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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 150, 12 November 1912, Page 4

HELPING HUNT CLUBS. Mr. li. Okey, member for the district, suggested at the Hunt Club's banquet on Saturday evening that the Club should co-operate with other clubs and bring pressure to bear on members of Parliament to obtain a totalisator permit, stating that the Party in power contained "some real good sports," who could be depended upon to help in such a project. Mr. Okey mentioned, that he was not a gambler himself, but if there were to be gambling he believed it

should be conducted in a way that conferred the most benefit upon the district. Other speakers emphasised the value of hunting clubs in providing animals suitable for defence ' purposes. Before the bookmaker was eliminated, or driven from the public view to carry on operations just as energetically in quiet quarters, hunt clubs used to garner sufficient fees from the peneillers to run race meetings without loss. This source of revenue closed, the hunt clubs are finding it practically impossible to continue the holding of their meetings. . Hence the agitation for totalisator licenses. We believe that if any institution is deserving of consideration at the hands of the powers that be, when it comes to allocating totalisator permits, it is the Hunt Club.' It does perform a useful and valuable service in a community—it encourages the breeding of the best type of animal, one which would be equal to any demand made upon it by the defence authorities in time of trouble. The ordinary racehorse cannot justify its existence, except as a medium for gratifying the sporting instincts of a section of the public. Off the racecourse,- it is practically useless. It is a "one-purpose" animal. If the merits of the two types of horses, the hunter and the racer, were the deciding factor in the disposal of the totalisator permits, the Hunt Club would get the verdict every time. But the Hunt Clubs of New Zealand have not the prestige, the power, or "the pull" of the racing clubs, and, therefore, up to now, their claims have been ignored. And we are afraid that whilst things remain as they are they will be equally ignored in the future. But we do think that the Government might with advantage to the country do something to encourage Hunt Clubs. In this direction they might take a leaf from the book of the British War Office, which, with the object of encouraging owners to keep horses suitable for artillery purposes', is (according to a cable received on Saturday) forming a special horse reserve, and subsidising owners to the extent of £4 per liorse annually. There is no reason why our Government should not build up a reserve of horses, for service at home or abroad, in a similar way. When the call came from Sou'th Africa for remount horses, it was the hunting type that was found most serviceable. The call may come again at any moment, and we should prepare for the emergency as well as for the needs of our own defence. The Government might utilise the whole or a portion of the totalisator revenue it receives for such a scheme, or, if this cannot be afforded, levy a further tax on the totalisator receipts with this object in view.