Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 1906. AN IGNORANT CRITIC.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3704, 25 August 1906, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 1906. AN IGNORANT CRITIC.

In a recent issue of the Palmerston “ Times ” appears another characteristic specimen of an article which has brought its editor so often into ridicule. The oracle on this occasion has expressed his opinion re the wining out of certain racing chibs, among which he mentions Woodville and Foxton —refers to the clubs as “ parasites ” and to the localities as “ two dog ” townships. He says, inter alia, “if the Racing Conference was worth its salt it would demand that the Colonial Secre* tary should do SOt it 13 th§ .fos*

taring of a certain class of racing by clubs of this calibre that brings the sport into contempt, and leads to a demand for the abolition of the totalisator.” * * * We are opposed to gambling in any shope or form, but since the State legalises the lesser of the two kinds of the gambling evil the Foxton Club has as much right to its totalisator permits as any club in the larger centres of population. The Foxton Club has the reputation of conducting one of the best country meetings in the colony ; its officials include men who are held in the very highest esteem throughout the district—men whose desire jit is to stamp out any attempt at “ crook ” running. It is therefore a direct insult to suggest that these men would do anything to bring “ the sport into contempt.” Racing was indulged in in Foxton for the love of the sport, 40 or 50 years ago, long before the writer of the above mentioned balderdash was in his swaddling clothes, and Palmerston was waste land, aud many of the old sports are still connected with the club. In order to attract some of the best horses here, stakes to the amount of are paid away annually. The surplus funds of the club are devoted to improving the appointments and beautifying the grounds, which are a valuable asset to the town. With reference to the remark about Foxton being a “ two dog ” township, 'had this ill-balanced scribe interviewed some of Palmerston’s leading business men in respect to Foxton before writing the article above referred to he would have been a little more discreet in his utterances.