OTAGO MOTOR CLUB

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18051, 27 September 1920, Page 2

OTAGO MOTOR CLUB

ANNUAL MEETING. Tlhe eighui annual ineeung oi the Otagi Motor Oiub wua neld in uiu bu.yoy iouug on Saturday mgUt. llie presidcm {Mr *i •ii Ausulij occupied tho tyiaur, ana ther was a. Huge utouuuauce ot &J or 60 members in moving tlio iulopuou oi tho ajutim iX'pol'L aiiu uiiiuuutt iucet me uhairiiuui aiui luai it wud gracuyiug uu ooetsrvo uiut Uv muiubertiiiip ui mo ciUb liau luoruasud d , 100 diuing- tho year. ±nis snowed progrosj Uut although tho membership was nov about VU), it vtaa not neany as laige as i should Uu.—("Hear, hear.'J In view o t-uuuiig icgisiatiun and the tuxatiun o motorists, uiey required to be a strong bouin order 10 give weight to tnoir rcp-csiMiki tious in tiie interest, of motoring, it wua twref vre, tbo duty oi every motorist t< givo them jssistanco in their work, iiugo ii'umbea- ot Central Utago motorist inid joined the club, and their thandts weri due to Mr Koss, of Alexandra,, lor ui energy ho had displayed iii furthering th interests of the club iu his district. Durinj tno year, as opportunity occurred, tho clui had arranged motor outings ioic hospita soldier patients. These trips had been, ay predated by tho men, and their health keen bpnehted by them. On this work tin year's expenditure had been £260. No won Jiad given the executive of the club mori pleasure than that of taking tho soldier out into tho country to spend a few hour; under pleasant circumstances. As soon a: tile weatiior wis suita-blo they would agaii resume these outings.—("Hear, hear." Motor cyclists had been fairly well catea-ec for during the season,' and they had hai somo very successful sport, particularly th< b'jach races at Warriugton. These events had drawn large attendances of the public who were rewarded by seeing some verj fine riding, especially the racing of theii club member, i-'inlay M'Dpnald. The execu tivo was always ready to arrange sportim. events if they were well supported by th( motor cyclists. Not the least important event , ; during the past year had been th< formation ot the South Island Motor Union of which they were now members. Thii matter had been given a good deal of con sideration by the executive, and as it ap peared to them that they could do mow tor South Island motorists than a Zea land Linion could do, they had resignet from the New Zealand Union and joinet tho South Island Union. A New Zoalanc Union, which was quite right in theory was noi the success it might have been ir practice, one of the reasons being the faci that they, through their own fault, did noi send their own delegates to the conference! held at Wellington. There had been a dif ference of opinion amongst their members I regarding the want of unity that might fol low on their resignation from the New Zea land Union, but this difficulty had beer overcome by the courtesy of tlio executive of the New Zealand Union, which, in replj to a letter from the South Island Union had written stating that it was willing t< ,work with the southern union in matters concerning the welfare of motorists. H< took this opportunity of expressing his ap pieciation of the attitude that the New Zealand Union had adoped regarding this matter. —("Hear, hear.") The New Zea land Union naturally was not very pleasec over tho withdrawal of two such large bodies as the Canterbury and Otago Clubs, and ii was decidedly to its credit tha.t it hat buried its grievance and had shown a willingness to work with the southern motorist; in legislative matters for the welfare oi New Zealand motorists. —(Applause.) Th< membership of the clubs associated with the South Island Union embraced over 30C( motorists, and he was quite certain that i) would be a vigorous association, and one they would be proud to be affiliated with. Afrtheir last monthly meeting they had confirmed their resignation from the Now Zealand Union, and iMr M. Stevenson, whe had given notice of motion to rescind that resolution, had now withdrawn his notice.— ("Hear, hear/') This, ho was quite certain, was in the best interests of the club, and destroyed the danger of dissension in theii executive. The large number of motoi accidents occurring in the dominion was a reproach to New Zealand motorists, and something would have to be done to protect the users of the highways. The greatest (p&rcentage of accidents was due, not tc excessive speed, as was popularly supposed, but to non-observance of the rule of the road. This applied not only to motorists, but to drivers of all classes of vehicles, and considering the criminal carelessness that was allowed to exist on their roads to-day, the wonder to him was that accidents were not more frequent.—("Hear, hear.") With ever-increasing traffic, users pf tho road must be taught that they could not with impunity break , rules that were set down to enable the road traffio ( of the country to be carried on with safety. 'Another fruitful cause of accidents was the fact that many motorists neglected to regularly inspect the brakes of their machines, being quite content if their cars travelled well. Unlighted vehicles were also a prolific cause of accidents, and a source of end less trouble to motor traffic. When tho Government was dealing with tho matter of motor accidents it was to be hoped that they would give this phase of the subject their attention. One of tho activities of the club had been to assist in awakening the public to the necessity for, and the economy of, building ■ Toads suitable for modern traffic. The demand for good roads was keeping pace with the rapid increase of motoring, particularly the. use of commercial vehicles., The chief duty of the club was continually to advocate anil to assist the Government to formulate a system that would provide good roads for the dominon.—(Hear, hear.) Motorists would be asked to ■ provide a substantial share of the cost incurred in building up modern roads, and if an equitable tax was levied they could raise no objection. What ho considered the most important result of their recent conference with tho Hon. G. J. Anderson, Minister for Internal Affairs, was the promise obtained that the Government would see that money obtained from motorists would bo used for the improvement of main and arterial roads. This was a principle that they had fought for ever since a tax on motorists had been talked of. and by admitting the justice of it tho Government had shown that it was anxious to deal fairly with motorists. Ho had had the opportunity that morning of meeting Mr Anderson, who had been going 5? ™°i. n *£?, ex P , ; ess > and of discussing the Motor Bill with him. Mr Anderson had told him that he was not at all sure that he would get the Bill through this session. He had boon trying to do his best, but owing to his illness the Bill had been shelved in the meantime. Mr A.nsell expressed his deep appreciation of the assistance given him during the year by the members of the executive, and concluded amidst applause. Mr M. Stevenson seconded the motion and complimented Mr Ansell on the manner in which he guided the club durin? the yeau, and Messrs W. Wright, F. J Carter A. L. Fogo and H. Halliday also eulogised the work of tho president. The motion was carried. The election of officers resulted as fol-lows:-President, Mr A. E. Ansell (reelected) ; vice-presidents—Messrs M. Stevenson, A. L. Fogo, H. Reid, R. L Jonescaptain Mr W. Wright; vice-captain, Mr W. &!bb; hon. treasurer, Mr R. Halliday hon. auditors, Messrs O. W. L. King and A O. -\1 Greortre ; hon. solicitor, Mr G Mondy; committee (cars), Messrs J. a" Roberts, F J Carter, P. Breen, J. L Passmore (cycles), Messrs F. J. Lou K h' J. H. M'Dougall, and A. Walker. ' v i-i-I de , a ded to hold the annual reliability trial on Labour Day, the run to be to Alexandra and back. The first Monday in November was fixed as the opening day. The club will hold a run to Outram, and soldier patients will be invited to take part in the outing A vote of thanks was passed to the club's secretary (Mr P. H Power) for his work during the year, the chairman pointing out that a large proportion of the new members who had joined had been obtained oy their secretary. Twenty-?ix new members were elected. Iho prizes won during the year were presented b 7 Mr A. L. Fogo. A discission took place on the alleged abuse of open orders, it being asserted thai somo prize winners were utilising the orders in a way which was entirely opposed to amateurism. No decision on the point was, however, come to. ..