn up by that association.' The- letter, went on to provide that the winner should retain the cup for one year, 'when it shall again be sailed for, or if this club fails to arrange for such a contest within theyear, tho cup must be returned to the Auckland Yacht and .- Motor-boat Asso. ciation, who, no doubt, will be in a position to hold another contest i'or it among the various clubs under your control.' The cup was aecepttd on those terms." Me. Palmer criticised the action of Mr. Ilislop- in offering tho cup to the Yachting Council before meeting the deputation from the Auckland Association which waited upon him to discuss the future of the trophy, and .-in not making it clear that he had already bestowed the cup upon the council. "The position, therefore, is that the cup is the property of the Auckland ' Association, having been presented by ■ Messrs. Walker and Hall to bo com- ■ poted for under conditions which should be 'drawn up by that association.' If a contest fails, then the cup is to bo returned to the Auckland Association 'to hold another contest for it amongst the various clubs under its control.'A ■ meeting of tho Auckland xVssoeiation ■ will bo held at the earliest moment ■ when the whole matter will be discussed • and a decision reached." ! PAROCHIALISM DENIED. ■ "The Auckland Association repudii ates the suggestion of parochialism. It . is not prepared to join a New Zealand : Yachting Council, because it considers : such a body is not necessary for yacht- • ing in. Now Zealand, which of necessity is almost entirely local in its ap- ■ plication. As the council claims to control all intercolonial, mterprovincial, ; nad inter-port yachting in New Zealand, the Auckland Association conl siders its constitution much' too wide ;if its sole purpose is to control the I Sanders Cup. If the statement of its objects bad been limited to the Sanders ; Cup, so that it would in effect perpctu- ; ato the annual conferences, then little difficulty would have been experienced ■ in providing a constitution which would • have been acceptable to Auckland. "The Auckland executive fears that those who have not followed tiio controversy closely may 'be . misled into thinking that tho present difficulty 1 arises over a mere matter of government. It goes much deeper than that. For some years now a feeling has prevailed, not only in Auckland, but in other centres too, that the contest was i ceasing to be a. test of tho senmanlike i qualities of the crews, and was beeom-1 ing a test for boatbuilders." EDITORIAL COMMENT. ] Tho "New Zealand Herald," in an ' editorial, deplores the controversy over , the Sanders Cup contests as being an \ unseemly wrangle over a sporting event '■. which commemorates the name of a ', very gallant.New Zealand sailor. "Better far that the contests should cease 1 and the cup bo put in the crucible than that the hero's honoured name should be bandied about in this way. Because of the superb valour of this son of Auckland the name is more than I a name,' it is a living thing, an in- > spiration, and an example. Therefore, ' it should not be used as a mere title [ of a cup and a sailing race. . . . Under the unfortunate circumstances perhaps ' the best procedure would be for th© ', Auckland Yacht and Motor-boat Association to surrender tho possession of ' the trophy to tho donors, thus dispos- ' ing of the question of who .holds-auth-ority over it, and for the donors to ask ! the New Zealand Yachting Council to ' release them from any commitment : made about it. This granted, they : should lock it away against a day when ' the government of the sport has ' smoothed out its difficulties. New Zea: land:wido competition is to be encouraged, but there is no reason why each I centre/should not hold "a Sanders race ', for which the prize might well be tho ' leaf of a bay tree Sanders knew or a button.from his uniform. There is no \ need to have a trophy of any intrinsic ' value. Indeed, there seems to be good [ reason for avoiding the influences that may attach to cups."