THE GRIERSON CASE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2728, 24 March 1916, Page 5

THE GRIERSON CASE

PRINCIPAL WITNESSES EXAMINED

BOARDING-HOUSE INCIDENTS

NATIONALITY QUESTION AGAIN

The inquiry i into the statements impugning the origin and loyalty of Lieutenant A. H. Grierson, of the Now Zealand Expeditionary Force, was continued by tho Commissioner, Mr. A. D.' Thomson, yesterday. Mr. P. S. K. Macssscy appeared for the" Crown, Mr. T. .Neave for Lieutenant Grierson, and Mr. T. M. Wilford for Madam Boeufve and Mr. John Payne. , Mr. Wilford asked to have put in as exhibits nine picture postcards, a printed card with Grierson's name on it, and a series of photographs of German aircraft, all taken from Grierson's belongings by Detective-Sergeant M'llveney. Tho exhibits, soma of which had been the subject of evidence previously, were put in by consent.

Mr. Payne Cross-Examincd. i The cross-examination of Mr. Payne was commenced by Mr. Neave.

Mr. Payne said tliat the first- reference to liim of anything connected 'with Grierson was within two or three days of tho sailing of the Dahnore on January- 15. The person who approached liim was Mrs. liodou, who was on tho official Government Committee to caro for returned soldiers. The meeting with Madam Boeufva and Miss Day was arranged by her at'her suggestion. Mrs. Boden unentioped three men—Flohr. Fels, and Grierson. He made no communication with the police then on the subject. The name Grierson was miliar- to him, but it was not familiar in regard to the Army. Ho knew of Grierson,' sonior, in Auckland for some years. The name Grierson did not suggest anything to him, but lie placed no reliance on names just now, when tho country was "seething with Gormanism." The name Grierson. would not of itself suggest foreign origin, and lie did not associate this man,' Lieutenant Grierson, with tho Jlr. Grierson he knew in Auckland.

Sir. Neave: Jou say you acted in this matter as a public man...' , ... . Mr. Payne: Y«3. Mr. Neave: Then what steps did you take as a -public man to verify the allegations made by you In this article in your paperP Mr. Payne': I first of all had a written statement of the gentleman's landlady, which has been read to the Commission. There was also , a statement of Sir. Vivian Rhind. I had documents in English and German. I have designed a codc for one Auckland firm, and in my opinion the document placed before me having figures placed vertically and words placed horizontally with an address on the same, and an indication that an individual of the name of Gortclon. Wallstrasse, Dresden, and with the word' "Vei'lag," which (according to the German dictionary), as placed against Gortclon, would indicate that Gortclon'would pay expenses and disbursements on anything of that kind. These are the matters of evidence that prompted me to act as I did.'. Mr. Neave: Did you take any steps to verify the authorship or. origin of these papers? Mt. Payne: The Only' step I took was to communicate with the War Office, and to place the whole matter before them. I left it to the War Office to make their own investigation. - I recommended that the whole., matter should bo referred to the Secret Service. I No Confidence In the Administration.-' Mr. Neave: Did you communicate with I the police? r, . ' Mr. Payne: I have no faith in anybody in connection with the' administration of this country. They are overruled by the military. . . Mr. Neave: Did you deem the'police incompetent? Or did you think, they were unwilling? " - - - ; ■- - . Mr. Payne: No, I didn't. Thev are only . too - ready. 'l'hey. .arcs absolutely heart-broken over' this German business. . . .. Mr. Neave: Did you make any communication. to anybody here, military or civil, before writing this article .(m the paper "The Philistine," published in Auckland by Mr. Payne] ? - Mr. Payft) said lie could,not be. sure, whether he' hail consulted any person, or not about Grierson. ; Ho had- mado representations concerning ,so many aliens. He had at that time merely tho papers submitted to him by Madam Boeufve. He lenew that Mr. J C. Grierson was the secretary of a building society of which lio was a. member.

