Wellington Cyclists Having Sorry Time

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1065, 1 September 1930, Page 10

Wellington Cyclists Having Sorry Time

PORT NICHOLSON CLUB ANOTHER ANNUAL MEETING Special to THE SUN WELLINGTON, Today. Cyclists riding in Wellington are having a sorry time at present, and it is difficult to see how the position can be altered while the existing quarrel remains. It will be remembered that at the annual general meeting of the Port Nicholson Amateur Road Cycling Club, held last April, a notice of motion on the order paper was carried that affiliation with the 'Wellington Centre of the N.Z.A.A.A. be cancelled and that the club link up with a new organisation, the New Zealand Union of Cyclists. This, however, did not suit those who still pinned their faith to the amateur athletic authorities, and after legal advice had been secured the meeting was declared invalid and all business done on that occasion out of order. Since then the position has become even more confused, and the air is not yet cleared. In fact the position is more complicated than ever.

An attempt was made to put matters in order by calling another annual meeting of the club, and the order paper of the April meeting was again submitted to members under the chairmanship of Mr. J. S. Stalker. The Wellington Centre was represented by Mr. A. C. Ivitto, its president, and the recalcitrant members of the club, who have formed another Port Nicholson Cycling Club, which is affiiliated with the New Zealand Union of Cyclists, also sent a delegation of four to place its views before the meeting. The meeting proceeded to business and dealt with the order paper in the usual manner. The notice of motion dealing with secession was declared lapsed as no proposer or seconder came forward to sponsor it, and the meeting proceeded to elect its officers and transact other more or less important business.

The delegation from the opposition branch of the club then attempted to place its views before the meeting, but received only a scant hearing. One of the members of the delegation presented a written statement prepared by the solicitors of the opposition club, which was read, but with very little discussion it was ordered to lay on the table, after which the delegation withdrew. And here the matter rests in the meantime.

The whole controversy could be settled very quickly if only a change of officials was made by each branch. At the present time the personal element has become so entwined in the ethics of the ease that it is impossible to achieve settlement without a change in this direction, but here again both sides are adamant and refuse to give way. “Our officials right or wrong’’ seems to be the slogan inscribed on the flag each has nailed to its mast, with the consequence that the dispute appears to be without end. The simplest method, and the most just, for those members of the club who do not desire affiliation with the N.Z.A.A.A., which body has controlled the destinies of the club since its inception nearly ten years <ago. is to form a new club as they have done and to affiliate with whatever organisation they like, but to call the new society by some other name than that of Port Nicholson. If the new club was called, say, the Wellington Amateur Road Cycling Club, or any other name, and affiliated with the N.Z.U.C., the whole thing would fizzle out and harmony would soon he restored. As it is the quarrel is likely to come before the courts in the near future, and this will mean the washing of a considerable amount of dirty linen and the creation of more ill-feeling. In the meantime cyclists generally are suffering from this divided control, and races which in the past have drawn good entries are likely to be poorlv supported by riders and public. This applies in particular to the Palmerston North to Wellington race, one of the chief road events of the year in the province. Both clubs propose to hold this race during October, and the indications aro that the fields in both cases will be poor in number and quality. It seems a great pity that personal spite should be allowed to injure one of the finest and most popular sports open to amateur athletes.