NEW ZEALAND TROTTING ASSOCIATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2401, 8 March 1900, Page 40

NEW ZEALAND TROTTING ASSOCIATION.

A special adjourned meeting of the New Zealand Trotting Association was held on Tuesday, February 27; present — Messrs P. Selig (chaiiman), D. M'Lean, G. H. M'Haffie, T. H. Davey, 0. P. G-rierson, G-. King, C. S. Howell, r,]id A. "L. Hyers.

j-no^ Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said that members were aware that they had met to consider some of the incidents connected with the All Da j -Little Archie case. He had carefully gone through the whole of the evidence tendered to the association, and he would submit that there were' two issues to be oonsideicd. Ihe first was, whether the Etswards who decided the protest entered "tgainsi Little Archie were qualified, according 10 liul^ £.5 of the club's ruies, io Fit in judg vasal, and. secondly, whether M. Edwards made his statements in good faith, and whether the committee of the club were ju&tified m disqualifying him for 32 months. Touching the first point, it was admitted that Exile 23, piovidmg that "an,;- member being financially interested in any proposition brought forward at either a general, special, or _ cam.initial, mtotin^ shiiiL withdraw" lioin the meetIng while buch motion is beir.g discuaed or \oced oj, ' cxi&ieu m the club'.s rules. They had it m evidence tha^ many ol the stewards were unaware of the existence ot the rule. It had bee-i the custom for the chairman to ask pr:oi to a case being considered, whether ai.y steward was interested, but in this instance th.i' hdd no^ been done. Should the officers know tjjc niie-j under whien they were work5i g ' ilvon it they did not, it would have OLL'ii much bettsr ior those inxeresteel to have .cuvmed iioin taking part an the case. Some oi wu witnesses os&iuasd that the lule emoted was ciiy intended to apply to tenders, but he would snidest that its meaning was plain Bui, (ipM-t from this opinion, they had the evidence of a iormcj.- provident of the club who suited that the iu!e was passed with the object ot pie\;aui.g titwards taking uait in questions where they were financiaily interested 'llniteoii stewards sat to consider the protest und it had been shown that six of them were financially interested. It was immaterial which horse thay supported; bhe position was not aiiectea. It was, oi course, quite possible that the investment of a few shillings on any horse might not influence a steward.. Then did the stewaidd, looking at Eule 23, constitutionally hear the protest. The fact that some members of the committee urged that interested stewards should not sit evidenced that the ruie was known to a few. The public trusted stewards, and it was for them to consider, m the interest of the sport, whether stewards should decide cases Vhen they were nnanciaUy interested. Some saw no harm m their doing so, but he would submit that Kiere was a principle involved in the matter which should not be lost sight of. Edwards had stated that one of the stewards who had yoted on the protest had backed All Day in iJucedm. This was denied, the steward declaring that he had no bet on the race, though it was shown that the steward so charged haS coded All Day to a co-steward in Dunedin, who had backed the horse to the extent of £2 for himself and £3 for friends, but that no part of the money had been invested for the sender of the tip. He might mention that there waa a variation in the times of the sending of this coded wire to Dunedin. The one denoted that it was handed in at Christchurch at 9.42, whilst the copy submitted to the association showed that it was put in at 10.14. Two of the stewards who attended the meeting would financially benfit by the upholding of the protest, but one left the room and did not vote. If the members of the association considered that the protest had not been constitutionally decided, the question ought to be again referred to the club. As to the disqualification of Edwards by the committee, it was for them to say whether he was justified in making his statements. His information had been drawn from a reputable person, and did they consider that Edwards had reasonable grounds for making those statements? In his letter to the association, Edwards had stated, in legal phraseology, " that he verily believed ' that the statements were correct. Beading Eule 23, he would put it to the "members — could Edwards' s allegations be considered reasonable ? Eegarding the suppi ession "of the evidence taken by the Canterbury Trotting Ciub 'Committee, he would quote Eule 20 of the constitution — " When appeals are made to the association, clubs must forward a copy of all evidence taken and documents affecting the hearing of the case." , Was the club to blame in suppressing evidence?The secretary of the club had told them that it was the first time he had been asked to alter minutes. If the suppression of evidence was countenanced it was easy for abuses to creep in.

After a lengthy discussion, it was unanimously dsc'ded that the protest entered against Little Archie in the Three-year-old Handicap was not adjudicated upon by a properly- -jualified tribunal, and a subsequent motion was agreed to that the stewards- of the Canterbury Trotting Cmb shouid be asked to constitutionally hear the case.

It was also resolved that M. Edwards's disqualification for 12 months by the Canterbury Trotting Club should not be endorsed.

A vote of thanks to the chan-man for the able manner m which he had conducted the case, concluded the meeting.

A meeting of the stewards of the Canterbury Tiolting Club was held on Monday evening to consider the All Day-Little Archie case, referred back by the New Zealand Trotting Association owing to the meeting of stewards which had adjudicated upon the case on Boxing Day having been irregularly constituted. After the stewards monetarily interested in the case had withdrawn, Mr W. Haywaicl was voted to the chuir, eight stewaids being present. A resolution to the effect that the case should not be reopened was carried, with one dissentient, and a further reeolution upholding the decision o£ the stewards who sat on the case on Boxing Day, awarding the race to All Day, was carried by four votes to three, the chairman not voting.

Mr -A. Parlane, of Milton, has' been appointed iono n position as relieving teacher in the George street School- in Dunedin.

We (Wyndham Farmer) learn that Mr I. W. Raymond, of this town, contemplates paying a trip to Britain, via America. Mr Raymond, who will be accompanied by his wife, will leave Wyndham some time in April. Of course, the Paris Exhibition- will be visited, and on the return journey a call at South Africa will probably be included in the itinerary. Mr and Mrs Raymond expect to be absent from the colony for unwards of six months