I.—4a

26

Inspector Atchison.

26th Sept., 1878.

Colonel Reader.

27th Sept., 1878.

689. He did not give it to you ?—No; in a case of that sort I would send the man down to receivo the money, if a person said he wished to give money. I did not receive any money. 690. And you deny that Mr. Mills gave you money? —Tes. 691. Did you ever hear he had given it to any other officer? —No. 692. Hon. Mr. Fox] In reference to this affair of Quin's, why did you not take action ?—Because I was waiting to get more evidence. 693. That is the excuse you make in the papers. Now, what further evidence than that stated in Farrell's report could you have wished for ? —I wished to see if the suspicions about the embezzlement were correct. 694. Why did you hope to get evidence of that sort? —Because I was promised day after day by Farrell that there would be such evidence. 695. Why did you not go yourself and get evidence, when you found there was such delay ?—lt was in the hands of Farrell, and I did not wish to interfere, as he had promised to get the evidence. 696. But you see it has been strung on for nine months. Did you ever see the secretary to the Foresters ? —No ; I was afraid to stir in the matter, as I had left the matter in the hands of Farrell. 697. The Chairman] Do you remember Mr. Boardman asking you to take steps ?—-Tes. 698. And why did you not take steps ? —Because I expected this additional evidence.

Fbidat, 27th Septembeb, 1878. Colonel Readee, being duly sworn, was examined. 699. The Chairman] Tou are Under Secretary for Defence ? —Tes. 700. The Police Department is under you ? —Tes; under the Commissioner of Armed Constabulary. 701. Do you remember a complaint being forwarded to the Commissioner as to the police discipline in Wellington—a complaint made by Mr. Barton ?—Tes ; from the Mayor. 702. What was done in the matter? —Mr. Ballance, who was acting for Colonel Whitmore at the time, instructed me to instruct Mr. Shearman to make inquiries into the matter and report upon it. 703. Did you give those instructions verbally or in writing ? —I sent a memorandum. 704. Did you tell him how he was to conduct the inquiry ? —No. 705. Did you tell him he was not to see Mr. Barton on the subject ? —I had some conversation with him, and he said, he thought the first thing to be done was to go to Mr. Barton. I said, I thought what was wanted was an inquiry, and that the result of that inquiry would be a communication to Mr. Barton by Ministers, but that if he could not get all the information he wanted from the police, then he must get information from Mr. Barton. If he could not get the necessary information by ordinary inquiry it was easy to go further, and of course if he had to go further he should go to Mr. Barton. I thought he should go to the police first, but that was only a suggestion of mine. 706. AYe have before us a letter from Mr. Shearman to the department. Is that the only report?— That is the only one. 707. Was anything further done ?—Mr. Barton was written to, the correspondence being forwarded to him by letter signed by Colonel AVhitmore, and it was intended to invite him to give further information by stating names and times, and that kind of thing. Tou have a copy of his reply I dare say. Nothing more was done. 708. Mr. Bunny] Did Mr. Shearman come to you to ask whether he should communicate with Mr. Barton, or did you send for Mr. Shearman ? —I did not send for him. 709. Did you not think, that where complaints are made by a party —accusations of the grave character made in Mr. Barton's statements —that Mr. Barton, the accuser, would be the proper person to communicate with at once ? —lt was an accusation against the police, and I thought ought to be referred to the police officers first. 710. Tou see here was a grave charge made against the police. I should have thought the first thing Mr. Shearman should have done would be to go to Mr. Barton and say, " This complaint has been referred to me by the Government, will you let mo have your evidence, so that I can see about the proof"? —I should think the first thing which ought to bo done, would be to ascertain from the police records, whether anything had taken place of the kind. 711. The police were accused of certain wrong-doings. Do you think it was the proper course to go to the persons accused?—Tou could always find out 712. I want to know this :In your opinion was the proper course taken ? In other cases of persons accused, is it usual to go to the persons accused and ask them if there is any foundation for the accusation. Is it not more usual and more proper to go to the persons making the charges and say, "Where is your proof, where is your evidence"? —Tes; Mr. Shearman was instructed to make inquiries. I only suggested that the first thing he should do would be to make inquiries and to get evidence from the police. If they could not deny the charges made, then the accusations might be considered to be substantiated ; but if they denied the truth of the charges, and inquiry was requisite, then Mr. Barton must be appealed to for his proof. 713. In this case the police did deny the charges, and said, " Oh, Mr. Barton is a troublesome man and does not know what he is talking about in connection with this matter " ?—Tes. 714. Mr. Shearman, upon being examined upon this point, said he should have gone to Mr. Barton, but was instructed by you especially not to go to Mr. Barton ? —I told you exactly what has occurred. When he said he thought of going to Mr. Barton, I suggested the first thing was to make inquiry of the police, and upon that Mr. Barton would be communicated with by the Ministry. 715. Supposing that Mr. Shearman had then gone to Mr. Barton, as in the ordinary course one would have supposed he would do, would you have considered he was obeying orders?— No. 716. Mr. Shearman, in his evidence, says he would have gone to Mr. Barton in the first place if it had not been for the orders he received from you ? —He got no orders at all from me. I could not have given him orders. I certainly told him I would suggest his going to the police in the first