RACING.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume II, Issue 180, 15 July 1912, Page 5

RACING.

REV. J. J. NORTH ON THE WARPATH. [by telegraph—special.] Wellington. July 13. The Christchurch correspondent cf the “Post.” in a message published to-day. says the appointment of the Hon. W. H. Herries as Minister in charge of Racing Permits was the j subject cf a denunciation by the i Rev. J. J. North yesterday after'neon. He said the first indication | likely to be given of the new Min- | istry’s intentions in connection with i racing was concerning the gambling ; question. The new Ministry had I commenced with the appointment of I a new and absurd portfolio of Minister in chagre of Racing Pernrts. j which since the last Act had been ; an inconspicuous subdivision of the | Department cf Internal Affairs, lint was now elevated in “lonely grandeur” and given to the Minister >f Railways, who is also a racing eX- | pert. Tliis would suggest that the new Government proposed to give an importance to racing, and ineidentallv to gambling, which it had i never had before. The urgent question was what was implied ? Did he Government propose to foster racing as it fostered land settlement or -’ d it expect Mr. Herries to apply the pruning knife ’ The fair comment was that the latter proposal might be an inconvenience to Mr Herries. and that the former might be the intention of the new Government. that urobability would sei thousands f people m the Dominion in antagonism to Mr. Massey. In all Englishipcaking lands the problems created' by gambling occasioned much political activity, and everywhere het pruning knife was used. Prohibition obtained in American States, and m Victoria and New South Wales the proportion of racing days to the population was fixed by statute, andi act to a Government Department which, lent itself to any miserable intrigues of “up-country and downtown” clubs, and of which clubs should or should not have racing days. The recent New Zealand Act hd fixed the generous allowance -f 250 days for 1,000,000, and the racings people themselves had determined which clubs should or should not have racing days. But ever since the decision cf the Racing Conference the claims of clubs that had lost then* days had been advocated. The late Minister of Internal Affairs had been pestered by dozens of deputations urging the resusciation of racing clubs which the racing people themselves had determined were unfit to live The Massey Government had .already contemplated the question and had appointed thleading advocates of racing in the House to manipulate the permits. If the proposal was to increase the racing days the nation should know i of it at once. The Government winch had intimated such a proposal would be retrograde and would . lose J right to sue]- a term ns “Reform. The bulk of the totalised er investments in many districts were It*'', per cent in advance of what it was a few years ago. probably the amount would lie £3,000,000 for the current year, and in addition the bookmakers were exceedingly active. There was no doubt of the retrograde and detrimental tendency of any Ministry in which the volume of racing was .increased and it a inevitable result of the increase of gambling.