MID-WEEK RACING

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 April 1946, Page 8

MID-WEEK RACING

REFUSAL TO REMOVE BAN ! GOVERNMENT’S DECISION ! P’A.) WELLINGTON, April 19. Requests for the removal of the ban >n mid-week racing have been refus- t id by the Government. The Minister j if Internal Affairs (Mr. Parry) stat- j >d in an interview last evening that ( he matter had received the most •>areiul consideration of the Governrient, which had .viewed it from all, angles, but it was regretted that while. conditions remained as they were at present racing must be confined to Saturdays and public holidays. The Minister said that it was recognised that the clubs on the one hand and owners, trainers, and jockeys on i the other were put to considerable in- | convenience where a meeting extend- i ed over three Saturdays, with no in- ( tervening holiday. Nevertheless, the . national urgency to produce foodstuffs ana other goods so badly needed, not only in New Zealand but throughout i the world was such that for the next few months, at any rate, there must be as little interruption as possible of the’ normal working week. The first cut in racing and trotting was one of 33 1-3 per cent., made in February, 1942. In April, 1942, the cut was increased to 50 per cent., and this I was continued till 'the conclusion of the war with Japan. In August, 1945, there was a restoration of 60 days of racing and trotting, and in October, 1945, the Government agreed to full restoration of the number of days on which the totalisator could be used, with the proviso that meetings were to be held only on Saturdays and public holidays. It had been hoped, Mr. Parry said, that before this it would have been possible to permit a full return to normal. ■ Mr. Parry paid a tribute to the manner in which both racing and trotting authorities had co-operated with the Government in all necessary restrictions in the interests of the national war effort, and said that nothing would give him greater pleasure than the removal of the remaining restriction. He could not hold out any hope, however, that this would be in the very near future. While the rest of the world needed New Zealand’s produce, literally to avoid starvation, the whole effort must be directed to preventing any interruption of essential work, which included not only production but also the bringing of produce and goods to the ports and their shipment overseas as quickly as possible. ’ •