A STRONG PROTEST.

Shannon News, 12 August 1921, Page 1

A STRONG PROTEST.

Against Threatened Race ! Permit. Indignation Meeting in Levin. i -4r The prospect of the loss of the Horowhenua Racing Club’s permit, and the possibility also of interfering with the retention of the race course for show and recreative purposes, resulted in a good attendance at the People’s Theatre,. Levin, on Wednesday when an indignation meeting was held as a protest against the cancellation of the local permit by the Racing Commission. The Mayor presided, and with him on the platform were Mr W. H. Field, M.P., and representatives of the Racing Club, A. and P. Association and Chamber of Commerce. OHAU’S PROTEST. In opening the meeting, the Mayor read apologies from the Hon. Dr. Pomare (who was prevented from attending on account of the serious illness of his wife), and Messrs. J. Kebbell and C. H. Pyke. The Mayor also read ,a letter which the Racing Club had ;l§6eived from the. Ohau branch of tli'e Farmers’ Union, containing the following resolution moved by Mr J. D. Brown and seconded by Mr E. Hogg, and carried: “That this meeting emphatically' protest against the injustice of the Racing Commission in cutting out the Horowhenua Racing Club’s meetings while at the same time increasing the number of days on which race meetings may be held in New Zealand.” (Applause.) Continuing, .the Mayor congraiulated the Racing Club and the A. and P. Association for the action they had taken as a protest against the recommendation of the Racing ComI mission, and stated that a petition which -was being circulated in sunthe retention of the permit 'had v o#W 500 signatures already. The 'iheetWg that evening-had been called largely at the instigation of-the public. which showed the great intent that was taken in the matter, and the feeling that had been worked up. He touched briefly on the proposed in-crease-in the race permits, whilst such clubs as Horowhenua were to he wiped out, which was grossly unfair. Referring to the purchase of the racecourser the Mayor said the properly was bought by the Racing Club and j A. and P. Association on the under ’ standing that the permit would he permanently granted. Since these

two bodies had taken over the course, which comprised 70 acres they had greatly improved it, as if had never been anticipated that the permit would be in danger.; Not onlv was the ground used for races and the show, but for picnics and sports of different kinds, and was an asse* to the town and district. The whole district should join - with the two principal bodies in taking steps to retain the privilege that they had enjoyed, and which was their right. “AN UNWARANTED HARDSHIP.” The Mayor concluded by stating that he had a resolution which would be submitted to the meeting, thmover being Mr .7. McLeavey, President of the Horowhenua Racing Club, and the seconder, Mr G. Tully, vicepresident of the Horowhenua A. and FV Association. The motion was afollows:— “That this representative meeting of Levin and district residents considers that the recommendation of the Racing Commission to reject the Horowhenua Racing Club’s application for a totalisator license to be unjust and unreasonable, and the reason given therefor to be ill-considered and inadequate. And, further, this meeting considers that if such recommendation is given effect to, an unwarranted hardship will be entailed on this community for the reason that the welfare not, only of the Racing Club but of the A. and P. Association and other sports bodies will be prejudicially affected; and as a further consequence, the public at large will be deprived of a valuable open space conducive to its health and future welfare, and now largely used for its pleasure and recreation, other than racing, and generally that the said recommendation is an unwarranted infringement of the rights and privileges of a large and progressive country community.”