Aljout a Donation to the Hospital Ship. Mr.< Neave: Do you remember a meeting of that society when a proposal' tvob made to'contribute a sum of £500 to seme patriotic; fund? Mr. .Payne: Has this anything to do with this case!' Mr. Neave: It has an important bearing. Mr. Payne: Well, I do remember the

meeting. ■ ; ' Mr. Neave: Do you remember the

proposal being made? Mr. Payne: 1 do remember the proposal being made—to rob the pockets of the working people of Auckland and save the pockets of the wealthy.' Mr. Thomson: But the proposal was not made like that. What was the proposal exactly? ( Mr. Payne: The proposal was to donate a sum of, I think, £450. to til© hospital ship Maheno. Mr..Neave: Do you rememhor a proposal you made at that meeting?* Mr. Payne: I moved that it be reduced by £449 19s. 9Jd., leaving, a donation nine farthings to be paid out of the working, people's money. Mr. Neave: Yon know Mr. J. .C. Grierson wroto a letter to the <l lTernld M on the subject, commenting adversely oil the reduction of this amount? Mr. Payne: Yes. Mr. Wilford: Did you carry the motion? Mr. P&yne: Yes. Rather! I prevented a big robbery on that occasion. Mr. Neave: You know 1 that Grierson wrote a letter to the "New Zealand Herald." published in May, 1915? Mr. Payne: Yes. Mr. Neave: This gave .great offence to .von ? ' ■ j Mr. Payne: Why do you suggest .it gave great offence? Mr. Thomson: Did it give you great offence ? Mr. Payne: No; certainly not. Mr.,Neave: Have you not vowed to ,say something more about it? Mr. Payne: I may have done so. ' Mr. Payne: Haven't you said so? Mr. Payne said be could not swear to this, because he could not remember OXUCtIy. ( Mr. Neave: I think the directors of this society voted of their pwn motion a sum of monev to the hospital ship? Mr. Payne': Yes. they illegally gave, awav monev which did not belong to theiii. It belonged to ,the working-class people of Auckland. ?

"Rotten With Germanism." Mr. Payne said he did not know then that Lieutenant GHereon was a relative of Mr. J. C. Griorsoii. Ha been

watching Lioutenant Grierscn for some time.

Mr. Neave: What did your, -watching consist of? '

Mr. Payne: We watched the'lists for the reinforcements as they went. Mr. Neave: But surely it iis . rather lato to mako a'stir after the'men aro on tho sea? ■ • '

Mr. Payne: That is -allwe can do. Our hands aro tied in this country. Wc aro under tho thumb'of the military, and tho military in this country is rotten with Germanism. Mr. Payne went on to sa.v that the police were restrained by the military, ' and-' were under'tho thumb of Colonel Gibbon.

Re-examined •by Mr. Wilford, witness said : that he ; had in_ hand some forty or. fifty 6iispects with which' he was coucorncd. Nine Farthings. J. C. Grierson was recalled by Mr. Neavo. He said that ho: remembered the meeting at which;, a proposal was made that n, donation should be given' to tho hospital ship. That motion wa's dofeated on Mr. Payne's motion by a very bare majority, but later the money was voted by the directors of their own motion..- Ho wrote.afterwards a satirical letter accompanying the donation,, explaining the circumstances. "The njne farthings voted on Mr. Payne's motion were sent as from the society, and the other sum was sent along with it, and the letter explained the circumstances. Mr. Wilford: That was your way of fetting back on Mr. Payne. * I thought ucklaud was a place of big things. That was hot like Auckland 1

Mr. Grierson : Twopence farthing was not like Auckland. It was not like Auckland to'contribute twopence farthing at a time when it was very necessary that wo should contribute "much: more. .

Mr. Neave: At any rate there is-that incident, -which will be left, where it is for the present. . \ " , Mr. Grierson gave evidence of the I very largo number of relatives he had I serving at the front. 'He'knew of Lieutenant Grierson from his birth.

'• Mr. Wilford: Does ho know of his own knowledge?. Mr. Grierson: If correspondence gives you knowledge, I have absolute knowledge. , _ _ j\lr. Wilford objected that this evidence could not be conclusive.

Tho Commission decided to admit the evidence. ."' .

