RACING AND WAR.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 205, 5 October 1916, Page 5

RACING AND WAR.

Special Correspondent WELLINGTON, Oct. * Some more or less odious comparisons were made at the annual meeting of the members of the Wellington Racing Club on Friday by Mr J. J. McGrath between the amount subscribed by other clubs towards patriotic funds during the course of the war. The Wellington Club's contribution, Mr McGrath said, had only been £5020, the Manawatu Club £4200, and many smaller clubs verr considerable amounts. The reply to the criticism .of the Wellington Club was that it had very considerable liabilities to discharge and that it had given the use of its buildings and course to the Defence authorities free of charge. Other clubs, of course, had done the same thing, particularly the Manawatu Club, which has established a splendid record for patriotic effort, but Mr J. B. Harcourt, the. President, made a very plausible defence for the Wellington Club, and urged that all the clubs should cooperate for the purpose of establishing a Soldiers' and Veterans' Home in the Hutt Valley as a memorial to the men who had offered their lives hi the service of the Empire during the great, war. It was scarcely relevant to the subject in hand, but Mr Harcourt mentioned that one prominent owner had distributed .over £ISOO out of his winnings towardepatriotic purposes.