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means of considerably improving the stamp of horse here, especially those of the class required for military purposes, a great number of which have been, and can be now, provided locally. (k.) Our hunt was the first to approach Parliament with a view to totalizator permits being granted to hunt clubs. By the Deputation. —Wo have 110 members, including honorary members. The fee for active members is £2 10s., and for honorary members £1 Is. Last year we received £5 from the Stratford Racing Club, and £50 from the Taranaki Jockey Club. The nearest hunt to us is the Egmont-Wanganui Hunt. The jockey club here has no winter meeting, and therefore we have no chance of getting a race for hunters. Our total stakes are between £80 and £100. We give £30 for the Cup and two trophies, £20 for the open race, £15 for the Ladies' Purse, and others down to £10. We have had an average of six horses in the steeplechase events. As we live in a dairying district, mostly held in small holdings, our farmers get very little opportunity to attend race meetings in the summer, whereas a winter meeting would give them all an opportunity to attend, because they are doing very little work then. A winter meeting would also give a farmer an opportunity to train his own horse. The Taranaki Jockey Club is entirely sympathetic. It has donated liberally to our funds in the past, and we feel sure we can look forward in the future to getting more assistance from them. Lately they have had a great many improvements to make, and they have not been able to assist us as much as they would have liked. They have given us as much as we wanted. Egmont-Wanganui Hunt Club. Ihe headquarters of the club are at Waverley. The club was formed in 1884, and it is being registered under the Incorporated Societies Act, the rules having been approved by the Registrar. It is registered with the New Zealand Racing Conference. The last meeting was held in August, 1913, in Wanganui. We held a point-to-point steeplechase in Wanganui on the 27th August, 1914. A list of the present members of the club and a copy of the last balance-sheet have been forwarded. The club has no course of its own, but it is our intention to use the Waverley-Waitotara Club's course for racing, which is a well-equipped course, fenced, with excellent accommodation for the public, officials, and members. The nearest clubs using the totalizator are Hawera, about twenty-eight miles, and Wanganui, about thirty-two miles. We would point out that our club has been recommended by the Hunt Clubs Conference. It has 50 acres of freehold. There is only one day's racing in Waverley. It is probably one of the oldest hunt clubs in New Zealand. By the Deputation. —Our members consist largely of farmers and their sons. We are doing our utmost to keep the club together for the sport it affords, but chiefly with the object of encouraging the breed of a better class of horses. It costs a lot of money to keep the club going. At one time we derived a lot of revenue from our annual meeting, but with the abolition of the bookmakers we lost this revenue, which was practically the only outside assistance the club received. The major number of our young members have joined the Expeditionary Force, and have taken their hunters with them. Our ranks next season will be greatly reduced on this account, and unless we get a totalizator permit it will be hard to keep the club going. If we are granted a license we will be in a position to make it worth while for farmers to breed horses of this description. Some years ago we were practically promised a permit by the Covernment then in power, and had it been granted we would have imported a sire from England, which would have been placed free of charge at the service of our farmers in return for the use of the country we hunt over. We employ a huntsman at £150 a year. During the last eighteen or nineteen years we have held an annual race meeting. For the last two or three years it was ■held at Wanganui; prior to that it was held at Hawera. A point-to-point meeting is held annually at Waverley. We hunt between Fordell and Hawera, a distance of a hundred miles. We are the oldest hunt club on the coast. At present there is no club between Auckland and Wanganui holding a steeplechase meeting. Our subscription for active members is—gentlemen £3 35., ladies £1 Is.; honorary —gentlemen members £1 Is., and ladies 10s. 6d. We have a little over a hundred members, but over 25 per cent, are 'at the front. Our race meeting at Wanganui was abandoned this year on account of the war. We decided it was better to send our young members to the front, and the older members gave their hunters to equip them. Our members are all small farmers; we have not a wealthy man in the club. We had statistics last year showing that this club was the worst subsidized in New Zealand. We have been badly treated by the racing clubs. On this coast there is no steeplechase meeting except at Wanganui". Probably more, and at least the same number, of good steeplechase horses have gone away from this coast than from any part of New Zealand. We find hunting a diminishing and non-paying proposition, and unless we can get a permit there will be no incentive for a man to breed hunters. The permit is asked for with the object of catering for the people who want to breed a good stamp of horse. Our club is one of the few which have invested a little money in getting together land and kennels. We have a freehold property. Our club was not represented at the Hunts Conference, yet we were recommended for a license. Rangitikei Hunt Club. The headquarters of the club are at Marton. It was formed in 1879, and is registered under the Incorporated Societies Act. The last meeting was held on the 6th April, 1914. The club has no racecourse, but has the use of the Marton Jockey Club's course, which is 8 furlongs in circumference, freehold, has all the necessary accommodation, is fenced on the inside, and is centrally situated and very handy to the Marton Railway-station. The nearest club using the totalizator is Bull's, nine miles distant. The nearest club not using the totalizator is Wanganui, twenty-four miles distant. We would point out that this club, although not holding regular race