HORSE-RACING MENACED

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 4576, 29 April 1922, Page 2

HORSE-RACING MENACED

SPORTSMEN SEEK PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION. The drum of hoof-beats on green turf; the thrills of tho struggle for supremacy of line horses and game jockeys; gay drosses and sunshine on beautiful racecourses.; rollicking days or enjoyment and good fellowship how much these things mean to tho average New Zealander! Yet, at this moment, one of our finest sports and relaxations is menaced by a canker from within. Betting with the bookmaker, driven underground by ill-considered legislation, is affecting "the moral fibre of people in every centre and unjustly drawing racing into disrepute. Tho road is open for tho propaganda of extremists who seek nothing less than tho abolition of horse-racing. AVken the Gaming Act was first passed, the fine, honest, breezy chaps who used to call tho odds of our racecourses—men whom everybody trusted and respected—wero compelled to relinquish their profession in order to maintain their reputation. A number of good sportsmen have now seen the mistake of this legislation, and are endeavouring to nip its ill consequences in the bud. A petition is at present being circulated and freely signed, asking for a Parliamentary Commission to take evidence as to whether reputable men should not bo licensed to operate on racecourses only, in competition with tho totalisator. This is a democratic solution of the problem which has presented itself to fair-minded people. If bookmaking is again made a rcspectablo avocation it will enable the authorities to deal effectively with the undercurrent of undesirables. The reputable men who would then be legalised would take a sincere interest iu assisting to restore racing to its proper place in public esteem. Do your part, sign the petition today. ' It has been freely circulated, and may be signed almost anywhere. When petitions arc filled-up they should be promptly returned to Box 1011, Wellington. CI