- 1 Mr. Grierson. said he had been in li continuous communication - with the - family since he had come here in 1877, e and he knew all about Lieutenant I Grierson, who was now 24 years old. - The boy was educated at Cheltenham s School,' and his education was "finishs cd, in a sense," in Germany. Lieuten--1 ant Grierson's father was an extremely . patriotic man, _ holding views almost t identical with his own. This was shown by correspondence they , had had. He s read letters from Lieutenant Grierson's f parents, expressing sentiments of ardent patriotism and extreme pride 'because s of their son's having joined the colours. , He had no reason to suppose that those s sentiments were not the sentiments of 3 Lieutenant Grierson. Some members of - the family wore -in the cotlton trade, and 1 until Lieutenant Grierson's health broke Sown two years ago he was in a cottonmill learning the business. It was with, the object of equipping himself to rej present business houses in Europe that lie was sent to the Continent to complete his education. It was considered essential to success in the cotton trade . nowadays to have a knowledge of Euro-< pean languages,- and this-was why his | nephew went to @erniany.' Alleged German Sympathies. i George Ernest Bartlett Adamson, sec- > retary to the manager of Whitcombe and . Tombs,- said ho lme\v Grierson, having first met him at a of the . French Club in August, 1914, very.soon ■ after the declaration of war. . 11l the i course of conversation, Grierson- said [ his sympathies were with'Germany..He could not remember detailed '.'convorfai, tion leading,up to this statement, nor could he vouch for any precise, words , used.- He -did-, not - know.-..Madam Boeufve, Miss Day, or Mr., John,Payne. To Mr. Neavo: He coiild remember -, . only one word, "naturally," which ho believed Grierson used. Grierson said • • something like this—that naturally, lie sympathised with the Germans, and from this witness considered that he was a German. ' ; • ■ .- •• •••*• Mr. Neave: Would not you' think the French '- Club • the -most extraordinary place in which to' express sentiments favourable to Gerpiany?Witness: Yes. , - ' Mr. Neave: Why is. it you can't give anything about the exact words? -■ . Witness: Simply because I am a cautious mail. Mr..'/Neave pressed-witness for details of the conversation, but witness would not swear to any . particulars either as to the' subject : matter, of the ''< conversation or as to the words used. Witness said that the conversation lasted some ten minutes, but he reused to state that lie had any recollection of any word other than "naturally." Mr. Neave suggested .that Grierson j might-have expressed some approval of -.. the German organisation, but witness could not remember this. He "fancied" .that Grierson's remark was evoked' by "3 remark he (witness) made: "He; rtceivec ■ a reply which contained the word ''naturally." ™e could not remember; that Grierson over expressed hostility to Britain _in the conversation. The tendency . of his recollection was that Grierson ex- . pressed no hostility - to- Britain,-but- he certainly expressed sympathy, for Germany.' He did not think that Grierson had said something perhaps approving the German organisation, but rather' approving the German cause. He had never seen Grierson before or since. The only other person participating in the conversation was one Spenseiy\iho , had since left for the front. 'He had never known any other German to attend the French Club after the outbreak of war. It was about $10 last place that any German would go to. He did not consider it very extraordinary that- after this occurred Spenser should continue his friendship for. (frierson. He admitted that it was always possible for one man .to'got a wrong impression from another mail's conver- : sation, but he did not .think he had . ; obtained any-wrong impression in this case: Since the outbreak of war he had.

liad conversations wit'i other Germans, . | and they had expressed sympathies fav- ; ;; ourablo to Germany. He had never ' i heard any other British-born subject j express sentiments friendly to Gennfiity, hut there might have been occasions : • when he had heard British-born persons ■ express sentiments not entirely favour- j able to the British cause. j A Fellow-Boarder. Vivian Graham Rhind, sergeant in ' the Expeditionary Force, noiy in Featherston Camp, saidhe had boarded at ■ "Chatsirorth" for fix or bbvou years,

; leaving thero m February, : 1915- •' He was at Oliatsworth all tho timo . son, stayed there. When ho heard that j»ner6oE ; rliad, gone. to. the ... front: ha !, to Miss . Bcatnco Day on January 19, 1916; . That 'report; as it turned i- out, was not correct. Ho know pre? : viously, that Grierson was .in -the .Forces,; | -. and iin'his.'lottery that ho. did not. think Grierson ought to he mixed'up: with anv of our men. While : at Chatswortli ho had meals with Gricri: son. Asked to give, his opinion of Grierson's sympathies witness said: ["Although I did. not hear'.any disloyal j . utterances at all from liini, I always | ; had:.a firm impression that his sympa- | thies -were with. .Germany." : Mr. Wilford: Did you hear him make T . any,remarks abolit the.atrooities in Bel-' ! Rium? :AV- ~ |.: , I; remember -in.:'a .very, "genf... -sra] jway .that the *.subie<!t "was-. • disj* . cussed, i remember 'that Sir. Grierson said that it was necessary for the !. Germans to carry on tho war in a j. firoueh manner to carry it through sucr ~-cessfully.. : Witiiess said.he still mam-

