RACING IN NEW ZEALAND

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 23 June 1943, Page 3

RACING IN NEW ZEALAND

PROFITABLE THING FOR GOVERNMENT REFERENCE TO RAILWAY TRAFFIC (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) Wellington, This Day. If Parliament wishes to discontinue races there is no argument about that, but while we permit races it is unfair to criticise the Railways Department which after all, is a common carrier for doing its duty, said the Minister of Railways, Mr R. Semple, when referring to railway race traffic in his Budget speech in the House of Representatives last evening. After explaining that there were no excursion fares to races and that special race trains did not travel two or three hundred miles to meetings as had been alleged, Mr Semple added that the racing business was a oretty profitable thing for the Government. Mr W. J. Poison (Nat., Stratford): But you are asking people not to travel. Mr Semple: Yes. We are asking people not to travel unduly long distances. The Minister then detailed the vast amount of extra work that had to be done by the Railways Department with its depleted staff. As far as revenue from race traffic was concerned, he added, in the two years from 1941 to 1943, revenue to the nation amounted to £1,479.021. People of New Zealand were lovers of races and if there were 1 races at Trentham and the Department refused to cater for them what a flood of objections would come from all I corners of society, and rightly so. Mr W. A. Bodkin (Nat., Central Otago), assured the Minister that there was a big body of public opinion . which, while approving of the curtail- . ment of racing, considered that there . was still room for Improvement particularly in the way of reducing race ’ traffic. Railways were being called on r to perform a superhuman task and en- ■ gine drivers were complaining of over- , work through long hours.