COUNTRY CLUBS IN CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1473, 18 July 1918, Page 3

COUNTRY CLUBS IN CONFERENCE.

QUESTION OF REPRESENTATION DISCUSSED. IMMEDIATE RESTORATION OF PERMITS AFTER WAR. CLUBS AFFECTED TO BE REIMBURSED. The annual meeting of the New Zealand Country Racing Clubs’ Association was held in the Town Hall Committee Room, Wellington, on Tuesday night last. The president (Mr. A. Bruce) was in the chair, and the following delegates were present: Hon. E. W. Alison (Takapuna), Messrs. H. H. Hayr (Avondale), R. Williams (Napier Park) , Patterson (Westport), D. J. Evans (Westland), D. C. McCarty (Ashhurst), H. R. Mackenzie and H. S. Wilson (Pakuranga Hunt Club), Nelson (Whangarei), R. H. Sellars (North Canterbury and Masterton), R. Wynyard (Rotorua), R. Nicholson and Taipura (Otaki), L. R. Freeman (Foxton), McDonald (Horowhenua), J. Glen (Nelson), J. Bairstow (Carterton). Special reference was made in the annual report to the efforts of the executive to secure from the Government an assurance that at the close of the war the cancelled days of racing would be immediately restored to the clubs from which they had been taken. The executive had urged the Government to insist upon the condition that clubs whose permits had been suspended would be reimbursed from the profits made by clubs allowed to race. It was quite satisfied that the Minister of Internal Affairs would see full justice done to all concerned. The days of racing had been reduced on account of the war. Could any person truthfully say that the military position had been affected by a pin point? The report mentioned the dispute over the Opunake Club’s permit, and suggested that applications for dates ought to be sent direct to the secretary of the conference instead of to the district committee. The inadequate representation of country clubs on the Racing Conference was one calling aloud for adjustment. Large districts like Auckland, Otago, and Hawke’s Bay should be divided, as the Canterbury district had been divided. Canterbury, by being divided, secured three country club representatives, against two for each of the other districts mentioned. The number of country clubs in each district was: Canterbury 13, Auckland 16, Otago 17, Hawke’s Bay 13. On the basis of Canterbury’s representation of three members, Hawke’s Bay should have three and Auckland and Otago four each. The constitution of the district committees required amendment. Why should the Dunedin Racing Club have 12 representatives on the committee and the 17 Otago country clubs only five representatives? The executive had been advised not to press the matter until after the war. In conclusion the executive expressed a hope that when the war had been carried to a successful conclusion the clubs which lost days of racing last year would have them restored, and that the days of racing taken from the clubs by the 1910 legislation would also be regained. The report and the balance sheet, which showed a satisfactory credit balance, were adopted. The following motion was proposed by Mr. A. Bruce: “That the clubs in each metropolitan district affiliated with the association appoint one delegate each to be and act as local branches of the association.’ Mr. Bruce pointed out that the motion did not entail any opposition to the conference or the district committees. But the association had been founded to protect the interests of the country clubs, and members knew of the efforts that these clubs had been required to make in order to get fair hearing. They still lacked their just share of representation on the district committees. Mr. H. H. Hayr (Avondale) drew attention to the fact that a remit was to be considered by the Racing Conference that affected three members, himself included, to the effect that no paid official should sit on a district. Such a proposal he emphatically stated should meet with the greatest opposition. Hon. E. W. Alison (Takapuna) said for many years there had been strong feeling throughout New Zealand that the representation on the district committees was inequitable. The metropolitan clubs had 12 representatives and the country clubs only five. This anomaly would have

to be altered. But the association had been told that the matter must stand over until after the war. If paid officials were not to be allowed to sit on district committees, they should be similarly debarred from sitting on the Racing Conference. The proposal made by the chairman could do no harm, though it might not be of immediate benefit. Mr. H. R. Mackenzie (Pakuranga Hunt Club) said that the organisation- of the country clubs was sadly incomplete. There should be a country clubs’ association in each provincial district, and these associations should send delegates to an annual conference in Wellington. The country clubs were not getting a fair deal at the present time. He suggested that it should be a recommendation from the meeting that an association of all country clubs should be formed in each province of New Zealand, and that each assefpiation elect two delegates to attend an annual in Wellington in the month of July, prior to the Racing Conference, to work for and protect the interests of the country clubs. After the motion had been discussed at some length, Mr. Bruce said he believed it would have the effect of bringing country clubs together in each district. The association already represented about 45 out of 60 country clubs. The branches he proposed would be local centres for the protection of the interests of the country clubs, which must fight for their privileges if they were to survive and prosper. He did not believe that local associations would be worth a button. There should be one country clubs’ association, with branches in the districts. He would not accept an amendment on the lines suggested by Mr. Mackenzie. The motion was carried by nine votes to five. In answer to a question, Mr. Bruce said the Racing Conference would see that clubs which had been deprived of racing days were reimbursed from the profits of clubs which had retained days. The machinery for the operation of the scheme existed. ♦ RACECOURSE DETECTIVES NOT NECESSARY. The president moved: — “That this association again enters a strong protest against the proposal now before the Racing Conference to appoint racecourse detectives at high cost, since it considers that the control of such matters should remain under the direction and at the discretion of the clubs as at present.” Several members supported this motion on the ground that local knowledge was an essential qualifications of an efficient racecourse detective. The proposal that the Racing Conference should appoint the detectives had already been rejected by previous conferences. Members stated that the country clubs exercised very great care in the selection of detectives, and were generally successful in the exclusion of undesirables. The country clubs Should be left to manage their own affairs in this respect. The motion was carried. It was decided, on the motion of the president, that clubs which had been deprived temporarily of their permits should be exempted from the payment of levies during the period of suspension. The association’s levy on the clubs for the ensuing year was fixed at £1 Is. Mr. A. Bruce was re-elected president and Mr. J. F. Finney, now in camp, was re-elected vice-president. The Hon. E. W. Alison and Mr. H. H. Hayr were elected members of the executive for the North Island, and Messrs. D. J. Evans and Patterson for the South Island. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded the president for his untiring efforts on behalf or the country racing clubs.