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Hokitika Guardian, 18 July 1921, Page 2

In the eourssc of the annual report hi the Racing Conference, the President staaed the racing season now ending has been conspicuously marked by two incidents—the appointment of Commission to enquire into the allocation of totalisator permits, and tbo passing of an Act of Parliament to suppress the evils attendant on the operations of book m a,keJ-s. Whatever comparisons may be drawn between the stnndrrd of racing in this Dominion and elsewhere. our superiority in two outstanding conditions is indisputable. First of all no racing club can be licensed here if it has even a remote taint of proprietary interest in its constitution. Secondly, speculation is legally restricted to a method of inconvertible fairness, which also tends to cheek individual excesses. By these means all the profits made by racing clubs aiy held in trust solely for advancement of Gosport. encouragement of owners and breeders, and well organised provision for the public. The contributions of our sunporters, have been thus diverted to their natural uses from the pockets of superfluous .shareholders. Every penny yo earned after payment of our heavy burden of taxation is now spent in perfecting our appliances or raising the value of our stakes. That is the material result of the exceptional merit of our system. Beyond this the zealous attention of the executive of every racing club is devoted to its welfare, regardless of personal criticism or gain, and a sportsmanlike spirit is fostered hi tlic community, which is the be-t antidote to any prejudiced hostility The legal banning of the professional layer of odds is a long stride in this direction. The totalisator fulfils all the requirements of the keenest J ,sport'nenn. engineers no plots, seduces no jockey or stableman, while it silently represents to investors the true odds created by their aggregate wisdom or unwisdom. The bookmaker, on tho other hand retains a higher average commission with prices cramped by a. limit wbi-b the machine cannot impose. On tin- e often-expressed grounds we have welcomed the adoption by Parliament of tilr; policy consistently advocated by the Conference. We have patiently striven to build up a national sport, of which every san citizen may be justifiably proud exempt from the pernicious ox-orescenoes of older countries.