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EXCESSIVE RACING IN AUSTRALIA. According t.. ■ Metboarae daily, represents tl tea of the different race clnha In Gippsland hive di elded to communicate with other clubs throughout tin-stale urging them to form a deputation to waif on the chief secretarj with ■ request thai the gaming act be altered so as to allow more pony and trotting races not exceeding four lo be included in a race pragram. Such an apparently trifling matter appears to hardly warrant recourse to legislation: and when i liis is found necessary, in eithet this or any of the other itates, it is to be hoped it will be in I mail I Hit With matters of more general racing importance. Ir seems inevitable that sooner or later fresh legislation will hare to be introduced In New South Wales to deal with the mushroom like growth of race clubs that lias taken place just outside the limits of the forty-mile radius during the Bast ear or two, otherwise we will one- .igairtaaaa be racing on every day of the week, excepting Suii*" day, a state ol affairs that has nothing ti reeom-f mend it. How the ]. a trons of metropolitan meet iugs alone manage to "get there" with such nnfail inn regularity in the force they do is amazing to anyone who takes the trouble to figure out the eosl of their presence on each and every Occasion. Il is generally admitted there is too panch racing in New Snath Wales, where, in and within three hours train ride of Sydney, we arc raj. idly working up to 2." 0 days a year. "Horse" and "pony" meetings in Sydney overlap, and those just outside the metropolitan radius of forty miles are in danger til doing so. This state, however, is not the only on.- where the complaint of over-racing is now raised, a growl on ihat scoro reaching us from western Australia. In a reeeui ,ssiie the "West Australian" had B leader on the subject, and pointed out that Perth. taking Into consideration its population, could hare Well done with considerably less than a total ol twenty scv ,ii days racing in December and .lani ary. Our contemporary is of opinion that the pope la t ion and horse owners of the metropolitan area of Perth could be served adequately by one racing and one trolring club, and these should be organ ized and managed purely in Ihe interests of the sport itseif. Whether owners would quite agree with the idea of one racing club I verv much doubt. though one trotting club miirlil be surticient. Il is mentioned that proprietary bodies are onlv in the racing game for all ihe shareholders can get out of it. and the West Australian Trotting Club is taken p. task for allotting at date to a proprietary lub in the metropolitan area after giving the same day December SO— ta the York Baring Club, with the result thai tbe latter had to change tbe date of its Bxtare, and reduce its stakes. While admitting thai the meetings of proprietary clubs — registered or unregistered-— amy be conducted in a reputable manner, the "West Australian" will not have ir thai they are desirable, and concludes is follows: ■■The West Australian Turf Club and similar Institutions are nor rim in the Interests of a few shareholders. The profits contributed by the public are us«l for the beneftl of the sporting community and the public generally. Bat the progreas made during recent years is unlikely to be main talned If tbe comparatively small population of the metropolitan area is considerably over supplied with horse racing. It is doubtful whether there is any ;•• Mini for proprietary clubs; there is certainly no demand for unregistered institutions. Restriction in the number of race meetings in tbe metropolitan area is essential to the best interests of the turf in western Australia. There is also a growing feel-Da that the totalizator could meet all flu IS quirements of the speculating public and horse • wners; and that the bookmaker, like Ihe proprietary race dab, might with advantage to the sport bo banished from the state." PQon, in Bydner Referee.
