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Otago Daily Times, Issue 16541, 15 November 1915, Page 4

Captain Simson, who returned invalidedfrom the Dardanelles some weeks ago, and has since taken a somewhat prominent part in the recruiting movement in the dominion, will to-day find himself famous. Provided on Saturday with an opportunity at the Riccarton racecourse to make a recruiting speech, he utilised it partly to deliver a vigorous phiilipic against the whole policy of racing during the currency of the war. The occasion can hardly be said to have been well timed fori the expression of the iviews on thi3 subject which Captain Simson spiritedly urged. In bearding, as it were, the lion in his den, Captain Simson was, in reality,, abusing rather glaringly the hospitality that was accorded to him by the officials of the Canterbury Jockey Club. This consideration apart, what* Captain Simson said will appeal very strongly to a great many people in the community. It,seems, indeed, to have elicited .very distinct marks of approval from- the race-goers themselves, participants though they may be said to have been in the offence which Captain Simson chaTged against the racing authorities in Canterbury—and against those in the rest of New Zealand. There is something to be said, of course, in favour of the continuance of racing, within, at least, certain limits. A considerable industry is associated with the turf, and, if there was to be a complete cessation of racing, this industry, which affords /employment to a large number of men and boys, of whom the majority are probably not fit to undertake military service, would be almost completely disorganised. But there must be a very strong feeling on the part of the public that, while the Empire is engaged in a war, in which its existence has been challenged', the pursuit of sport to the extent that is seen in the occurrence of race meeting after race meeting all over the dominion is unseemly and undesirable. In the United Kingdom horse-racing ha-s been reduced to the minimum that is regarded as compatible with the maintenance of the turf industry. In New Zealand, on the other hand, the number of race meetings is this year greater than it has been at any time since the wisdom of regulating racing was recognised by the Legislature. The circumstance is one which many people, even among those who see nothing objectionable in racing "per se,'' cannot help regarding as incongruous, and as indicative of an imperfect • realisation of the gravity of the issue-involved in the war.

The racing carnival, which was concluded at Christchurch on Saturday, afforded- the proof that the institution of racing claims, even at a time like this, the support of thousands of people. Nor were these all people of an irresponsible class. A great many of them will have been persons with relatives fighting for their country in one or other of the theatres' of warfare. Most of them will have been persons who have a deep sense of the realities of the conflict, and who would resent .very strongly the imputation that their presence at the races implied "any light-hearted lack of concern over the agonies which the Empire is suffering. It would be unjust to allege against them that they were indifferent or callous respecting tjie hardships and perils to which the armies of the Empire are exposed. They simply view the whole question of racing in a different light from that in which the bulk, probably, of the people of the dominion regard it. The consideration of the economic waste that is associated with racing opens up another field of discussion. This country is, despite the war—indeed, it may be asserted, because of the war,—enjoying an undiminished prosperity. Yet, it is somewhat staggering to know that, at a time when a plea for private economy is being insistently urged by the most responsible statesmen in the Empire, a sum of £302,358 was "invested" on the totalisator during the seven days of the Tacing carnival (the trotting meeting being included) at Christchurch. This total was £21,352 10s in excess of that '.'invested" at the corresponding meetings last year. The comparative "investments" day by day are sufficiently interesting to be reproduced : — 1914. 1915. First dav £44.347 £49.404 Second dav 37.692J,- 39.803 Third diiv 42.869£ 40.251J Fourth day 32,8-0 36,841^ Fifth day' 36,813 Sixth dav 42.776 i 48,278 i Seventh day 47,9C6£ 50,966^ £280,825£ £302,358 There is &omo satisfaction to be derived from the fact that, by the war tax on dividends, the State secures £6808 12s 6d from the "investors" of these sums—£39Bß 2s 6d from those at the New Zealand Cup meeting and £2820 10s from those at the Metropolitan Trotting Club's meeting— over and above the ordinary totalisator tax. Upon the basis of these fibres, it seems likely that Sir Joseph Ward's estimate that the war tax on totalisator dividends would yield £75,000 by March 31 next will prove to be under the mark.

There docs not seem to be any reason for doubting the statement in the cable news this morning that evidence has been obtained showing that the German soldiers have been encouraged during recent months by promises of an early conclusion of the war. ]t is, indeed, in the highest degree likely that the Germans were deluded, during their fierce aggressive on the eastern front, with the hope that the result of their operations would be to compel Russia to sue for peace. In that case, the enemy with the greatest resources in man-power having been" eliminated from the conflict, Germany would throw all her available strength against the enemy in the west in a determined effort to achieve there the success which, in present conditions, is unattainable. Why, however, should the commanding officers in the German army consider it necessary to hold out to their men the prospect of an early termination of the war ? At least two reasons may be suggested. One is that the German soldiers are weary of the whole struggle. They have been driven very hard during the past six months, and hardest of all on the Russian front, where they can have had very little rest during an exhausting experience of fighting, and more fighting, varied only by heavy marching. The German "machine" has proved itself the most amazing war organisation of all time; but the effect of wear and tear upon even a perfect mechanical device is inevitable, and it is a reasonable assumption that the German soldier has become stale and war-worn, and that his commanding officers have had to hold out to him false promises of an end of the struggle in order to secure from him a continuance of the best service of which he is capable. Another explanation may be that the morale of the German army is affected by the knowledge of the hardships which are being suffered by the wife and family whom the soldier has left behind him. It may be recollected, as bearing upon' this, that wo were told a few weeks ago of trouble having occurred in a German regiment because letters from the soldiers were not being forwarded to the relatives who had complained to them of a growing difficulty about securing the necessaries of life. Whatever the precise explanation may be, however, it is probably quite safe to hold that the German soldiers are becoming more and more tired of the war, and that the commanding officers are consequently finding it more and more necessary to delude them with glittering promises, which it is beyond their power to make good 1 .