A SHARP REMINDER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 665, 17 May 1929, Page 6

A SHARP REMINDER

THERE was a dramatic ending to a boxing tournament at Christchurch last Tuesday night when a squad of police arrived and refused to allow it to continue. According to the Press Association report, the controlling body, the Christchurch Amateur Boxing and Sports Club, had neglected to obtain a permit to hold the gathering, and the police, getting to hear of the omission, stepped in unexpectedly with rather unfortunate results for the club. So far, only brief details are available. It appears that early in the evening the secretary of the club, remembering that he had not obtained a permit, telephoned to the Inspector of Police, who declined to give a permit off-hand. While the tournament was in progress the police arrived and ordered the tournament to he stopped. A rather intriguing feature of the case is the apparent fact that it was the secretary’s belated endeavour to rectify matters over the phone which “put the show away,” and led to police intervention. At first sight, to the plain man in the street, it would appear that the action of the police was a decidedly highhanded one, however right and proper it might be in the eyes of the law. If the circumstances are as reported, one might have expected that the tournament would have been allowed to be carried out with a warning that more care should be exercised in future.

However, there may be other factors which led to the action taken by the police. For instance, has such a breach occurred before? Until this and other questions are fully answered, it would he wise to wait before passing a definite opinion. Tuesday night’s incident will at least be a lesson to the club to exercise more care in future in seeing that the necessary formalitiqg are strictly complied with. It is also a reminder that boxing in New Zealand is constituted under Act of Parliament and that all tournaments, exhibitions in theatres, halls, etc., for which a charge for admission is made, must he held under a permit from an inspector of police.