Page:1930 QLD Royal Commission into Racing Report.djvu/46

 Messrs. Burke and Bouchard deposed that there was no such attempted interference in fact. Mr. Wren swore that the agreement was a genuine sale.

Since the close of the public sittings of the Commission, the amending agreement of 5th February, 1930 (which is set out in full in Appendix C), has been handed in. On present appearances, there seems little chance of the reduced instalments it provides for being met.

On this material;, the Commission is not satisfied that the Kedron Park Racing Club is in fact a bona fide club, operating independently on its own behalf.

The onus thrown on the club of dispelling the suspicion engendered by the admitted instigation by Nathan of its creation, by the circumstances immediately preceding such creation and the making of the agreement of purchase, and by the terms of that agreement itself, has not been discharged.

Proof that the club has been more or less regularly conducted and has made payments under the agreement, and has otherwise treated it as genuine, is not sufficient to dispel that suspicion. Such evidence is of a more or less neutral character, and was to be expected whether or not the club is in fact a bona fide entity.

The evidence offered, to show that the members or most of them did in fact pay their entrance fees and subscriptions out of their own moneys, is not in itself sufficient to establish the bona fides of the club, having regard to the facts surrounding its creation.

Nor does the execution of the agreement of 5th February, 1930, appear to carry the matter much further. After the very full examination of the whole position made before the Commission, it may well have seemed essential to make substantial concessions in price and terms in the hope of securing from the Commission findings that the sale was genuine and the club bona fide.

The facts remain, in the opinion of the Commission, that the original promoters of the club, men themselves already interested in proprietary racing, were hand in glove with Messrs. Nathan and Wren; that Nathan and Wren fixed their own terms and conditions of sale; that these terms and conditions were accepted without any attempt at bargaining and without any real expectation that they could be fulfilled; and that these same original promoters, who were in 1923 the willing tools of Nathan and Wren, are still in control of the management.

For the above reasons the Commission considers that it has not been established that the Kedron Amateur Racing Club is now a bona fide independent entity, and accordingly finds that it is not a bona fide club, but is merely an agency for Messrs. Nathan and Wren.

The rules provide that candidates for membership must be proposed in writing by a member of committee and seconded by another member of committee. Election is by ballot of the committee. The prescribed entrance fee and subscription for the current year must be paid within one month of election otherwise the election becomes void. When the duly elected candidate has paid such fee and subscription he becomes a member.

The committee, in which is vested the management, consists of seven members elected at the annual meeting in each year on nomination in writing by a member, which must be forwarded to the Secretary at least sixteen days before such meeting.