Cricket 1909

S ept . 16, 1909. CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 407 SPORT AND THE LAND TAX. E X E M P T IO N O P GROUNDS. [With acknowledgments to ‘ The Sporting Life' and ‘ The Daily Telegraph.'] Mr. C. F. G. M asterm an , M .P ., in the un­ avoidable absence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer through pressure of business, received a deputation at the House of Commons last Thursday from repre­ sentatives of various prominent sporting and recreative organisations in England and Scotland upon the question of the land clauses of the Budget as they affected the grounds used for sporting and recreative purposes. Mr. F. E. Lacey, the secretary of tbe M.C.C., first addressed Mr. Masterman, and having referred to the absence of Lord Chesterfield, tbe M.C.C. president, he went on to say that he repre­ sented cricket generally and also about 200,000 members of clubs throughout Eng­ land who were associated with them in trying to induce the Chancellor of the E x ­ chequer to exempt cricket grounds and recreation grounds from the taxation proposed in tbe Finance Bill. He would like to emphasise the fact— and to him it seemed rather an important fact—that they were not as a club acting selfishly in this matter. The committee of the M.C.C. had, after very careful consideration, deliberately come to the conclusion that any extra burden, no matter how small, whether it took the form of an increased rental on grounds which were not owned by the clubs that played on them, or whether it took the form of additional taxation, would be absolutely destructive of cricket. H e quite saw that if physical recrea- tion was an unnecessary luxury his case fell to the ground, but if it had any claim to consideration, if it did play some useful part in the life of the community, then he would like to place one or two facts before Mr. Masterman. They had already sent a petition to the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking him to exempt from the operation of the new land taxes all sports grounds which were not carried on with a view to distributing profits among the members of the clubs using or owning such grounds. That was the expressed opinion of the M.C.C. He would emphasise that the work of the M.C.C. was not exclusively carried on within the walls of Lo rd ’s Cricket Ground. They acted as the executive of the counties in various matters. They had all the county meetings at Lord’s. They distributed the proceeds that arose out of the Test matches that were played in England, and those profits were distributed among the various counties, otherwise it would be quite impossible for them to continue. The M.C.C. had also sent teams to South Africa, Australia, West Indies, and many other places. The M.C.C. spent about £25,000 per year on cricket. Three-fourths of that amount was subscribed by the members, and the balance came to them in the shape of gate-money. He did not think any cricket club in England could depend entirely upon gate-money w ith such a climate as we had in this country. The M.C.C. had only three or four matches that paid, and on the others they were out of pocket. Mr. Masterman might take it that cricket was supported by voluntary contribu­ tions and not from gate-money. The M.C.C. had all the expenses of the upkeep at Lord’s, and they also sent out from 150 to 200 teams every year all over England— in fact, all over the United Kingdom, and they played matches with, small clubs, and thus en­ couraged cricket. That branch of their work alone annually cost several thousands of pounds. They also gave a fairly large sum in donations for cricket purposes, including at least £600 per year to the Universities. The Universities had a very small subscription list, and he did not think they would be able to exist without that help. If an extra burden in the shape of increased taxation were placed on Lord ’s ground, con­ tinued Mr. Lacey, it would only go to reduce the opportunities of the M.C.C. for assisting the cricket of the country. The statements he had made with regard to the M.C.C. applied m utatis m utandis to the county cricket clubs. There were 32 county cricket clubs in England, and he did not think that more than four or five of them were really solvent. It must appear to anybody that it was very difficult to carry on a county cricket club and keep one’s head above water. Village cricket was in a different position. The club was allowed to play on a ground, and all the ex­ penses— these were very few— were generally met by voluntary help. He would summarise the position as shortly as he could :— (1) The fortunes of cricket were bound up to a great extent with the M.C.C., and if any extra burden were put upon it, it would not be a burden that would be felt so much at Lord’s as outside Lord ’s, because it would bring about reduced assistance to cricket. The M.C.C. gave away all its profits for cricket purposes, after necessary expenses were met, and a sum had been set aside for contin­ gencies, the latter being only a proper and businesslike proceeding. (2) The counties were, in a