; tajned 'that Grierson ought not, to bo j taxed up with our men.- ■ •/ • To Sir.- Neave: 'Grierson' .was'not' in 1 j .ofche house for long after war, broke out. ;: : It was explained to 1 witness that thore was evidence that lie left on i,:_. [August.l 3,. and also that he.left on the i.Sa.T.' -,:;v J- ; Witness, m'aint3ih^.f;:,tha , i:; , '.!Grierson j: had with tlierr,,the/-' Belgian. - - atrocities, >and he•-insisted .thn^t : sonic .Te-j-ports :'of: atrocities had "at-.that y time -, . pach-'d us hero. He did not rcroem- | : W that. Grierson.' had: rather made'! a, | : Sreflictioii' that 1 Germa'nv ! ' would treat !-Belgium as she- had,' find ' this because. ti. ..it; was, part of the- teaching.;' of.- war J.: ■ .writers like Bernhardt,, Grierson, had ;> snoken freely, enough of' Germany, and ; had often spoken of Germany's tire- : paredness for war, and the lack, of all such •preparedness organisation on' the ; paTt :of 'Great Britain.He could !■: .i -,n6t. remember ; Griersph mentioning the j':' rrent .'war. writers of Germany, but, no i.. doubt Griefpon, had knowledge <<f those writings and spoke! of!-them.. ' Grierson had expressed. approval of: the German K! .onranisatioii and.; thoroughness. ' Tlie !r"., general drift-' of . the conversation was

" that. Germany, had the biggest .and the army,in the '.world.'.and.'.that she .' *d:V not keep it for nothing. . K; ' . : Mr. fNpave: :_ ; Well,- we all -lrnow. that ;. now, don't we? . ■ ■

' . Witness: Yes. 'Mr/ Neavo:' And "is there, anything in v pointin"'th&t- ont? i- ! ...Witness.: VNo.k ..Witness went on to

,say that. knew of no dif-loyal utterf.: i>iices .of-.Grierjon. Put. always, even [' 'hoforethe wan'in .-Mm house, in general [ ir-inversation. it Md been the habit of

..the other men to run down-the Gerr T : mans and the German methods of gov : ! • ernment, and Grierson had' always c!e- . funded the "Germans. Grierson: was > nlwavs "rubbing-it in" l 'that th«„C!er- . mans were a verv.clpwer..nation. It had rot, sthick him that, Griersmi said these !:■ ;■ things as showing the yteoA for .further

/ effort: ion the. part.of. Britain. So-far l-'jnVjTrftnessiknew':Grierson."was ihft..only / ■ ma'', in ;the :boar^in™hQuse'who had been .. lit ■ Germany, and Grierson often.'volun- : teeied- informationi-iui torrection of • statement o made. '' \ .' . .

