TARANAKI JOCKEY CLUB.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 July 1919, Page 7

TARANAKI JOCKEY CLUB.

} ANNUAL MEETINd [ The annual meeting of the Taranaki Jockey Club was held in the Soldiers' Clubtlast night, when the Hon: 0. Samuel, M.L.C., president, presided over a good attendance of members. Apologies were received for the' absence of Colonel C. H. Weston, Messrs E. H. Pigott, E. F. Blundell, \V. T. Hookhain,. and H. Linn. " PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. The Hon. 0. Samuel expressed his pleasure at being present at the meeting that evening, after a long lapse of lime, as since 1906 there had not been one year in which he had not been detained in Wellington on Parliamentary business. For many years prior to ceasing to reside in New> Plymouth he had not only held the position of president but also that of chairman of the committee of the club, and had taken an active part in its management. Since leaving he had ceased to take an active part in the local management, but, aa a member of the Racing Conference, he took a prominent part in the management of the racing affairs of the Dominion, and held one of the three highest positions, being with Sir George Clifford arid the Hon. E, Mitchelson as trustees- _ He was. also one of the seven comprising the Stipendiary Stewards Committee. It. could thus,be said that he had not wholly neglected the duties of the Metropolitan Club, which had continued to elect him president and With which he had been connected for 35 years, having represented it at Wellington in the year 1887. He would not trespass on their patience in regard to local racing affairs, but would briefly speak on racing in general and the higher ideals of racing. In fact, he had personally promised the'president of the conference George Clifford) that lie would do so. There was a topic seldom brought before racing men outside the conference, and that was the inculcation of a full recognition of their duties and responsibilities in connection with the sport. It only existed in New Zealand by permission of the majority of the people, many of whom took no part in it, and its continued existence depended upon them proving to be false those assertions so frequently made that racing made for scoundrelism. If they wanted the sport to continue they had got to prevent it from becoming a byword. Ho wanted especially to speak about the encouragement of bookmaking, and urged them to form an atmosphere in whieh the bookmaker, could not live. They owed it to themselves, the club, and the community to discourage bookmakers and to do ,their best to put a stop to bookmaking. "What," he asked, "has made racing? The .totalisator." He knew the time when they could never hold a meeting without the committee first signing a joint and several, and after the meeting they had to do considerable cheese-paring to make ends meet. A good many chances had taken place 1 since, and they owed the success achieved, certainly partly to the management, but to the totalisator principally. This had enabled them to give good rtakes and obtain the services of good men. Upon the success of the totalisator racing depended, and how loyal then would they be if they wont outside the totalisator to make their bets. Thcv owed it to (lie sport and the club, even at a sacrifice to themselves, to avoid the bookmaker. If they did not do that they did not deserve to belong to a respectable club and carry on racing. He was speaking With the cognisance of Sir Rporge Clifford, who had raid that ho, for one. would go out of the sport and would not allow his name to be associated with it. Thp Hon. Samuel urged them and those with whom they came in contact to keep clear of the bookmaker and give their commissions to tl\e totalisator. Which supported the club, and without which the club could not live. He expressed gratification that the war was over anil that they had back with them Colonel Weston and Captain A. R. Standish. He also referred io the splendid balance sheet, and remarked that now the war was over they had had restored to them the totalisator permits. He hoped the new Parliament would see its way to grant still further totalisator permits and days of racing, and if : that .took place there could bo no doubt that the Taranaki Metropolitan Club would have its share of the increased races. The difficulties racing clubs had had to put up with had been very great, and the handsome donations made to patriotic funds had done a great deal to silence many enemies of racing and to increaso good-feeling and kindliness towards the sport. A good many new men had been lost to the sport by death, including .those great props the Hon. Ormond and Sir, George McLean, whose names were household words throughout Sfew Zealand. CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS. Mr. L. A. Nolan, chairman of the committee, in seconding, said that ,ihc totalisator figures showed a gratifying increase, Viz., .£{i;374 10s, bringing' the total handled to £84,587 10s. The approximate profits were £1075 at ChjrbytI mas, (onp 'day)' and. £2874 in February. I The' profit "for the year amounted to) [ £IBO9 8s ud, off which £f.9B Is lOdihad'! been written for.the improvements'account, £IOO depreciation, and( £2l:-bad debts, leaving a net profit of ■'£.llss 6s 7* ( a'rid. loss a ijedit Qf £W,OIO-18s, the first time for five iigiires. PrapticaHyali; figures on the,-receipts aideihowed an .increase; the nlost gratifyingbeing the J&tciand totalißatoiy each approximately £soo'. Me stftkeßhaatbeeiliiirnCTeasedißji-: ,£393, mostly divided-omong the smaller events, bo that po rjice be worth less than "£IOO. The'.; W'sttirrn'ondition' by'. Mr. Watson tha-jfj-rscfl.for two and three- : year-olds .be includc'd in, the programme of the njeejting /had been given effect t6y;and proved! a Success. He referred tftvthe 'successful conclusion of the : that during the year i '°"t * omc of '** °Jflei»t mem•b|||T|y::fleath,:Ws!., Messrs % Dockrill, Johnstone, Jaa,'Loverid)>e. anifete. McKean. The club and sport generally had also suffered loss bv the death of Mr. W. H. Hartgill, who was the king of judges. Improvements indicated last meeting had* been effected as far as possible. The drive had fulfilled its object bv enablins the heavy traffic to be handled without difficulty. The caretaker's concrete cottage had been the subject of favorable comment. All fences had -beeiv overhauled, and that along ,the Avenue Road had been re-erected, being a credit to the men who did the work and to Messrs Orbel! and Alexander, who supervised It. The meeting of Desert Gold and Gloaming proved a great attraction, and resulted In a record attendance, making It more than ever evident that the lawn accommodation and appointments would reauten tawrgoniMrt within the next few

