REDUCTION OF RACING

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 205, 28 August 1918, Page 4

REDUCTION OF RACING

MR JOHN ROWE SPEAKS OUT. A NOTE OF WA.HN.XG. .Speaking at tbe annual meeting of the Auckland Trotting Club, this afternoon, the president, Mr. John Rowe, snid he was sorry he was not at the last annual meeting, but other duties called him away from Auckland, and made it impossible for him to be present. On that occasion members received the report of one of the most successful seasons the Club bad had up to that date, but they had a serious note of warning in that they had been notified that the Club had temporarily lost two of its days of racing. They were all of opinion that the reduction was quite unnecessary, and was only engineered by the opponents of sports for their own ends. "I do not know how you think about it,'' continued Mr. Rowe, "but I feel that the same opponents are still workitrg. and I can see that the ' wolves in sheep's clothing,' or, in other words, tbe agitators who want to crush all forms of amusement hut their own particular hobby, fad. business or picnic, are still strongly in evidence. I have sounded a note of warning year after year since | have been in this chair, and 1 am now going to reiterate it. It is this. If you do not combine and work to protect your legitimate sports, liberties and amusements, you will have no choice in your selection left, and you will he compelled to move about with smug faces and a hypocritical air to pleas,, a section of'the community who think that that is the proper demeanour. We know that in our sports we are hurling no one; we know that we are encouraging a great national industry, we know that that industry is en enormous factor in the Allies' successful carrying on of the present war. We know that we are doing it without personal profit: in fact. at some pecuniary personal loss. We know that a large proportion of (be population has its greatest pleasure in. and out of. our spoil-, and i-i keenly inter<*>ted in them. We know that a large majority of our boys at the front look to our papers for the accounts of our sports, even at that distance, and have their own sports and races within sound of the giuis. We know that even civilised nation outside the actual lighting area is carrying on its racing industry. '1 hese facts, which are obvious to any open-mindod individual in the community should be sufficient to cause its to fi_ht tooth and nail to protect this recognised industry and amusement and all such rights n>rainsl the fanatical attacks of those who. probably never open-minded enough to !'o to :i race meeting and see for tbems.-lves. condemn al] sports in which they do not take pleasure."