RACING LEGISLATION.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13612, 22 December 1909, Page 4

RACING LEGISLATION.

• ♦ VIEWS OF MR W. H. E. WAXKLYX. Mr W. 11. E. Wanklyn, secretary to the New Zealand Racing Conference, who has such a keen interest in the sport of racing for many years past, was appn.iciit'd by a representative of "Tne. Press" yesterday, and asked to cx;i.-ess his views of the legislation affei-tiny racing (.the Stamp Duties Bill and the Race Meetings bill) at present beforo Parliament.

Air Wunklyn said:—"Tlio Government proposals for further taxation of tho sport of horse racing are not un©xpect 'J, nor are they unreasonable. There is probably no country in the world in which the better c'.a&s horseowner win hove his sport and aniuscmenc ;it so reasonable a cost. Ihe ttakes, thanks to the totalisator, are large enough in man eases to obviate the necessity of betting, and as a matter of fact the amateur horse-owner in Xt»" Zealand rarely attempts to supplement his winnings by negotiations either with tho machine or with the bookmaker. Tho worst features of the proposals are that they are a class tax, because tho owner must pay it in the end.

''The serious question for racing ciiibi to consider is how to recoup themselves with as little cost to the cwner as possible, and to my mind the remedy is simple—the abolition of the 'free' or complimentary ticket.

"i« or many yeans past," Mr Wcnklyn continued, ""I estimate tho cost ot this privilege at considerably more tluin the propos-tl amount to bo collected as a tax. Racing clubs as a rule aro well managed, but there is no blinking et the fuct that included in the controlling authorities there are many men who are not only incompetent, but who use their racing club as a means of furthering their personal or business relations. The most popular bedy of stewards and secretaries are thoee who hand out in a lavish mannor the revenue which ought and does belong to the owner. The abuse is discreditable, beccuso the major portion of the recipients are jp*»reons who do not assist in the slightest degree to maintain the sport. There is the rich man who can well afford to pay for his amusement, who obtains tho privileges on account of his richce; the highly-salaried Government official who demands it as a right, and hints darkly that any curtailing of liberality will mean the abolition of tho totalisator; tho man who is friendly with tho owner and trainer when it suits his purpose, or has tho good old excuse that he 'bets on the machine,' and if these fail there is the denr old editor, who will give him a letter to say that he is our representative, etc. etc., or the brother secretary who writes that his personal friend, etc.. etc., tho theatrical manager with his company, who, notwithstanding that his ' whole object is to take as much money out of the country as possible, says that he always gets it elsewhere, end sends you two scats for his show; the value of the latter was 10s, but his demand amounted to the value of £120. There is tho valued client who gets his local office to write to the branch -where the races aro being held, the horse-owner who ran a horse at Stewart Island or had entered one for your meeting tAvo years ago, the member of a Racing Club who pays a subscription of a guinea to his club, the gentleman presenthvg a card with the names of several newspapers on it, the sharper who enters l, horse for the last day of a fourdays' meeting, and the man that knew you TV hen you were a boy. In fact there are very few people who attend a race meeting in New Zealand who have not what they consider a sufficiently good reason lor demanding free tickets for themselves and friends with a lunch thrown in, and when they do not get it ' they were never refused anywhere else,' and 'you are d- d mean and thty won't come again.'

"There are under a thousand horsoowners in New Zealand, owning about 2000 horses, each one of which costs, with training, entries, and travelling expenses, at least £150 per annum, a total of ' £300,000, and the etakes amount to about £200,000. It is quite obvious from these figures that instead of making owners pay tho tex, clubs should endeavour to lighten their burdens, and I again assert that the tax could easily be saved in majiegement. Let every person recognise that when he is enjoying his racing he is entitled to assist it financially instead of endeavouring to get it for nothing, and let the clubs band together to insist upon tho abolition of the free pass. If stewards or members of clubs consider their friends should be entertained, let them do so at their own expense, but not at tho expense of owners.' . Regarding the bookmaker, Mr Wanklyn said that he was rather disappointed that the Government had not dealt with this question in tho new legislation. The Canterbury Jockey Club, after giving the matter mature consideration, drafted certain regulations for the licensing of bookmakers, for presentation to the Racing Conference, the two most important of which -were: "That no lifcntp shall be granted to any bookmaker"? clerk who carries on his busi-rc-ss at any meeting, unless such meeting holds a certificate of registration from the New Zealand Racing Conference- or any Association affiliated thereto '' and "applications must contain the full nnn.e and address of the applicant, and be endorsed by the local officer in charge of the police.' , When representations were made to the Minister, lie refused to take the matter up for embodiment in his Bill.

"As to the issuing of licenses to nontotalizator clubs," said Mr Wanklyn in conclusion, "I think it would have been n- well to have left this to the governing bodice—-the Racing and Trotting Conferences —who both legislate against proprietary interests. lam not in favour of suppressing the legitimate country sporting club, which provicles an annual holiday for the district, but there arc meetings known as the 'pub-lic-house meetings' which I should supI«i ess."