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New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume III, Issue 125, 15 December 1892, Page 4

At the Conference between the D.J.C? and the country clubs’ delegates in Dunedin some very interesting figures Were quoted as bearing on the balance of power at the Conferences hitherto held in Wellington. Mr. T. McCracken, who represented the Lowburn, Cromwell, and Cromwell Tradesmen’s Clubs, said that the grievance of the country clubs was, to put it shortly, the amount of added money the late Conference said the clubs must give. The sum of per day for one meeting and per day for two meetings simply meant prohibition. He went on to point out that the Cromwell Jockey Club formerly held two meetings in a season, giving about in stakes, or a day. The club had always been able to give that amount, and have a little spare money to expend on the racecourse. During the thirty years it had been in existence it had spent in improving the Course. To have the same number of racing days now the club would have to give per annum. This it could not do, and the club had had to abandon its spring meeting, and could only have one meeting of two days in the year. These remarks also applied to other clubs. ,Hp mentioned Wanaka, Lowburn, Cromwell Tradesmen’s, Clyde, Alexandra, St. Bathans, and Sowburn as clubs that could not give a day. Wanaka gaves° in October, and had a deficiency of or after the races, after canvassing for private subscriptions. The Lowburn Club gave and met with a loss of ; Cromwell Tradesmen’s made a loss of ; Clyde had had to abandon its meeting, and Alexandra would have to follow suit. Though the Metropolitan Club, said Mr. McCracken, should have to put its house in order, it was hardly fair that it should do so at the expense of the country clubs. He suggested that the D.J.C. should be asked to meet the Metropolitan Clubs at the next Conference and lay before them the views* of the present meeting, stating the difficulties they had had and the exertions they had put forth, and representing that the new regulation would wipe the country clubs out of existence, and asking the Metropolitans if they would not be prepared to modify the proposals, perhaps not at once, but if not at once no doubt the delegates woqld be happy to make a compromise as to date. He asked what were three days’ racing compared to wiping the country , clubs Aout

altogether ? Some of the country clubs dated from a period equal to the D.J.C. The Cromwell Club, he averred, was started in 1865. Mr. Hazlett, one of the D.J.C. committee, stated that he was at a meeting in Cromwell in 1862. Mr. McCracken said that the club was not properly formed then, but in any case the fact stated helped his argument. It was of no use, he knew, to make a proposal unless there was strength to back it up. So far as his club was concerned, it did not wish to make a threat, and would desire to avoid all Conflict and that they should all go on as in the past ; but he wished this understood, and he did not say it as a threat, but it was his duty to say so, and that was this, that if the totalisator was not to be for the country clubs the influence of every member of country clubs and of sporting people would be used to abolish it. That was not a threat.

But the figures quoted above were not ' all that were laid before the meeting. Mr. Miller, one of the Dunedin Jockey Cltib’s Committee, in pointing out that the representation on the Conferences of Metropolitan Clubs was unfair in pro-

portion to the importance, produced a ' series of figures supplied to him by Mr. Sydney James, the Club’s secietary, with regard to the Metropolitan Clubs. These

showed that there were 10 Metropolitan Clubs in the colony representing 158 clubs, but Dunedin, Auckland, and Canterbury between' them represented only 105. leaving 53 clubs to be represented by the other seven Metropolitan bodies, and Dunedin, Auckland, and Canterbury had each the same voting power as Greymouth, which has onlv one club in its jurisdiction, Putting the same thing in another way, Mr. Miller said :hat the total amount of added money was and of this amount Auckland, Otago, and Canterbury contributed or two-thirds of the whole. These figures, Mr. Miller justly contended, showed that the representation was wrong, and unless something was done to get a fairer representation, thihgs could not be placed on a better footing. After these figures we may expect to see some with regard to voting power at any future Conference of Metropolitan Clubs.