WANGANUI JOCKEY CLUB.

Wanganui Chronicle, 25 July 1901, Page 2

WANGANUI JOCKEY CLUB.

ANNUAL MEETING,

The annual meeting of the Wanganui i Jockey Glub was held lastt evening, Dr. Earle presiding over an attendance of be- 1 tween 25 and 30 members. MINUTES. ! The Secretary (Mr. Moffatt) read the | .minutes of the last annual meeting, which : were duly confirmed, as also were u>e minutes of the special general meeting held on August 22nd, 1900. ANNUAL REPORT. The President (Dr. Earle), in moving the adoption of the annual report and balance-sheets drew attention to the small amount of net profit shown •on the year's operations as compared with previous years. But, although the profit was unusually small, it was a. profit all the same, and as against it, it had to be rememoersd -.(hat in addition to increasing the stakes [or the year by £1345 and spending £562 in permanent improvements and repairs, the Club had still £2500 bearing interest, and liquid assets amounting to £200 odd. Still he (Dr. Earle) considered it would be well for the incoming Committee _to take into consideration the advisability of carefully considering any furiJier contemplated additions to the stakes, as he did not, think it woidd be wise to dye much more next year than they had this. He formally moved the adoption of the report) and balance sheet. Mr. A. Higgie seconded the motion. Mr. J. H. Nixon, speaking to the motion, endorsed the Chairman's remarks with reference to the finances and added that though the profit was small, they had done "wonders on .the expenditure side. Most treasurers, and especially Colonial Treasurers, liked a large surplus, and he could assure them that( they could very easily, by a little jugglery with the figures, have shown a large instead of a small profit. Of one thing he could assure them, and that was that on the 30th of June last every penny owed by the Club had been paid. He concurred with th« Chairman's! suggestion tlhat care should be exercised in considering any increase of the stakes. He thought the Committee should, in this respect, very careful. Even as the stakes stood, the Club was, on a population basis, as good as any in the colony, as was evidenced by the following figures, giving the number of days racing, the amount! paid in stakee, and the amount put through the t'otalisator: — Days. Stakes. Tote. Auckland 13 £20,000 £153,399 Canterbury 11 £19,165 £130,091 Wellington 9 £11,160 £89,283 Wanganui 6 £6,075 £47,357 HawWs Bay ... 9 £6,010 £41,770 Dunedin . .:. 9 £5,334 £47,673 Taranaki .4 £2,245 £21,535 Continuing, Mr. Nixon referred to the recent innovation by the Conference of paying out on the second horse. Tins, he considered, was a good thing. It was fair to owners, would please the public, and help more than anything else to cripple the bookmakers. He hoped that some one would move that it be a. recommendation to the Committee to. introduce the system of paying out. on the second horse at local meetings. He also' referred to the large increase (£24) in the cost of advertising over the previous year, and expressed ths opinion that the time had come when the Clubs should combine to prevent themselves being unnecessarily fleeced m tho matter of advertising. In this he was not referring to the local papers, but to the amount they had to send to the south. Dr. Connolly stated that the Conference had considered this maliter .and had ascertained that although the "Referee' certainly did get the bulk of the money, it did a lot of special work for the Clubs. There was, however, a likelihood of the charges being modified. Mr. Fletcher asked whether a good dead of the money spent on repairs had not been due to damage "done in connection wi-h the visit of the Imperial troops, etc. The Chairman said that was not so, the damage done on that occasion having been paid for by the Reception Committee. The motion for the adoption of the report was then put and carried unanimously. ELECTION OF OFFICERS.

The election of ofiicers was then proceeded with. The following gentlemen were elected without ballot: —President, Dr. R. C. Earle; vice-president, Mr. Henry Harrison; hon. treasurer, Mr. J. H. Nixon; clerk of scales, Mr. E. A. Campbell; clerk of the course, Mr. Donald McDonald; timekeeper, Mr. R. Higgie; hon. surgeon, Dr. J. D. Tripe; hon. veterinary surgeon, Mr. Maxwell Edgar. For the "office of stewards, the following gentlemen were proposed:—Messrs. J. T. Moore, A. Cameron, A. Higgie, "W. R. Tuck, J. Higgie, J. Watt, A.Hatrick, H W. Hole., E. E. Fletcher, and Drs. Connolly and Saunders. On a ballot, Messrs. Cameron, Watt, A. Higgie, J. Higgle, Moore, and D. Connnolly were declared elected, and a tie was announced between Mr. Hatrick and Dr. Sannders. Dr. Saunderj said he would willingly withdraw in favour of the Mayor. The Qhairman said that Mr. Hatrick had informed him that he did not wish to take office this year, and that was one reason why he did not attend the meeting. A second ballot was called for, and a« the resultl Dr. Saunders was declared elected. For the office of Committeemen the following were proposed:—Drs. Earle and Saunders, Messrs. Grace. Fletcher,' Cutfield, Hole, and Tuck. As the result of the ballot, Drs. Earle and Saunders and Messrs. Outfield and Grace were declared elected. For the position of auditor, there were two nominations, Messrs. W. Rodwell and A. Nixon. The ballot resulted in a tie, and the Chairman gave his casting vote in favour of Mr. Nixon. SECOND HORSE. Mr. J. H. Nixon moved that it be a recommendation to the incoming Committee to introduce the system of paying out on the second horse. „

Mr. E. T. Greville seconded the motion, as he considered it would prove an effectual means of checking the bookmakers. Ho stiated that it had proved a decided^ success at the recent Wellington meeting; and it would, he believed, prove more satisfactory to all concerned. The usual vote to the chair concluded the meeting.