Sporting Review. THURSDAY AUGUST 4, 1892.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume III, Issue 106, 4 August 1892, Page 4

Sporting Review. THURSDAY AUGUST 4, 1892.

The annual meeting of the members of the Auckland Racing Club, held on Monday afternoon (and the proceedings at which are reported at length in another column) attracted a “ best on record ’’ in the matter of attendance. Well might the President of the Club, Mr. L. D. Nathan, before proceeding to read an address to the members such as has become a recognised function on the part of all chairmen of Metropolitan Clubs now-a-days, congratulate them on their rolling up in such large numbers. Such an attendance as assembled in the club’s room on Monday must have been extremely gratifying to the worthy President and the members of the committee who have in the past engineered the club through many difficulties, financial and otherwise. It is always encouraging to committeemen of a racing club to see other members taking an interest in the club’s doings, and we hope that now that a new season is commencing members of all the Metropolitan Clubs of the colony will continue to aid their committeemen to the best of their ability by helping them with friendly suggestions, and by doing all that lies in their power to further the interests of the club to which they belong and the welfare of legitimate racing in whatever part of the colony they are located.

But to hark back to the Auckland Racing Club’s meeting on Monday. In some quarters we have heard Mr. Nathan’s speech characterised as “rosy,” but when a club comes out with a balance on the right side over the season’s operations of .£1026 14s 6d, we think they are entitled to feel a bit proud at such a result. Like some other Metropolitan Clubs in the Colony, the Auckland Racing Club have had, in order to thoroughly cater for the convenience of the public, to go into "the borrowing market,” but when we find, according to their balance-sheet, that the surplus of assets over liabilities is 3s 4d, we think the club can look the future in the face with confidence. Mr. Nathan, to use a common expression “ hit the right nail on the head ” when, after pointing to the satisfactory state of the accounts, he went on to say : “ After carefully inspecting these accounts you will observe that while we have been liberal to horse-owners, we have had a vigilant eye on the club’s financial position and have looked after its interests carefully. The year has not been without its troubles and anxieties, and your committee have experienced no inconsiderable anxiety. I am afraid it is very often forgotten by those who are always only too ready and too eager to find fault with the Board of Management of the great amount of valuable time these gentlemen spend in looking after and in keenly watching the club’s welfare and business, and that the only compensation the committee have for giving their close attention to the affairs of the club is in the belief that they are acting as publicspirited citizens in providing for the support of honourable racing, and in upholding the great national pastime as free from abuses as it is possible to do under a variety of circumstances.” And then he went on to deal with what he fittingly termed “ a subject that is now agitating the racing world in this colony — the totalisator.” Rightly enough, as President of the Auckland Racing Club, Mr. Nathan did not disguise the fact that the totalisator was being abused. But at the same time he took occasion to point out that for some of the abuses of the machine in the Auckland Provincial

District the Auckland Racing Club had not been to blame. We trust the present Colonial Secretary (in whose hands lies the licensing of the totalisator) and his colleagues on the Government benches will carefully digest Mr. Nathan’s remarks about pony racing and trotting and their attributes in Auckland, and the steps they took to curtail such “ sport.” “But they were overruled by a higher authority,” says Mr. Nathan. That higher authority was, of course, the Colonial Secretary, whose particular province is supposed to be to deal with questions regarding the licensing of the totalisator. Some people in the neighbourhood of Auckland may thank their lucky stars that the A.R.C. were " overruled by a higher authority,” or, to put it in other words, that Sir Patrick Buckley is now acting as Colonial Secretary instead of the Hon. Captain Russell, who knows more about the intricacies of racing, trotting, etc., than the recently knighted M.L.C. ever made acquaintance with.

