THE RACING REPORT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1210, 19 August 1911, Page 13

THE RACING REPORT.

ANOTHER DEBATE. ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENT. WILL SUPPORT THE COMMIS- . SIONEES. In accordance with a Tcccnt Ministerial promise Parliament was given an opportunity yesterday of discussing the report of the Racing Commission. Mr. Massoy, after referring to the fact that members had already had nn opportunity of discussing the question, and would have amother, said' he sincerely hoped that any amendments that might bo made in tho Act of Inst year would bo on' llio lines of tho Bill introduced by Mr. Jennings. Ho recognised the difficulty in which tho Government were plaoed with regard to the commissioners' reports What had happened was due to the fact that clubs- which had only one day's racing in the year had not been represented on the commission. The Government's Position. Tho Hon. J. A. Millar said the Government intended to stand by the commission's report.' Parliament last session, after duo consideration, had passed a Bill in which they decided, by a very large majority, that tho number of clays of racing were to bss reduced. Parliament had also decided that the number of permits wero to bo reduced, and that a commission should bo set up to deal with the matter. Ee did not think that ho had heard one objection raised to the personnel of the commission. Its-mem-bers were admitted to be leading racing men, and the trouble had arisen since the publication of the report. Sir George Clifford had been president of the Racing Conference for years. ' It ha'j seemed hardly practicable to pass him over under any circumstances. The Act of -last session should be given a fair trial. Parliament should not be asked to stultify its action of last year by giving support to a Bill which went back on the work of last year. Mr. Pooles Yes, and they are not all in the schedule yet, either! Will Support the Commission. Mr. Millar reiterated that the Government was going to support tho report of the Commissioners, lie hoped the country would be allowed to express an opinion on the' work of last year. It had been said that tho country clubs haii not been fairly dealt with, but the report of tho Commission should be nlhnycd to stand for one year, which was tho intention of Parliament last session, lion, members who then wero keen to put the Act of last year on the statute-book ought to give it a fair chance before they tried to revoke it. To tin interjection the Minister replied that in his opinion no matter what had been put 'in the Act oj , Inst year in another place, the House would have accepted it. Mr. Darey: We had to, or lose the Bill. Mr. Millar said tho ITonse in this matter had shown no confidence in the Administration of the day. It had said: "You must accept the Commissioners' report." This was ths result. A Sentry-box and a Cowshed. In the opinion of many people tho Commission was amply . justified in a great deal that it, had done. It was a marvel that the Racing Conference had ever issued permits for some of the grounds, which ho described as fit for plough horses rather than racehorses. In one instanco the only buildings on the course were a Efcntry-bnx for the judge and a cowshed for the jockejs. Tho Commissioners had done their best in very difficult circumstances, and ho considered that their decisions should be given a fair trial. "Wickedness" of the Commission. , Mr. , C. A. C. Hardy (Selwyu) said many of the country racecourses were ..better than -sb'mW metropolitan Olios.' 'An Ofclef-in-C'ouncil would not have been ko bad as tho work of tho Commission. If there was any good in gambling they would like to have some of it in tho country, as well as in the cities. (Laughter.) Tho Commission had acted very unfairly and very unwisely. Mr. W. H. Field (Otalti) said that in cancelling the licenses of well-appointed and up-to-date country clubs, tho commission had done a wicked thing. (Oh, ill! Hear, hear.) The Prime Minister had said last session that if tho commission blundered it would bo for tho Houso to set matters right. Tho new Bill should be passed, to operate for one year on trial. He pleaded tho cause of tho Horowhenua Club. Mr. C. H. Poolo (Auckland West) welcomed tho Minister's announcement that the Government would support tho commission. If the opposite course wero followed thero would be a protest throughout the Dominion. i Mr. W. T. Jennings (Taumarunui) said tho Government was supporting monopoly in this matter and aiding those who were making a good fat thing out of racing. For instance, Sir Georgo Clifford in eight years made in stakes alone; Mr. J. D. Ormond, Mr. E. J. Watt, .£29,816; Mr. Loirry, ■£18,000. (Oh, oh!) Mr. F. Lawry (Parnell): Not me! Mr. Jennings, continuing his list, said that • Mr. Buckley in sis years mado .£II,OOO in stakes; Mr. Prosser, in eight years, ,£II,OOO. These gentlemen—with whom he had no fault to find—did not .raco at country meetings. He felt inclined to move, "That this Houso disagrees with tho report of tho Racing Commission, and petitions his Excellency tho Governor to disallow it." He would, however, leave this till later. . Mr. A. E. Glover (Auckland Central) also pretested against the report. Mr. T. 11. Davey (Christchurch East) said no one could contend that the commissioners' report was in accord with the spirit of the Act. Thero was not one line in the Act which justified the commissioners in cutting out seventeen racing clubs. Canterbury, and not Auckland, as had been stated by tho member for Auckland Central, had suffered most Country clubs had lost 13 days' racing. Of eleven days taken from trotting clubs six had been taken from Canterbury. An Inconsistent Ministry. Mr. G. V. Pearco (Patea) stated that when the Gaming Bill was passed by the Houso last session it had contained a ckuso that no country clubs should bo cut out which had only one day's racing. It was amended in the Upper House, and the Lower House accepted tho removal of the clause on an assurance being given that a Commission would be appointed. After the Commission had done its work both the Minister for Internal Affairs and the Acting-Prime Minister had given assurances that if a private Bill v;ere' brought in, it would receive every consideration. In spito of (this, when a' private Bill had been introduced tha other night, part of tho Ministry had voted one way and part another way. That night they had heard from tho Minister for Railways that the Cabinet had considered the matter, and would oppose the Bill. What was anyone to think of this? A member: "Awful!" Mr. Pearce: "I think it is awful, and Ithink the country will think it is awful!" With Tears and Sadness. Mr. R. A Wright (Wellington South) contended that tho report of tho Commissioners was a very good one under tho circumstances. The result of that mght's debate was that not one good word had been said for the report. From this condemnation ho dissented. Ho considered that the report was one of tho most valuable that had ever boon laid on the table of tho House. If the work dono last year wero now undone, it would lead to a strong and insistent demand for tho abolition of tho totalisator. The Commissioners had not dono their work with laughter, and gloatingly. They hail dono it with tears and with sadness. Personally ho was glad that tho number of days' racing had been reduced. A member: "You look happy." Mr. Wright complimented (ho Government on their determination to stand by the report of tho Commissioners. Tho lion. R. M'Kenzie, Minister for Public Works, said the member for Wellington South had figured as a strong advocate of racing. The substance of his contentions was that racing should bo centralised in Wellington. TJik only thing that members could do to improvo tho .standard of racing in New Zealand was to abolish tho metropolitan clubs altogether. They were organised to'cnablo a few wealthy people to ileeco tho rest of the population. He had long ago recog-