years. A suggestion was made by Mr. McLeod that it might be possible to improve the back and increase the lawn accommodation by the purchase of a further piece of land. They had taken the opportunity of consulting Mr. Hill, caretaker for the A.R.C., and expected a plan and report from him in. a week or eo. In conclusion, he expressed his thanks to the committee for their cordial cooperation, and paid a tribute to Mr. Webster, the secretary, who had done good work in an efficient manner. Mr. Blewman, .the caretaker, had also filled his position with credit to. the club and himself. SUPPRESSING THE "BOOKIE." Mr. McLeod thought the remedy lay with the Legislature, which Bhould make direct betting with the machine legal. The Government had lost a lot of tote revenue, telegraph revenue, and money order commissions through making this illegal. He considered all influence should be used in this direction, and also to get the double tote again into operation. The Hon. Samuel agreed, He considered it an idiotic law to prevent the operation of a double tote, and a still more idiotic law to prevent the transmission of money to the totalisator by telegraph—silly because members of the Legislature pretended that they wanted to stop the bookmakers, yet them--elves made laws that were largely responsible for their flourishing condition. Every effort was being made to induce the Government to remove those two blots. The resolution was carried. ELECTION OF OFFICIALS. Officials were elected as follows: President, the Hon. O. Samuel) vice-presi-dent, Mr. Newton King; treasurer, Mr. iW. C. Weston (all re-elected unopposed). Commi.tteo (six required): Messrs A. Alexander. E. F. Blundell, W. P. Nieoll. 0. W. Sole, A. R. Standish, and L. B. ! Webster. There were nine nominations. Stewards: Six were elected out of fifteen nominated, and a further six will be chosen by the committee at its first meeting, when all the names will be published. GENERAL. It was decided to make a donation of I £SO to the funds of the Citizens' Band. Roference was made to the lengthy illness of Mr. Jas. Hawkins, and gratification was expressed at his recovery. Votes of thanks were accorded the retiring officials and the chairman,