AN INJUSTICE TO THE DISTRICT. In moving the motion, Mr McLeavey .stated that he considered a great injustice had been done the town and district by the Racing Commission’s report. The speaker briefly outlined the early history of the club, which he said was an off-shoot of the club which raced on fhe western side of the lake, f The course there was found too small, t and a move was made to thp eastern side and later to the present property.. In. 1910 a Commission was set up to consider the same question, and one of the things it did was to cut out the Horowhenua permit. A deputation was formed and waited on the responsible Minister, and after a long agitation a permit was issued again in 1915. Only two meetings were held, when ‘‘in order to win the war” Horowhenua was again closed down. (Laughter.) In 1919 the permit was restored, when races were held, and a second meet- 1 ing was held in 1920. Since the property was purchased by the Racing Club and A. and P. Association, the former body had spent £IBOO on improvements, and the latter £6OO, making -a total of £2400, That had been cut oiitj by a scratch of the pen, which was unjust. He ridiculed the statement of the Commission that Horowhenua could. he served by the races at Palmerston North, Foxton and Otaki. "They might as well say that because there are bowling greens at-Foxton or Otaki we should play howls there," said Mr McLeavey, amidst laughter, “or .if'we want a game of golf we must go to the links at Palmerston.” The local meeting was a picnic and the annual outing for many who did not go to any other races. Thai wa* correct as fa r> as he was concerned personally, and* many others in this district were the same. The speaker concluded by stating, that they must save their permit, which in a few years would enable them to pay off the course-, and allow it to become the properly of the people of the district. The course and appointments were worth £IO,OOO, and the ground had been ’ a good bargain at £4500. (Applause.) CHAMBER-OF COMMERCE. Mr C. H, Martin, president of the Levin Chamber of Commerce, stated that one important point that should not be overlooked was the progress that the town and district were making, and the privileges they had should be retained. The Chamber w'&s not directly interested in racing, but they were out to see that no injustice was done any locsl institutions. On behalf of the Chamber he had pleasure in .supporting the motion. (Applause.)

A. AND P. ASSOCIATION’S SUPPORT.

Mr A. McLeavey, president of the A. and P. Association, felt sure that every member of the Association would support the motion. Mr McLeavey traced the history of the body he represented. It was formed in 1906, and in 1908 gave prize-money of £166 as against £390 in 1921. Its membership had increased to nearly 500. In 1920, when it was felt that the tenure of the grounds was assured for all time by the acquirement of same by the issue of debentures in conjunction with the Racing Club, the Association set out to erect permanent buildings for the housing, of stock, etc. To get funds they secured 40 life members at £lO each, which gave £4OO, which, with £l5O spent in 1919, and an outlay of £SO fn laying down and fencing a competition ring, made a total expenditure of £6OO since the ground was permanently acquired. When the land was. acquired by the A. and P. Association and Racing Club .arid improvements carried out, they considered the racing permit good for all time, otherwise it was doubtful if such an ambitious scheme of improvements would have been gone on with! If they lost the grounds through the cancellation of the permit, the money spent would be lost as .well. During the war the A. and P. Association had done good work, and gave all its .profits—some £6oo—to the patriotic funds. This was the only show on this side of the range*, the speaker said' in conclusion, although he believed there was a small show up at Palmerston North—(laughter)—it would never interfere with Horowhenua. Mr J. McLeavey’s motion was then put to the meeting, and carried with prolonged applause. MR FIELD OPTIMISTIC. Mr W. H. Field, M.P., expressed