nised the tricks of the racing monopolist in tho Dominion. He was looking forward to the abolition of tho totalisator. Amid a chorus of "Olis" from his own side of l.ho House, the Minister stated that ho had spent nu hour on an Otago racecourse a few months ago. Tha horses wero not so good as thosa ho had seen racing thirty years previously. He was going to issue a warning to members of metropolitan clubs. They would have to accord fair treatment to the country districts. They would not bo allowed to centralise racing in a few largo centres. Personally, ho was prepared to give tho arrangement made by tho Commissioners a year's trial, although ho disagreed with what had been done. Mr. D. Buick (Palmerston North) said that if anybody was to blanie it was tho members of tho House who had decided in a, panic that the days of racing- must bo reduced. He was and had been opposed to the reduction. Mr. F. M. B. Fisher (Wellington Central) said he would vote again to put in tho bookmaker. The House, in legalising tho totalisator, legalised gambling. If a man were to be allowed to bet he should be allowed to bet where he liked. Owing to the totalisator the gambling interest exercised a greater influence over Parliament than any 200,000 people. An Impossible Task. Mr. G. Laurenson (Lyttelton) declared that, if five archbishops, five bookmakers, or five "spielers" had been appointed to the commission, they could not have satisfied everybody. .The Bill of last year was passed in response to an universal demand, from Auckland to the Bluff, that Parliament should do something to reduce horse-racing in this country. If a proposal wore made now to cut down the metropolitan clubs and give Borne of the days thus gained to the country clubs it would deserve support. But to pass a Bill giving permits to 16 clubs would be a retrograde step. Mr. J. Colvin (Bnller) entered a strong protest against the way in which country clubs had been penalised. He had intended to move:— That in the opinion of this House the report of the Racing Commission is not in accord with the spirit of tho Gaining Act, 1910, under which they were appointed, and that the report bo referred back to the Government for_ a review of the whole position, in the interests of tho country clubs which havo been unduly penalised." In view of the temper »f the House, howeveT, he considered that it would be useless to proposo the motion. Air. W. D. S. Alacdonald (Bay of Plenty) said that, when the country clubs met recently in Wellington they decided that no other remedy could be found for the acuto position which had arisen than to bring in tho Bill which was now before the House. There was no doubt that these clubs had been treated unjustly. Mr.' T. E. Y. Seddori (Westland) remarked that tho report was unfavourable, but that in view of what the House had done last session, the report must' be swallowed. . Along with other members he had been trapped under a mistaken impression that consideration would be shown to country clubs. ■. Mr. E. W'.; Smith (Kangitikci) supported the introduction of- a Bill to repair tho wrong done by the Act of tho previous year. Mr. J. Stallworthy (Kaipara) said the House- had shirked an important , duty and handed it over to tho commissioners. It was hardly fair that the latter should now'be made a target ior all sorts of accusation's when they were not there to answer for themselves. At 10.40 p.m. the Speaker put tho formal motion: "That, the report be considered." The inotjon was lost and tho House adjourned.