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last meeting was held in 1910. A list of the present members of the club and a copy of the club's last balance-sheet have been forwarded. Up to the date of our last meeting we were very unfortunate as regards a suitable course. Owing to the erosion of the Shag River we were compelled to abandon our track on the Dunback Road, on which a meeting had been held for a number of years. The two annual meetings after that were held on different grounds, which were not thought, however, to be suitable, but nevertheless entailed considerable expenditure in formation and appointments. Before the date of last meeting we were offered and accepted the ten-years lease of a ground owned by Mr. Cochrane. This meant the formation of another track, and after a great deal of work a very suitable course was available for our 1910 meeting. The soil is of a sandy loam, and is not affected by drought or rain in reason, as the shingly bed allows of plenty of soakage. It is naturally laid out for the convenience of the race-seeing public, as it is within half a mile of the town; the train stops at the gates on race-days, and a natural grandstand extends the full length of the straight. The accommodation consists of stewards' room, stewards' stand, totalizator-house, and cloak-room. The circumference of the course is 7| furlongs. The tenure is leasehold. The lease has still five years to run, but at the end of that time a renewal or purchase can be effected, and should our application for a, permit be granted we could, when funds are available, have a mile-and-a-quarter track and a country course second to none in Otago. The course is railed on the inside for half a mile at the entrance and going out of the straight. The nearest club using the totalizator is ten miles away, at Waikouaiti. Though our course is situated by rail only ten miles from Waikouaiti we claim that a number of the race-going public, even members of our own club, are not catered for by the Waikouaiti race meeting. Our town, is the centre of a rich agricultural and rapidly growing district which extends inland to the Otago Central Railway line at Ranfurly, a distance of seventy miles, while Waikouaiti has no similar back country and must depend to a great extent for the success of their meeting on the Dunedin public, who are well catered for in this respect at home At the Waikouaiti meeting held at the beginning of the present year £5,000 was put through the totalizator and £73 taken at the gates. At our last meeting held in 1910 £3.000 was put through the totalizator and £67 taken at the gates. The difference in the totalizator turnover could be accounted for by our club licensing seven bookmakers. During the four years our club was non-existent racing had increased very much as a popular sport This has done much to benefit the Waikouaiti Club, but we take it that a proper comparison of these figures is a very fair criterion of the popularity of the respective meetings. If we have understood rightly that clubs which have been deprived of their permits by the Commission were to have prior claim, to relnstalment by the passing of Mr. Hunter's Bill, our appeal must be admitted a just one. Our club can be numbered amongst the oldest in the Dominion, and with the help of the totalizator and increased membership) should eventually become one of the leading country clubs in Otago. On the other hand, if permits are to be allotted to clubs where racing is felt to be needed we think we are equally entitled to consideration. The success of our last meeting, and the growth of the district of which our town is the centre, must advance our claims in that direction. By the Deputation. —We would like to point out that we are exactly half-way between Dunedin and Oamaru, and are the centre of a much bigger district than Waikouaiti is. We have a membership of between eighty and ninety. Any one of real standing in the district takes an interest in the club, and our meeting is looked upon almost as a picnic. Up to the time when we lost our permit we had twelve or fifteen horse-owners in the district; at the present time we have nine who have horses training. Unfortunately they are compelled to take their horses to the larger clubs, as Waikouaiti only races once a year. These owners labour under this difficulty, that they do not like to take their horses to a metropolitan course until they have tried them at a country club. We have a very good track —one of the best in the country. We have every facility for getting to the course by rail from south or north. We have already spent a good deal of money on this track, and we have now about £1.00 in hand. We do not see why the people of this district should be compelled to travel forty miles to a race meeting when we have a good course here. Our annual race meeting was looked forward to by the whole district, and was one of the very few holidays in the district. We have plenty of people here to support, our meetings, judging by the railway returns here when races are on at Dunedin or Oamaru. We spent about £1,500 in ten years on the track that was washed away by the flood. That is the reason why our finances are in such a bad state now. We can safely say this deputation represents the feeling of the whole district. Taieri Amateur Turf Club. The headquarters of the club are at Mosgiel. The club was formed over forty years ago. and is registered. The last meeting was held in April, 1910. A list of the present members of the club and a copy of the last balance-sheet have been forwarded. The circumference of the course is 8 furlongs. The conditions of the last lease were that if the club lost its totalizator permit it would lapse. A new lease can be arranged satisfactorily to all parties if a permit is granted. There is all the usual racecourse accommodation, including grandstand, ladies' rooms, stewards' and Press rooms, jockeys' rooms, booths, totalizator-houses, stables, loose-boxes and sand-roll, public conveniences, &c. There are ring fences around racing-track on outside and training-track on inside, with double fence in straight. All starting-posts are clear of racingtrack. The nearest club using the totalizator is the Dunedin Jockey Club, about one mile and a half away. The nearest clubs not using the totalizator are a distance of one hundred miles away. The Taieri Amateur Turf Club has been in existence for over forty years, and is most popular with the Taieri people, who look upon its fixture as their annual picnic meeting. Many have been in the habit of coming to this gathering for years who do not go to metropolitan meetings. We have raced on our present course for about twenty-five years. The Dunedin Club was forced