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H.—22

We effected our improvements on overdraft. There is a liability of £1,800 on the property, which is guaranteed by nine out of sixty-six members. We had a heavy flood at the beginning of this year which swept away practically the whole of our improvements and silted up a large portion of the course, The Racing Conference has given us permission to postpone our meeting until later in the year; but the committee decided they could not effect any further improvements until they knew if they were going to get a permit or not. Since 1892 the population of the district has greatly increased. We serve a huge district extending about a hundred miles. We have no racing here between October and February. We have raced for the past three or four years at a loss. When we had the bookmakers we used to get as many as three thousand people on the course at our meetings. That is sufficient to show that a totalizator meeting would be well patronized. Although we are only twenty miles from Gisborne we have many people who cannot afford to go and stay for a night or two there for the two-days meeting. Te Karaka is the centre of a big breeding district, and up to the present owners have had absolutely no encouragement here. We have something like eighty to ninety horses at work. We have not yet approached the Poverty Bay Hunt Club, but we thought if we could not get a permit we might join in with them; but the hunt club races in the winter, and we do not think our course would be suitable for them. Petane Racing Club. The headquarters of the club are at Petane. The club was established in 1879. Since 1890 the club has not used the totalizator, but has carried on the business as a non-totalizator club. ft is a registered club. The last meeting was held in November, 1913. A list of the present members of the club and a copy of the club's last balance-sheet have been forwarded. The circumference of the course is 7 furlongs 3 chains. The racecourse is used for one day only in the racing season, and the tenure of the club at present only applies to that particular day. Should circumstances warrant, the committee can make arrangements to have a lease granted to them of the course and the grounds appertaining to it. The accommodation consists of only a small grandstand, but should our application for a totalizator permit result in our receiving the desired authority we are prepared to erect suitable buildings for the accommodation of all concerned. The course is fenced ail round on the inside. The nearest club using the totalizator is the Napier Park Racing Club, situate ten miles distant. The Petane Racing Club is the only non-totalizator club which purposes holding its annual race meeting in the Hawke's Bay District, the other non-totalizator clubs which have been registered by the New Zealand Racing Conference having abandoned their dates, and have decided to relinquish holding meetings. By the Deputation. —We are the only registered non-totalizator club in the district. That we have a hard struggle to live is shown by the number of clubs going out of existence. The largest amount put through the totalizator in a day here was £850. One year the club gave £300 in stakes. Then the Petane Cup was worth £100. We are always patronized by good horses and big owners. We go in for a good deal of long races —one mile and a quarter and one mile and a half —so as to encourage the breeding of good horses. Donations and subscriptions total more than half the stakes. We have very good promises of support. It would be a great thing for the district if we could get a permit, as this is the only day's sport for the people here. The nearest place is Napier. The committee are prepared to spend a considerable amount on the course if a permit is granted—at least £1,000. The only other meeting, except Napier Park, is at Wairoa, which is eighty miles away. Waipawa County Racing Club. The headquarters of the club are at Waipawa. The club was formed forty-four years ago, and is registered. The last meeting was held on the 9th November, 1910. A list of the present members of the club and a copy of the last balance-sheet have been forwarded. The club's racecourse is situated at Hoinewood, about three miles from the Waipawa Railway-station, and one mile from the Patangata Road siding, where the race-trains stop. The area of the property is 62 acres. The circumference of the course is 7 furlongs 1 chain. The tenure is leasehold, ninety-nine years from the Ist March, 1898, with compulsory purchasing clause, by valuation, at end of term. The rent is £62 per annum. The accommodation consists of a grandstand, luncheon-room, bar, stewards' room, ladies' cloak-room, totalizator-stand, secretary's office, jockeys' dressing-room, clerk of scales' room, judge's box, scraping-shed, gentlemen's conveniences, the whole being iv good condition. Inside the course 'proper there is a ploughed training-track. The course is fenced all round on both sides with good post-and-rail and picket fences. The nearest clubs using the totalizator are Waipukurau, ten miles distant, and Hawke's Bay Jockey Club, twenty-five miles distant. There is no club racing in this district which does not use the totalizator. We would point out that for over twenty years the club was granted two totalizator permits. One permit was taken away by the New Zealand Racing Conference in 1908 and given to the Dannevirke Racing Club. The remaining permit was taken away solely through the 1910 gaming legislation. Both permits were taken away from the club through no fault or omission on the part of the club or its officials; all race meetings have been carried out in a proper manner and with credit to the club and district. Since the club lost its permit in 1910 it has maintained continuously and husbanded its assets to the best advantage. By the Deputation. —There is a considerable area of country which has looked upon the Waipawa Club's race meeting as an outing which was pleasurable and social, rather than as a means of assisting to build up totalizator records. We hold that small meetings, such as those at Waipawa, have encouraged a class of horses to start racing which have eventually succeeded in taking a very prominent place in racing in New Zealand. When the club took up its lease