OTAGO RIFLE ASSOCIATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3111, 29 October 1913, Page 6

OTAGO RIFLE ASSOCIATION.

ANNUAL MEETING. The forty-second annual meeting of tho Otago Ritte Association was held in tho officers’ club room at the Garrison Hall on the 22nd. Colonel E. R. Smith presided, and the attendance was so small that the first matter considered was whether tho meeting should not be postponed till a future date. It was decided, however, to continue the business. Tho Chairman said they could congratulate themselves on last year’s rifle meeting. Outside the Trentham meeting, he understood it was the largest field in the dominion. It was held at a period when there was a change going on from the old Volunteering system to tho Territorial system, and it might have been expected that things would not do so prosperous as they would have been under a continuous system. They had not gone back at all in their funds; indeed, they had increased their funds by £3l ss, and had a credit balance of £49 to start the year with. The grant of £SO they had received from the Defence Department had been very useful, and had helped them to make the meeting more attractive. This grant had been received on condition that they held service matches, and they had had three service matches, in which every competitor had to enter and shoot. The conditions were going to be altered considerably this year. The department would not give them any grant at all. It was going to run its own area meetings t hrougliout, Otago, and had voted £2OO to be distributed over these various areas. They would therefore have to run this mooting entirely on their own account. They existed as an association to encourage riflo shooting, and must not run counter to tho defence scheme, but try to aid it in every possible way. What they wanted to do was to bring on young shots. If they could not manage to secure railway passes for competitors it would restrict their entries very much, and they should make every effort to get the department to grant raifway passes, at any rale, for a reasonable distance. There were a good many wealthy citizens taking an interest in riflo shooting, and he thought that some of them would bo willing to pay the entry fees of a few of the lads, and thus encourage them to become marksmen. The balance sheet for tho rifle meeting held last Easter, presented by Captain Lacey, showed receipts totalling £IBO Is fid, including £l2l 5s in entry money and £SO in a Government grant. The credit balance on the meeting amounted to £3l ss. Tho balance sheet was adopted without discussion. The following officers were elected for the ensuing —Patron, the Hon. James Allen ; president, Colonel Bauchop; vicepresidents—Colonels Smith. Nicholls, Stoneham, Boyne, Major Grant, Captains Proudfoot and Dempster; secretary and tx-casurer,

Captain Lacey; auditor, Rifleman J. Logan; delegates—one to be appointed from each company. On the motion of Captain Proudfoot it was decided to hold the next meeting of the association next Easter