‘TOO MUCH SPORT’

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20572, 4 June 1941, Page 4

‘TOO MUCH SPORT’

WAR EFFORT NEEDED

RACING MEN’S VIEWS CURTAILMENT URGED (Per Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day. “If Now Zealand can pay so much for racing, it surely can pay to Help save this country from destruction. It is not our business to say now the money is to be found, but it is our business to set a better example and to refuse to cater to a public which appears to be unaware that its country is at war,” Mr. A. S. Elworthy, chairman of the Canterbury Jockey Club, said in his annual address to members.

Mr. Elworthy, who is also president of the New Zealand Racing Conference, advocated a considerable reduction in the number of racing days in the Dominion.

The attitude of racing to the war effort was a subject which had been troubling him lor some time, Mr. Elworthy said. As he was now stating his private opinion, members might think he was choosing the wrong time to express it, and they might be right; but he felt that he could not conclude his report without saying something about a matter which was of so much greater importance than anything else.

‘Waste of Time ami Money”

“At the present time 240 days are set aside for racing in New Zealand and 80 days for trotting meetings,” - he said. “Are we, as a representative body of responsible men. justified in encouraging the public, including ourselves, to waste so much time arid money on sport when our country is fighting the greatest battle for freedom the world has ever known? I know the arguments brought forward in favour of continuing as we are—the enormous revenue derived from racing, the sums of money given by different clubs for patriotic purposes, the need for relaxation at a time like this, and the injustice that would be done by putting men out of employment. These I believe to be the main points, and to a certain extent I have agreed with them.

“As the war continues and the struggle becomes more and more violent from day to day, now that so many of our men are facing death and many more worse than death, can we really make ourselves believe we are facing up to our responsibilities? I say we cannot. The sum of £5,490,024 was put through the totalisator this year on gallops and a large amount on trots. This certainly represented a large amount of revenue.” As for the “necessary relaxation” so often referred to, were those who were suffering- most, the relatives and friends of the men fighting the battles, looking for relaxation? He much doubted it. They achieved more peace of mind by work, and the majority had no wish to rush about looking for enjoyment while their men were going through hell. “The necessary relaxation” was chiefly enjoyed by those who looked upon war as an inconvenience and apart from that took little interest. Lack of Responsibility “I am certainly not in favour of putting a stop to racing altogether,” Mr. Elworthy concluded, “but I am strongly in favour of making a considerable reduction in the number of days set aside for that purpose. I know it is a very difficult subject, but it has to be faced, and I hope that the Cantei'bury Jockey Club and other racing clubs in New Zealand will give it their earnest consideration. Our country has been alluded to very often as ‘God's own country.’ We had better see that it does not end up as ‘Hitler’s own country,’ which is quite possible if we don’t all face up to our responsibilities and make a far greater effort and sacrifice than we are doing at the present time.”

Mr. G. R. Macdonald said he supported Mr. Elworthy’s views, particularly that part of the address charging the public with not showing a due sense of responsibility in continuing increased attendances and betting at races.

“That may come wrongly from me because I own and race horses,” he said. “Personally, I would like to get out of it, but I am tied up and I do not know how to get out of it. I want to say how much I agree with you in your remarks about the present rage, shall we call it, for betting in New Zealand,”