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of a concentration of racing outweigh any detriment accruing from a probable reduction in production. We are satisfied that the earliest possible opportunity should be seized of restoring the racing in August and November in Christ church to its traditional periods, but we have no material before us to enable us to say when this can safely be done. All we can do at the moment is to recite the benefits on the one hand and the detriments on the other of the elimination of mid-week racing, leaving it to the appropriate authorities to take advantage of the preponderant good when opportunity serves. In the meantime we suggest that, as soon as lessened demand for production warrants it, meetings extending over three or more days be allowed to include one mid-week day. This would result in their absorbing only two or three, instead of three or more, successive Saturdays. Leaving Christchurch out of consideration, practically the only meetings affected would be the Dunedin Jockey Club's Cup meeting in February and the Wellington Racing Club's winter meeting in July, since all the other three-day meetings include a public holiday between two Saturdays. Viewed nationally, our suggestion, if given effect, would involve very little week-day time and a measure of good would accrue. SECTION 7.—TROTTING EVENTS ON RACING CLUB PROGRAMMES 201. In the South Island thirty racing clubs include trotting events on each racing-day in their programmes. Of these, twenty-three unconditionally desire to continue to follow the practice ; four are desirous of discontinuing it; one wishes to do so, provided sufficient support is forthcoming from race-horse owners, whilst two wish to do so only until the local trotting club is granted a totalizator permit for an extra day. There are thus seven clubs who would really prefer to abandon trotting events. These include the North Canterbury Racing Club, the Gore Racing Club, the Southland Racing Club, and the Riverton Racing Club, which are all of them clubs of standing which are assured of success as racing clubs without recourse to trotting events. 202. Through the war period the Minister would not consent to the elimination of trotting events from the programmes of racing clubs. To have permitted such a proceeding would, he thought, be unfair to trotting under wartime conditions by reason of the reduction of competitive opportunities involved, whilst in specific instances to have eliminated trotting contests would have savoured of ingratitude, as some clubs had in the past, during periods of stress, derived advantages in turnover and attendances from such contests. Now the future can be viewed free of any such considerations.