At the above meeting Mr. E. W. Alison wished to propose a resolution to which we should like to have seen effect given. However, he had unfortunately not complied with the rules by giving the requisite seven days’ notice, and therefore the Chairman held that the resolution could not be put. Mr. Alison’s motion was one affirming that the members of the club were of opinion that no higher sum than 10 percent, commission should be charged at the totalisator, and that that should be a recommendation to the incoming committee. We should like to have heard the question thoroughly debated, and we fancy that had it gone to the vote Mr. Alison’s motion would have been almost unanimously acquiesced in. Now that most of the Racing Clubs are holdingtheir annual meetings it is time that they gave some sort of expression to their views as to what should be charged the public on machine investments —whether the clubs themselves or the public should be made to pay the Government tax. As things stand at present there is a delightful state of uncertainty pervading the whole subject. There is not the slightest unanimity on the matter. In one portion of the colony we will find a Metropolitan Club charging n| per cent., thus making its patrons pay through the nose for the privilege of investing in the totalisator. Mayhap some of the country clubs racing under that Metropolitan Club’s jurisdiction only charge the public 10 per cent. Then, another Metropolitan Club declines to charge the public more than io per cent., but some of the country clubs within the boundaries of its jurisdiction take the opportunity of squeezing the extra i| per cent, out of the public. This is a matter on which some expression of opinion on the part of the recent Conference of Metropolitan Clubs’ delegates might have been looked for, but they were quite inert. We have already had a decided expression of opinion from the Premier as to what was intended by him when he introduced the i| per cent. tax. He has distinctly stated that he never intended that it should be charged as an extra burden on the public in addition to the 10 per cent, sanctioned by law. All credit, we say, to those country clubs who have paid the i£ per cent, out of the ten per cent, allowed them, and have thus acted liberally towards them. We hope that the incoming committee of the Auckland Racing Club will at their first meeting take this subject into consideration, and lay down a rule that they will, only charge the public io per cent, on their totalisator investments, and will not permit any club under their jurisdiction to charge more. Other Metropolitan Clubs, too, we hope to see following a similar line of action, instead of, as is the case now, being divided among themselves. Let us have some unanimity among our turf Solons.

There were, as seems to be customary at annual meetings of the Auckland Racing Club, disturbing factions in the camp, and two or three members took occasion on Monday to indulge in their perennial growl at anything and everything that did not suit their own particular whims and fancies. But though some actions of the committee were taken exception to, they came out triumphant at the finish, for by a large majority —when the ballot came to be taken—the retiring committeemen were re-elected to their old posts, and the new candidate was thus badly beaten. This was an emphatic expression, therefore, from the large number of members present, of satisfaction at the manner in which the committee had performed their onerous duties during the past year.

Some important resolutions were passed at the meeting on the motion of Mr. Devore, and with the spirit of them we entirely concur, but we are afraid that to give due effect to them will be found unpracticable. We were surprised to see that there was so little discussion upon them, and this was a matter in which we think some of the members present might have given expression to their opinions with more benefit to the sport they profess to love than haggling over petty details. Mr. Devore’s resolutions read thus :—

That in the opinion of this meeting (1) Racing in the provincial district of Auckland is excessive; (2) That the use of the totalisator is excessive; (3) That it be an instruction to the incoming committee to reduce the number of race meetings within this provincial district during the ensuing season, and thereby decrease the use of the totalisator ; (4) That racing be centralised at selected centres as much as practicable. With resolutions 1,2 and 3 we have little fault to find, but Mr. Devore’s argument as to resolution 4 (which is reported in another column) seemed to us a bit laboured, and we see no reason why “ centres of racing ” should be established in the places mentioned by Mr. Devore to the exclusion of one day’s racing in small townships, where the local country folk can enjoy the sport in quite as legitimate manner as their more wealthy town brethren do. Mr. Devore said that " several meetings were held at small outside places just because the totalisator was used, the object being to put sufficient money through the totalisator to pay the stakes.” But Mr. Devore seems to forget that according to the Rules of Racing the money put through the machine has to come back next year to owners in the way of stakes, and it would be an act of gross injustice on the part of the Metropolitan Club, if so long as a club complied with the Rules of Racing in this respect, they blotted it out of existence for the sake of centralising racing. There is one branch of Mr. Devore’s argument on which we are thoroughly in accord with him, and if the next Conference of Metropolitan Clubs delegates is not to be futile it should take up the matter in real earnest. We allude to Mr. Devore’s contention that each club should send in to the Metropolitan Club, not later than the end of September, its full programme for the ensuing season. This plan, as Mr. Devore pointed out, is adopted in Victoria and New South Wales, and we see no reason why it cannot be brought into force here. This is a question the incoming committees of the various Metropolitan Clubs might take some concerted action upon, without leaving it to the Conference next November. Country Clubs would benefit by the adoption of such a course, for then the Metropolitan Club could allot certain dates to each, and there would be no unseemly clashing.