great measure, the channels through which the M.C.C. work flowed, and except in the three or four instances he had mentioned the county clubs were in an insolvent position. He saw from the returns of Middlesex that they had lost £400 during this year, and he was certain that a large proportion would this year show a deficit. The result would be that the county com­ mittees would meet, and bazaars would be arranged and other means taken to somehow raise the money. That, to his knowledge, was what had happened since 1880, and he thought that would go on happening, and he hoped it would unless they were taxed out of existence. In reply to questions by Mr. Masterman, Mr. Lacey said there was no distribution of profits to the members of the M.C.C. The M.C.C. was not a legal corporation, and its property was vested in trustees. They had 5.000 members, who paid three guineas per annum, and not more than 50 per cent, of their members used the privileges of the club, but were satisfied to go on paying their sub­ scriptions because they knew they were being used for a good purpose. Mr. F. J. W all, the secretary of the Football Association, who followed, explained that the organisation he represented included 12,000 clubs and 300,000 players. He believed the smaller clubs of the country would be very seriously affected if the Finance B ill were passed in its present form. Mr. Masterman, in reply, said that speak­ ing for himself, he had a good deal of sympathy with the objects which the deputa­ tion had urged. If the result of any action of the Government was to squeeze out some 30.000 football and cricket clubs in the country, he was afraid the Liberal party would have a somewhat dismal fate in the future. In the undeveloped tax the Govern­ ment had made an attempt which they hoped would be successful to exempt all land which was really bona-fide used for the purpose of games or of recreation from the incidents of that taxation, and he could say that it was intended at a later stage to re­ introduce an amendment under Sub-section D, which would read as follow s:— The development tax shall not be charged on the site value of any land which is bond-Jlde used for the purpose of games or other recreation where the Commissioners are satisfied that the land is so used under some agreement with the owner which, as originally made, cannot be determined for a period of at least five years and under other circumstances which render it probable that the land will be continued to be so used. Continuing, Mr. Masterman pointed out that that clause would exempt from the undeveloped tax practically all the bond fide recreative land of the country. The period of five years had been fixed to draw a distinction between clubs the owners of which were ranking their land purely for recreation and owners who desired that a club should be established in order to esoape the tax. With the utmost desire to stretch the law, he did not think the Commissioners could strictly decide that the Lord ’s Cricket Ground was a charitable institution. That was a matter which he would submit to the Chancellor. He did not think the Football Association clubs came under the increment clause at all, as the Government exempted leases of under 14 years, and the great majority of the Football Association clubs came within the exemption; but, on the other hand, he did not quite see why a landlord, if he were going to obtain an increased value out of the land, whether it was by renting it to a football club or using it for building purposes, should be exempted from the increment tax. As to the desire of the M.C.C. that all grounds occupied by clubs or associations which were not carried on for the purpose of making a profit should be exempted from any additional taxation, if they wished to do anything they should try to submit some kind of amendment under Clause 25. He was sure the Chancellor was sympathetic in the matter, and he was not quite convinced that the demand could not be met. W ith regard to the position of golf clubs, speaking as a player, he would say golfers were very selfish. They built round their land and excluded the public, and if it were public land they made as much nuisance to the public as they could. However, Mr. Lloyd- George wTas a very ardent golfer, and would no doubt look into the matter. For himself, he did not see why a private golf club should be exempted from increment duty. Mr. Lacey thanked Mr. Masterman on behalf of the deputation for the courtesy and patience he had shown, and the pro­ ceedings terminated. OBITUARY. C. H . M acau lay. Charles H . Macaulay, a well-known York­ shire club-cricketer, died at Thirsk on the 7th inst. at the age of 42. A t one time he was associated with the Leeds Albion C.C. and afterwards was professional at Crighton and Wigan. He was a fast bowler and useful batsman. A N SW E E S TO CO EB E S PO N D EN TS . Z u m m e r z e t .—-(a ) Owing to lack o f support, wc believe; (&) His accident placed him out of the running; (e) It is the same man ; (d) He received a remunerative position which induced him to remain abroad.