English Constitution.

New Zealand Constitution.

The Westland Racing Club , Hokitika, was founded in the year 1865. Meetings are held in the first week in January, and at Easter, for two days on each occasion. They are held under the auspices of the Canterbury Jockey Club, and are patronised by a fair class of horses from Wellington, Christchurch, and Wanganui. The total prize money for the New Year meeting is about £500, and for the Easter meeting, £450. The attendance numbers about 2,500, and excursion trains run in connection with the races. The racecourse is a portion of the Public Reserve, and contains about thirty-six acres, leased from the Borough Council, and the whole course it visible from the lawn. The grandstand has seat room for 600 spectators, and is fitted up in the most modern style, with a refreshment room, a circular bar, a ladies' lavatory and cloakroom, a saddling paddock, and a stewards' room. Within the enclosure there are fourteen scraping sheds and a large paddock. The outside grounds are well laid out, £2,300 having been spent on improvements up to the year 1905. The Westland Agricultural and Pastoral Association holds its shows annually on the grounds, which are further improved from that source. Officers for the year 1905; Messrs A. Stevenson, chairman and judge; J. H. Pollock, handicapper; D. J. Evans, secretary and treasurer; F. A. G. Archer, starter; H. Karnbach, junior, clerk of course; H. Butland, time keeper; E. H. Robinson, clerk of scales; and Dr. Teichelmann, honorary surgeon. There are about eleven stewards.

The Westland Agricultural and Pastoral Association , Hokitika. Patron, the Right Honourable R. J. Seddon; President, Mr. C. R. Glass, J. P.; Vice. President, Mr. T. J. McGuigan; Secretary, Mr. J. Peake, junior; Treasurer, Mr. J. J. McIntosh. This Association was incorporated in the year 1893, and its shows are held annually on the Hokitika racecourse. At the show of February, 1905, there was a considerable increase in the number of stock exhibited, and a great improvement in the class of breeding. There were over 240 exhibits, £150 was distrubuted in prize money, and about 1200 people were in attendance. There are about 120 members, who pay an annual subscription of seven shillings and sixpence. One of the objects of the Association is to encourage West Coast people to utilise the land for agricultural and pastoral purposes; and, indeed, settlement is now proceeding apace throughout Westland, and there is a great demand for land, the value of which is rapidly rising.

The Westland Acclimatisation Society , whose operations extend through the whole of the county of Westland, from the Teremakau river on the north to Jackson's Bay on the south, was founded some years back, but did very little till the year 1892. The society now has complete hatcheries and fish ponds at Lake Kanieri, and is energetically and economically managed. Perch, carp, tench, and American catfish have been liberated from time to time in Lake Mahinapua, and the experimental results have proved to be eminently satisfactory. In 1897, when the society was revived and reformed, about 35,000 brown and rainbow trout were liberated in the streams running into Lake Kanieri. Later still, the society released large numbers of fish, and expects to go on doing so from year to year. It is, however, its intention to liberate only fish of one kind in each of the principal streams in Westland. By this neans it is hoped that with so many rivers at its disposal, the society will be able to keep the breeds of the fish pure and distinct. Thirty opossums were liberated on Mount Tuhoa, in 1896 and, later on, arrangements were made for releasing twenty head of deer. The society has an oil launch running on Lake Kanieri for the convenience of tourists and visitors. Officers for the year 1905; Dr. E. Teichelmann, president; Messrs D. J. Evans and G. A. Burgess, vicepresidents; and Mr. James King, secretary. There are seventy members, and the annual subscription is five shillings. The society's affairs are managed by a council of ten members.

The Hokitika Horticultural and Poultry Society was established in the year 1894. Olficers for the year 1905; Messrs J. Mandl, patron; A. J. Morton, president; J. J. Breeze, vice-president; F. H. Rickard, treasurer; and D. J. Evans and A. Keller, joint honorary secretaries. The general show is held in February, the chrysanthemum show in May, and the poultry show in July. There are about 120 members who pay an annual subscription of five shillings each. In all departments the shows are well patronised, and exhibits are received from various parts of New Zealand. In 1901 the society erected a Horticultural Hall in Camp Street, on a borough reserve at a cost of £135. The annual shows are held in this hall, and in the adjoining drillshed.

The Westland Institute was founded as a Mutual Improvement and Literary Society, in the year 1868. Four rooms are occupied on the first floor of the Town Hall building in Revell Street, Hokitika, and two of them are fitted up as a museum. There is a free reading room, liberally supplied with daily and weekly papers and the subscribers' library contains about 3,500 volumes of standard works. The institute has about sixty members, each of whom pays an annual subscription of £1. Officers for the year 1905; Messrs E. E. B. Mabin, president; G. A. Perry, vicepresident; Dr. H. Macandrew, treasurer; and a committee of twelve. Mr. H. Weston acts as secretary and librarian.

The Westland Industrial Building Society was established in the year 1898. It was formed on the Star-Bowkett system, and in 1905 had £11,400 invsted on mortgage in Hokitika and district. Officers for the year 1905; Messrs A. Stevenson (chairman), D. J. Evans, H. L. Michel, J. J. Breeze, and A. Mahan. Mr. G. H. Eisfelder is secretary.

No.2 Westland Industrial Building Society was established in August, 1904. It is managed by the dirctors and secretary of the Westland Society, and is working well, All the preliminary expenses, amounting to £200, have been paid.