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and race-day is looked upon as a day of reunion by old settlers and as a general picnic. If we secure a totalizator permit the club will have an assured finance, and will be in a position to raise funds for improvements by issuing debentures. By the Deputation. —Our club is situated practically in the heart of the Bay of Islands district. The railway is pushing on to Hokianga. We can arrange for excursion trains to run here from both ends, so we are in a very favourable position to gather a crowd. With a permit we would start work to make a decent track and provide up-to-date accommodation, but we cannot enter into liabilities until we know our position. With a permit we would be prepared to extend the course to an approved circumference. We are assured of a good totalizator turnover here, and our members' subscriptions have come to a fair sum each year. In the past the bookmakers considered this one of the best betting-places in the North. There is no totalizator permit between Whangarei and the North Cape. This is the oldest racing club in the Bay of Islands Electorate, and at the present time there is no permit in the electorate. At the last poll there were 6,300 European votes recorded in the electorate, and this is the most thickly populated portion of the electorate. Apart from that, there are probably as many Maoris in the electorate as there are Europeans, which gives us a large population to draw on. The railway has only been opened between here and Whangarei for the last three years, so the possibilities in the future will be much greater than in the past owing to further railway-extensions. Northern Wairoa Racing Club. The headquarters of the club are at Dargaville. The club was formed in 1878, and is a registered one. The last meeting was held in January, 1914. A list of the present members of the club and a copy of the club's last balance-sheet have been forwarded. The area of the racecourse is 123 acres, and the circumference is 6 furlongs. The tenure is freehold. The accommodation at present consists of temporary grandstand and booth. A fencing contract is let to fence inside of course. The nearest club using the totalizator is at Whangarei, forty miles distant. The nearest club not using the totalizator is at Matakohe, thirty-two miles distant. Owing to the fact that our club was first formed some forty years ago, and that nearly all the old books and documents have been lost or mislaid, we regret that we are unable to give the exact dates of matters which we wish to bring under your notice in connection with the history of the club, and which have been given us by old residents associated with the club in those days. The club was formed about forty years ago here, and the first totalizator was used some four years later. About 1894 the totalizator permit was lost on account of the action of the Auckland metropolitan authorities refusing to grant same, the reason assigned being that the dates of this club's meeting clashed with the metropolitan Christmas meeting. For some five years this existed until a country Racing Association was formed, and its influence with the authorities was the means of our club again securing the permit. However, in the year 1899 we again lost the permit, on account of the club not holding a race meeting, which state of affairs was brought about by the property used by the club for its course being required for buildingsites and no other suitable property being available. Consequently we have been endeavouring to carry on up to the present without the permit. One special claim why we should be granted a license is the fact that we are the centre of a large district, and so distant from other racecourses as to mean a loss of three days to attend a race meeting elsewhere. By the Deputation. —We would first point out that the inside of the course has been fenced since our application was sent in. We hold that this district is destined to be one of the most closely settled in the Auckland Province. We are a sporting community, and always have been so. We had a meeting this year under a temporary permit, and it was very successful. We got the Auckland Metropolitan Club to send a stipendiary steward here, and he was well satisfied with the way the meeting was conducted. It has always been our endeavour to carry on our meetings in a thoroughly clean way. We think it is possible to make our course equal to any country course in the Province of Auckland. We propose, in the event of securing a permit, to expend a considerable sum of money in necessary buildings. The course in its present condition will cost us approximately £1,500, and the improvements we propose to make will cost us another £1,500. We have done a lot of work on the course recently, and it is proposed to make further improvements in order to make the course as safe as possible. It is also intended to carry out a scheme of beautifying the property, which will extend over a period of five years, and will be carried out by a Hastings firm. We made a profit of £100 out of our last meeting, notwithstanding the fact that it was practically unknown that a permit would be granted for the meeting. We think the permits should be granted to the most flourishing towns and districts. Previously Dargaville was of mushroom growth, dependent on the kauri-gum and timber trades; now the district is becoming settled,, and is making steady and rapid progress of a permanent character, and this place will undoubtedly become a large and flourishing town. We have a valuable waterway here—the largest navigable river in Australasia—and there is a large number of settlements both up and down the river, which gives them a quick and easy access to Dargaville. The construction of the North Auckland Trunk Railway will also open up further settlements. Otamatea Racing Club. The headquarters of the club are at Matakohe. The club was formed thirty-five years ago, and is a registered one. The last meeting was held in January, 1914. 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 6 furlongs. The tenure is leasehold—a lease for twenty-one years; rental, £5. The accommodation consists of committee-room, grandstand, jockey and weighing rooms. Buildings are all enclosed in a picket fence. There are two enclosures. There is no

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