: .To the Commissioner :;'He knew Grierp~son was m the Gorman's' Consul'office, i. directly ■•he. arrived at "Chatsworth." f i'Thpr9.o va S: a Germaii atmosphere about ;... Gueison. He : was ' always ' reading j ;German books and> - German.- papers. 1./rTTTcness had_an .impression' that Grierir'K'son' had .said his • mother . was'..German or )iali_-German. .He was not .sure & about tliat-.. : His .opinion. had been that Grierson was a pro-German. That' was' based on the fact; that : : Grierson had taken the German side in j ...arguments, 'and had praised German [ : methods and organisation.That' was I.; before' the' outbreak of war. After:the. K . war;, began, Grj.erson saidoff .one 1 .occat-'' : sion that he was.not a German.: Wit.'Hess, .disbelieved this statement. He :';had v -.ap impression 'that.'.Grierson's' mother was "half-German, but : was not fT*.sure that Grierson had made any state-' j;-: ment.oii.the point. He had not spoken .. to subject at- any time. . :lo Mi. Heave: He did not rememberj. . .Grierson' ohjecting: "t-o 1 the nickname ,Vljio. Gorman," until. after! the outt " break of war.: Grierson then explained ;■ .■tnat - he.-ivas-not. a German/ The exi:planation. wa!s"ih the' ffrm of - : '£■ protest'. An Accusation Resented. Gilbert Joseph Ryan, ..- of the "Now Zealand, Truth"': staff, called by Mr. \Wilford,ySaid -he had :been in Auckland. I- .when'the war began. - Some time,later. !'- about : %e end 'df the month,' 'He 'heara' !certain. statements regarding" tho in-'-fernmeni, of Germans., • In consequence jPt jSnose;statements^an article appear-' ji'.'.cd'.m the ..''New'-'Zeallind Trutli" refernng t-o.u Gorman 1 who had been m tho j "-cmjjlay ;of tho German Consul in' Auck. 'ian'cl, iaiid:Tlater in. tho American. Con- [ sulato ill Auckland. . ' Witness wrote f;:- article '..without mentlonihg. nimei A I,ater:MrGrierson.:.called, at. : ; tn l - ■ officOj - anH fndicated that ;he . belonged ..tb-,the. "American : , Consulate . ,Grierson appeared'-' to' think' tho:.article, referred to him. . . That , was not. the

incase, and. witness reassured him. Tho man really referred to had sineo been • interned. : . '

;• '• • Madam Boeufve Gives Evldenoe. !c- Ife,. :J ßoeufTe;'said ;;sho: was.tlie wifo of. • ' Anbcrt" Boeufvettosidenr'-Minister' of i/ 'Pranco in Quito, South America. Sho her-.only son in tlie Now FoTces'. . Her brother was a " British : .General, and other relatives were in ; r;the : . armies of the Allies. She had interested. herself in : allegations re&ard-'t-inK,persons'of alleged. German "blood or" in the New Zealand Forus; j ; She ; ,liad not known Griersoii- ; by sight- 1 iijitjl the inquiry, opened. She wivs ce- ; voting the wholo-of her-time to ht-r investigatious: - She first ;liC'iird' ,rt-I:ieu-_ ; tenant, Grierson in'Noveirioer. 'Tn consequence. of wh at slie- r KHtd~she•''vialk d 0,1 Hiss Murpliy at "Chatsworth" to ' make inquiries. Miss Beatrico Day had ; received .Miss Murphy s sddrcss in a letter from Mr. - Vivian Uhind. Miss :.. Murphy had been busy at. thet-'me of ; tile.,; call, but had nromissd to make a i, statement in writing on the fnilswing J : day: .Witness secured .this .'■tatemt-nft k w !l?®h - declared- Miss Murphy's belief that'Grierson was;a .German "oii account of remarks passed." The statement, put in by, Mr., WilFosd, bad been by Miss Murphy's evidence. The Box ant! tire Documents, , .Miss Murphy mentioned Mr. Grier- ; son's box at th© time of tlie second ■ visit. Witness thought the police might, have overlooked documentary evi- -- denco, through lack of knowledge of , : i foreign languages, and she examined ; tho'''. box. She thought Miss Murphy ,- suggested this search. Miss Day watch* ' od;t.he search, but took no part in it. ; The ; box was not locked and was not ■ properly shut. The box contained 'a , few old garments, in addition to books and papers. She could read German ■with some difficulty. She took away witfi her. certain papers, copies l of ,which had been forwarded already to ■ ' the;} Government. : The originals were • jiow produced. She told Miss Murphy afterwards sho had found nothing of ;■ importance. She had not then examin- ' cd:.tho documents.

- Among the documents produced were * two pieces of paper. On. one was written in pencil a series of German phrases, translated as follow: "Haveyou, perhaps, an hour free? A friend is aoing away on the Tainui ; to-day. Following is an important proposition." On jho other were six words and six numbers so arranged, it was suggested, that thev could be used as a code. Another exhibit was a piece of ; writing; in. lead pencil, translated by Madam B'ieufvc as follows: "I am asking for n';i)]ace in Germany, seeking for a position in an export firm as assistant secretary, and would much 1ike....t0. know if 3'ou, HerrT... would have tho

