SPORTS COMMITTEE.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1793, 19 November 1879, Page 3

SPORTS COMMITTEE.

Tlie usual weekly meeting of tlie Sports Committee was held yesterday afternoon in the City Council Chambers. There was a full attendance, the chair being taken by his Worship the Mayor. The names of those who had been proposed as membsrs of committee at the last meeting wore accepted. The Mayor said that since they had last met he had received a visit from the Kev. C. Fraser, for the purpose of explaining portions of the letter ho had written to the committee on the subject of allowing the sale of intoxicating liquors on the sports ground on Anniversary Day. Mr Fraser wished it to be understood that the passage in the letter referring to disorderly conduct at the sports was intended to apply to those which had taken place six or seven years ago in Latimer square, when it was customary to celebrate the Anniversary Day there, and not to those of recent years. Nothin" that had been written in the letter was meant as a reflection upon any member of the committee, and ho regretted that such au impression should have been made. Mr John Ollivier said that in _ connection with the chairman’s remarks, ho might inform the committee that ho was in receipt of a letter from Kev. Mr Fraser upon the same subject. Mr Ollivier then road the letter. De characterised Mr Fraser’s first communication ns a series of huge mistakes, and his second as one still huger, and he must say that the writer ihad only succeeded by his explanation in making matters worse. In fact, he had got himself into a worse mess than before, and simply adhered to his original opinions, which wore entirely erroneous. For his part, he thought the beat plan would bo to let the pitiable matter drop, and

allow Mr Fraser’s correspondence to remain upon the table. He would move a resolution to that effect. Mr Ollivier’s motion was seconded and carried. The hon. secretary read a letter he received from the secretary of the A.0.P., requesting, on behalf of the Am Igamattd Friendly Societies Fete Committee, the loan of the stakes, ropes, &0., belonging to the Sports Committee, to be used at the Foresters’ Fete. It was agreed to grant the request. The secretary read a letter from Mr Crooks, offering his services to superintend the children’s sports upon Anniversary Day, if it met with the approval of the committee. A member proposed that Mr Crooks should be placed on tbe committee, and his request could then be complied with if it was thought desirable. Mr Crooks was enrolled es suggested, the consideration of the matter referred to in his letter being deferred. Mr Pratt reported that Messrs Petersen and Coates had expressed to him their intention of giving their annual donation of cups to be competed for, and ho had no doubt Mr Sandstein would follow their example. Mr Hebden reported that he had advertised the programme of the sports in the four daily papers. Mr Ollivier said he would now move the resolution of which he had given notice of motion at the last meeting, with the addition of the words —“ Provided no compulsory charge should bo made for any such entry.” Before moving tbe resolution be wished to refer to an article which ha had read in one of the daily papers—be belie rod the Press— which ho considered a gross and unprovoked libel on the actions of the committee. Ho was utterly at a loss to comprehend how any thing that had fallen from their lips at any of their meetings had given cause for such misrepresentation by tbe gentleman who had written the article in question. He must have been prompted either by party feeling or some other motive hostile to their movement. Motives had been imputed to them of the most unworthy kind, and so far from wishing to curtail the public of any of their privileges with regard to the domain, he wished to bestow a boon upon them. Any one who could sit down and write in such a manner was no friend of the public, but the greatest enemy to social order they could have, and he was perfectly astonished that such an article should have appeared in fhe Press. One of the grossest aspersions in the whole article was contained in the last paragraph, referring to the condition the Park was left in after the sports were over. That was not true, and if it were, did not the writer know that any one who so desired it might at any time get up a pic-nio in the Park, and leave the traces of it in the shape of empty bottles and sandwich papers behind, and no one could say them nay. Whoever wrote the article evidently preferred the larrikinism of the streets to the education of young men in the athletic sports of the country. The statement which had been made was a slander both on tbe public of Christchurch and the committee. The privilege they sought to obtain from the Government was to give them for the time being complete control of the ground for the comfort and advantage of the public, and if they were to he browbeaten on the course by persons refusing to comply with any rules or regulations the committee might lay down, on the ground that the Domain was public property and every one could do as they liked, he, for one, would refuse ever again to be connected with any sports for the future. It had never been contemplated to make any charge for admission, and the writer of the article was utterly wrong in making such an assumption. He would now move —“ that a petition be presented to the General Assembly, praying that power be given to the Domain Board to close a portion of the Domain, for a period not exceeding seven days in the whole, in any year, for the purpose of public recreation, and that such Domain Board shall have power to convey any portion of the ground reserved to any society for the time being, for recreative purposes. Provided that no compulsory charge should bo made for any such entry.” Mr Pratt, in seconding the resolution, endorsed the remarks of Mr Ollivier as to the falsehoods and gross misrepresentations which characterised the article in the Press. Mr Mitchell said nothing had over been said about charging for admission. All they wanted was about 440 yards of a course reserved for three or four hours. The motion was then put and carried. Mr Walkdon reported, on behalf of the ground committee, that two men had been at work on the course, which would be in excellent condition by the time it was required. Messrs Walkdeu, Mitchell, and Hebden were appointed as a committee to allot the location of the booths. On the motion of Mr Hebden, seconded by Mr Pratt, it was resolved to add to the programme a half mile race for youths under eighteen years of age. An account was passed for payment, and the meeting adjourned.