THE BRASS BAND TROUBLE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8780, 22 January 1909, Page 5

THE BRASS BAND TROUBLE.

MR. COHEN MAKES A STATEMENT

Mr Maurice Cohen having been president of the Association since its inception our representative waited on him in.'reference to the trouble emanating from the Wellington Garrison Band. The president informed us that although the object of the Association was primarily to foster and develop the most popular form of music which is in the hands of the Brass Bands of the Dominion, incidentally its opreations arc focussed around an annual contest held by invitation in any town within the territory of the Association of the North Island of New Zealand. These contests are managed by a contest committed, who, after engaging the support of their fellow townsmen, undertake a huge liability in connection with the contest, running somewhere near a thousand pounds. It is therefore to bo expected that the Association itself and every member thereof as represented by the affiliated bands should do all in their power to second and encourage the contest in their wor<K. It would be hard to realise, said Mr Cohen, the amount of work entailed, and the multifarious duties which have to be. attended to by the executive, the members of which being representative of various bands are epread over a large tract of country. And as no expenses are paid for members attending meetings everything possible is done without calling them together more frequently than is necessary. Everything of an interim character is considered by the local officials at Palmerston North, the. headquarters. Members of the executive generally are advised by circular and their opinions invited by letter on , any- controversial matter. It had been hoped, eaid Mr Cohen, that the very ethics of the Association's existence should have engendered a spirit of sportsmanship and a clean, healthy, rivaly amongst its members. It has unfortunately happened, however, that some affiliated bands . have allowed their keenness to run away with their better judgment and _ discretion. From the nature of things it cannot be suggested that the affairs of the Association, conducted practically by an honorary executive, and under the conditions above indicated, can be carried on ]tvith same minute adherence to formality as would be necessary in a joint stock company, and the' best that is possible is done to carry out the spirit and intention of the institution. If, therefore, any band desired to act with malicious intent it might be open for them to do so by insinuation of irregular management and allegations which might be likely to disturb the confidence of members in the executive. •Of such a character Mr Cohen classes the letter which was sent to the secretaries of all affiliated bands by the Wellington Garrison. The Association practically haveno official knowledge of the circular, the Garrison Band having deliberately ignored them. Th& proper course would have been to have taken such action as the rules permit to lay _ any grievances before the executive, which if not satisfactorily adjusted, might then have been the subject of a motion of want of confidence in the management, calling for their resignation or the dissolution of the Association. The facts stated in the circular are in the main incorrect and partly without foundation, at all. I am compelled to state that the Wellington Garrison, although one of the leading lights of the "Association, have been a considerable source of trouble. They are represented by two members on th© executive, who have been a party to and privy to every act of the executive. They have not always been with the majority, but their loyal adherence to everything regularly carried at such meetings ought surely to be expected. It would appear that the main source of their troubleion this occaelon was their failure to get their nominee elected as judge. To Mr Hill's name no possible objection could be taken on the score of qualification or absolute fitness for the office of judge, but our contest regulations require certain formalities before any name can be submitted to the competing bands to whom the selection of the judge is left. In the first place Mr Hill's nomination was not porperly made. The secretary of the Association practically invited it by letter on the suggestion of the Wellington Band and received no reply thereto. But as the time under the regulations for sending out the nominations for judge had elapsed, the secretary took' upon himself in the best interests of the Association to add Mr Hill's name to the list, which was technically wrong, confidently expecting to receive Mr Hill's assent to his nomination. Receiving no reply ho wired, after the ballot papers had been issued, for his assent. It was then only that the telegram was received from Mrs Hill indicating that her husband had undergone a serious operation and could not see his way to take up the work. On this the secretary again acted for the best, and advised the competing bands that Mr Hill's services would not be available. After a few days had elapsed Mr Hill's father stated that he thought his son would be fit to judge if elected. It would then have been impossible to have submitted his name, because the regulation providing that the names had to be submitted to competing bands so many months before the contest could not then have been given effect to. So much for their allegation re the judge. "The outstanding feature, to my mind," said Mr Cohen, "is the thoughtless and absolutely unwarrantable attitude assumed by the Wellington Garrison with regard,, to the contest. They must have known that by the time the circular was written tho Hastings Contest Committee had practically committed itself to some hundreds of pounds in expenses. Such committees\ undertake their>work without any hope of reward or personal aggrandisement, and it would be cruel —indeed, shameful—to suggest anything which would prejudice the arrangements made in. good faith by alleging that the whole procedure was irregular, and that any verdict of. the judge could, or would, be upset, the obvious intent being to prevent competing bands from going to the contest. I cannot really understand, having held, up to the present, the personnel of the Garrison Band in -considerable admiration and respect, that they could have been capable of such a regrettable and improper attitude, which is saying the least of it However, I personally am quite satisfied, being fortified with the opinion of the solicitor, for the Association, that the allegations of the Wellington Garrison cannot be sustained, and it is my intention, as I feel personally bound to do, to see this matter through. I can't conceive but that the executive will have the support of every right-thinking, eelfrespecting band affiliated with the Association. In the meantime, I have called an executive meeting for next Friday, the 29th, t6 deal with the matter. I would very much like to call a general meeting, but this is not possible under 21 days' notice, which would render, it too late for the Hastings contest, which comes off in February, and all the harm would then have been done."

The opinion of the Association's solicitor (Mr J. P. Innes) referred to by Mr Cohen in the above interview was as follows: — "Dear Sir,— lijhave considered the various questions raised by Mr.Davis, the secre.ta,ry'"'of the Wellington ' Garrison Bandy'~in reference to the forthcoming band contest; and in my opinion— "1. The question as to whether the new rules have been registered or not does not affect the questions at issue." The first rules of 1903 are practically the same as the new rules, so far as the present position is concerned. / "2. Mr Davis has entirely f ailed _ to appreciate that' a great difference exists between the rules and the band contest regulations. It is true that no alteration or amendment of a 'rule'- can be effective until registered, but the 'band contest regulations' require no registration. "3. Under the rules, the conduct of contests and the framing of the contest regulations is vested entirely in the executive, and the appointment of judges and details of management of contests rest entirely with the executive. k 4 '4. The rules themselves do not pro-

vide for management of contests, but the regulations do. , i . ' • "5. I am of-Opinion that'the proceedings of the executive- are valid and regular, and that the bands interested and the Hastings Contest Committee are not in any way likely to be prejudiced by any action of the executive.—Yours truly, y "J. P. INNES."