f kindness to give me a character, also testify to .my-business ability and my knowledge'-of the German language. Such: a recommendation 1 from you would bo very important." Madame Boeufvo suggested that Herr F. was Focke. Sho suggested "that if Grierson were really a. young Englishman ho would have written in English, for Mr. Focke coftld speak English well. Further, the handwriting was "absolutely Gorman." An-other--exhibit contained nil exerciso in German-.grammar, written out in lead ■pencil. Th§re were numbers of other scraps of-paper with other inscriptions in Gorman. : Witness said sho had translated tho documents, with assistance, and she showed-them first of all to Sir Joseph Ward, and later to Mr. Massey. "Quite Sufficient For Me." '! To Nepvel She heard Mr. Grierson;: senior, give the history of the family of Lieutenant Grierson, and she saw. no reason to doubt it. However, she did nut ; 'acceptthe statements aa true. . A. birth certificate was of vgry little value, so. insidious were the German ■ methods nowadays'. ' She did not accept or reject the certificate nroduced bf_-Grierson. She was satisfied that Grierson had shown evidence'of pro-Ger-man sentiments. .

Mr. - Neave: But are you satisfied that he is British?

•i Witness: I was not ..present at his birth. 'I don't know. It was quite sufficient for me that he was in the German Consul's office. . I'll tell you how these things, are worked. First. of all the "Consul: represents the Kaiser. The Consul, is paid' By the . Kaiser. Germany never: loaves anything to chance. .The remained in this cojmtry at the bidding _of the "Kaiser. 'Very well, ,do-you think /that-your German Consul will take as clerk into , his office anyone" iri : whom he, did not feel confidence P-v v ■ , Mr. "TTeave :;Apparently, he has done "witness :j-i-«'dion't agree with yoil. In. fact^.-frVm.- : what I know of consuls and their,:- secretaries, I think it is- unlikely. Mr.-Neave : iYo\i still believe he is a German ?

Witness: I am not 'aware that I ever saiU so. I' said he was Focke's clerk, and_. that is . enough: for me. ■ - ■ , 2vir.- lieavo: In your opinion, where does a child get its sentiments about nationality?.. ;

It all depends on environment/ If a child is too much in one country it .will take the sentiments of that country.'

Mr. Neave: Suppose a boy is in England until he is 17 .years old, with patent's of undoubted British sentiments?

'witness:' But I don't know lie was there. '

Mr. Neave: But suppose. '/Witness: 'Absolutely not worth that (snapping. : the fingers) as far as the, point we are;.going to get-at!.. ■ Mr. Neave:'Good! I thought you would-say that.■ -.

1 Witness: Good. lam so.glad. Witness said .'that ,she was satis'fied that the Jist of ' words and numbers proiuceu was a code. Her husband was in the Consular service, and from her knowledge: of foreign codes: she was ■satisfied that it 1 was a code. , "I am sure o*'it,'' she declared with emphasis. '"I swear it. Nothing would convince me'!that it is not. . jl'ou may have an, explanation, 1 but you will , not convince me."' " Madame Boeufvo said she found the scraps of paper distributed through Grierson's books and in a blotter. The Legion of Honour. Mr. Neave: Why didn't you take the '.volume?

; AVitness: Too heavj- to carry away. ; Mr.. Neave: Was it not that you wer§ afraid 'that Miss Murphy, would see you taking , them ' ■ Witness-: 'No," that' was not the rea--son. Whatever I have 1 done I stick to/ . . . It may be that I may have to suffer for coming up against your proGerman prejudices. - / Mr. Neave: Oh, I hope you will not have to suffer,' Madam. Witness: Don't you think this is enough that I am going through today. .In tHis country you make me go through this. In France they would give' me :the Legion of Honour.

Witness donied that the phrases on the scraps of paper, or the words were such as might be written out by anybody trying to learn the German language. * One piece of verse on one of the, papers she had not translated, and did. not know wbat . it-meant.

