ART UNION FUNDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21716, 3 February 1934, Page 12

ART UNION FUNDS

GRANT TO JOCKEY CLUB MINISTER IN DEFENCE A statement in regard to his approval of the allocation of £3OOO from art union funds to the Hawke's Bay Jockey Club has been given by the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. J. A. Young. The Minister said there was no more deserving application than that of the Hawke's Bay Jockey Club, which had over '£29,000 invested in buildings. It carrying a load of £32,000 worth of debenture liabilities and was owing approximately £ISOO to sundry creditors. Not one penny of the £3OOO was going toward the liquidation of any of those liabilities. The club's fine grandstand, said Mr. Young, was a wreck as a result of the earthquake, and had been condemned by the Public Works Department as dangerous. The architect's estimate of the cost of making the buildins: safe Was £3200, £2OO more than the sum allocated. The club was a successful one, and if it were allowed to go into liquidation the State would lose valuable revenue. The Government could remit taxation to the extent of £3OOO, but that would be wrong in principle, and could not be entertained. To make an allocation from an art union was the only alternative. Minister said that the Hawke's Bay Earthquake Rehabilitation Commission laid it down that no racing club, no club, no church or such-like corporate bodies should receive any assistance from the earthquake relief funds. Another point to be remembered was that the (supporters of racing were numbered among the most generous supporters of art unions. The club had been particularly generous to the community, and e eai "thquake those portions of the stands which were safe had been jUsed as a temporary hospital.