pleasure at being present. He said his own belief in regard to their permit was that they were going to win. (Applause.) Mr Field stated he had met Dr. Pomare a few days ago, and that gentleman had promised to assist in every possible way in getting back the Horowhenua. permit. Mr Field said he could not say what would happen in Parliament, but he considered it would be far better to let things alone than to accept the Commission’s report as it stood. He referred to the number of race meetings that had been cht out and trotting permits granted, which he thought would be keenly opposed by .different sections of the House. He thought when the House met and they learned the opinions of members there would undoubtedly be a division between those who were satisfied and those who were not* it would be found that the latter were in the majority. Nevertheless, the people of tihis district should leave nothing undone in forking up interest in the matter. and getting stronger support to the protest. This should be continued right up to the time the House meets next month. This was a necessary thing. -Mr Field then read a. report "Which he had received from the secretary of the Racing Club, which contained some interesting information concerning the progress of the club. The club had passed through many vicissitudes, hut had overcome its difficulties time after time, and carried on in spite of its troubles. For that alone it deserved a permit. Mr Field referred to the population, question, which the Commission would take into account, in allotting permits. The population of Levin town was--2000, and within a radius of five miles there was another 3000, a total of 5000. The district was therefore quite entitled to its tote license on the Commission’s population basis. The number of permits they proposed to issue worked out at about one to every 3500 people. He referred to the fact that two Ministers, Mr Massey and Mr Guthrie, had lost permits in their districts. Mr Guthrie was on the warpath, and intended to fight for the return of the Ashhurst license when the House met. Mr Nash, M.P., of Palmerston North, and Mr E. Newman, M.P., for Manawatu (who had lost the Bulls permit) had stated that they would be prepared t.o oppose the cutting out of these permits when the report came before the House. (Applause.) Mr Field stated there was the aspect of the question that in this , district there were numbers of people who only attended the local races, and treated it as their annual outing. Why should they lose this privilege? That certainly was not right. Touching on the point that it was the ! intention of the authorities to reduce j betting, the work of the Commission rwould have quite- the opposite effect, | as it had - increased the trotting days by 19 and the gallops by nine. Moreover, the racing was being centralised, and the speaker considered that if the HoTowhenua permit was taken j away with the idea of reducing betI ting, he believed more money would |to put through the machine on a ! single race in the big centres than for the whole of the Horowhenua meeting. He dealt with the reasons given for the proposed taking away of the local permit, and the slogan of the Government for economy. In the face of this the permits had been increased, and a new license issued to Waiinarino k a place that consisted of a few houses. It had no course or anything else, yet. the Commission told it to go in for land, form a course and erect buildings at a cost of about £250,000. Where did the economy come in? Mr Field next referred to the view taken by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the operation _of the 'Commission’s recommendations. However, that had been overcome, and the question postponed till the House met. He hoped the local races would be held in November next as usual, and for many Novembers to come. When the matter of appointing the Commission came before the House, he was somewhat doubtful about voting for it, and communicated with the-officials of the Horowhenua Racing Club, and was assured by the club that everything was all right, and to support the Commission, as there might be a chance of getting a second day. In-

stead of that they had been hit to the boundary again. (Laughter and applause.) Mr Field stated he had got a letter from the . Returned Soldiers’ Association, of Napier asking him to help in retaining the permit of the Napier Park Club, which had given so nine hot' its funds for patriotic purposes during the war. Horowlienua' had done the same thing, and was entitled to its permit and an extra day besides. (Applause.) THE PRIME MINISTER’S PROMISE. Mr C. I. Harkness, after congratu-

lating the speakers of the evening, moved:—

“That this representative meeting of Levin and district citizens is strongly of the opinion that Parliament should adhere to the Prime. Minister’s promise and allow the Horowhenua Racing Club two days’ racing in each racing year.” * • Mr Harkness said that when Mr Massey visited the show in 1920 a deputation had interviewed him with a request for an additional day’s racing. Mr Massey replied that the request. would be favourably considered, which the speaker thought was on account of the amicable way in which the Racing Club and A. and P. Association were working together. As. a member of , the Finance Adjustment Committee, which was acting on behalf of the debenture holders in the purchase of the course, in addition''to being on the membership of the Racing Club and the'committee of the A. and P. Association, Mr Harkness urged the necessity of the residents of the whole district supporting their local institutions, and so assure the retention of their permit and the success of the purchase of the course. The motion was seconded by Mr C. Blenkhorn, who traversed the club’s financial position, and pointed out the necessity of having their permit restored. The club had been told they must improve their appointments arid did so at a considerable outlay. The debentures had been taken up readily to purchase the course, and the club wanted to act honourably and repay their debts. They could only do that by getting their permit, with, be hoped, ah extra day as well. The motion was carried unanimously.' CONCLUSION. Mr A. McLeavey moved a vote of thanks to Mr Field for being present, and also to the Mayor for .presiding. A similar vote to the proprietors for the use of the People’s Palace was also carried. y