. ■ Sir.- Noave: My .client tells me. that "it Is a rhyme_ for learning certain German 5 prepositions.' Do you recognise it'as,sum? •'

Madame Boeufve said that she did not.; v She had found the verse "very difficult' to translate." ; She did not believe that either the police or the miliary authorities had ever fully investigated ffie case of Grierson. She di 3 not know whether tiie _authoi!fciwj were.',unwilling to mako the. investigation;... Miss, Day had ift> .part in' the search 'of 'Gnerson's effects. . "Wo Called Him the German in Fun." ■ Norman Nelson, of the staff of Dalgety and Co:, .said he. had boarded at "Chatsworth". with \jrierson. Mr. AVilford: What was be known -is?-; v'• ... ■ 'rf/itn'ess: Oh, we called him-.the .German Tn fun. - . Mr. Wilford: How -did lie get that name? ; Tntness:; Through his; being j a German student, possessing German magazines and German books,, and also being in the German Consul's office. Soon after the outbreak of war, witness continued, there was a celebration' in the boarding-house over a report of; a naval victory which proved to be false. .Grierson was not, too keen to join in the party. : He v did not drink much, for one thing/ Hb was mado to drinkthe King's health, and afterwards they stood over him in joke, and mado him swear allegiance.

_ To Mr, Neavo: This'was one of the items of the evening, and Grierson tooK it all jocularly and m good part. To Mr. Thomson: We made him swear allegiance because we called him the Gorman;

Mr. Ncave: The whole thing being- a joke?

, Witness: Yes; a party. , ;i Mr. Neave: You.don't mean to-allege anything 1 disloyal .'about Grierson in that ceremony? ' ■ '

- Witness: No. 1 Witness remembered having heard Grierson say tho Germans were, organised ready for ■war, and this long before war was heard of. He had said once tliat if war broke out the Germans would give us a big surprise. Grierson was a man of studious temperament, anxious to improve his knowledge of German. Mr. Neave: You can't say that-you oyer heard him say anything disloyal? Witness: No. But his sympathies were always with the Germans. Mr. Neave: What do you mean by sympathies? ! Witness: He was always expressing appreciation of the Germans, their methods, their, thoroughness, and everything. : A; Dinner-Table Argument, Leonard Sinclair Thompson, bank clerk, said that ho also had boarded at Chatsworth with Grierson. He would say that Grierson's sympathies were "decidedly German" or "pro-German." He related an incident which occurred at dinner one evening after the war broke out. The talk was about the war, and Grierson took the side of Germany. Afterwards in the smoking ,room the argument was continued, and another boarder, named Horton, asked hiin if he was still in' favour of Germany. Grierson said "Yes," and Horton threatened to knock him down. Grierson said then, "If that ! is the way you look at it, I will side with ' you," . and they shook ! hands. . ' <

To Mr. Neave: Grierson spoke a great

deal about Germany; ma do himself rather a nuisance in the houso on tho subject. Ho had never .-heard one .word said • by Grierson. in conversation suggesting disloyalty to Britain. 'Rather no had spoken in .praise of Germany. It seemed that lie thought the Germmia were superior to us, and that they would shoiv us so.

' Beatrice Wall, known by her 6tago name (also her maiden' name) of f oa ,t™e Day, gave evidence of the visit to Chatsworth," and of tho search niftde by Madam Boeufve of Grierson's effects.

, Annie M'Vicar, a member of the Antibernian League, generally bore out i Ppeufve's evidence on points ■i, -ir luiowledge. She had, with Madam Boeufve, approached Mr. Massey about Grierson.

"What a British Officer Should Do."

Sergeant Magnus Badger, N.Z.M.C., ! ?? T i? Featherston Camp, was called by ! ? av ®* duty in Greytown Hospital, he had' Grierson under observation as a measles patient. He had been told that Grierson was a German, and he watched him very closely—watched how he received news of English or German successes, the loss -of English or German ships. Had tried to startle him with news of victories -or disasters when lie brought the paper in the morn, ings, but never once had he observed anything to lead him to suppose that Grierson was anything but what a British officer-should be. He watched his correspondence closely. They had many talks about Germany, also, witness having been in some parts of Germany.. He had sought to draw Grierson. On one occasion Grierson. had said that the ■ kultur of Germany would never benefit the world, because the ethics of Germany were too much cramped by disciplinary routine. Witness tried his level, best to catch Grierson, and "trip him -up," but he could find no fault m Lieutenant Grierson's sentiments...- -

To Mr. Gilford: Lieutenant Grierson wild have had to be a very clover'man to escape his' watch during that . fortnight if he wore not. in fact what ho Beemed. Grierson would have .been sura to give himself away if ho / had really German sympathies. • ' ■ The hearing was adiourned at 5.10 p.nv. until Monday at 2 p.m.