MR. BARTON'S CHARGES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5328, 25 April 1878, Page 2

MR. BARTON'S CHARGES.

The following correspondence, which has resulted from the statements made against the police by Mr. G. E. Barton, M.H.R., when he addressed the city electors, has been handed to us for publication : Wellington, 17th April, 1878. Sir, —I have the.honor to transmit for your perusal copies of the enclosed correspondence which has taken place, on which you may wish to make some remarks. —I am, &0., „ „ „ . _ G. S. Whitmore. G. E. Barton, Esq., M.H.R., Wellington. The Mayor’s Office, Wellington, . 3rd April, 1878. Sir,—As chief magistrate of the city of Wellington, I have the honor to direct your attention to the enclosed newspaper, slips cut from the Evening Post of the 23rd March, and, purporting to be a verbatim statement made by Mr. G. E. Barton, M.H.E. for the city of Wellington. As the statements made therein are of a most serious nature, I have’ to request -that you will be good enough to inform me whether Government have made any inquiry into the truth or otherwise of the statements, aud it not, whether they propose doing so.—lam,&c., . J. Drakseiei-d, Mayor. The Hon. the Minister of Justice, Wellington.

(Extract from the Evening Post of 23rd March). 1. That a complete reign of terror had existed in the police force, and that a certain policeman who pbssessed authority had, in cases where prisoners had been locked up in a cell, gone in and handcuffed them, and then struck them with hia lists, and kicked them in a brutal manner, 2. That other members of the force stood by, afraid to interfere, because the officer so acting was in authority. Superintendent’s Office. Constabulary Depot, Wellington, 13th April, 1878. Sir,—ln reply to your minute of the 4th Instant, requesting me to make Inquiries as to the grounds Mr. barton had for making charges against the Wellington police. 1 have the honor to inform you that the alleged offence is said to have taken place some time ago, and it is also supposed to have been committed by some person who has left the police force. From what I can learn Ifeel disposed to think that Mr. Barton has been misinformed. However, it rests with him to take the necessary steps to have the matter thoroughly sifted by disclosing the name of his informant.—l am, Ac., A, C. Shearman, Superintendent of Police. To the Commissioner of Armed Constabulary, Wellington. Wellington, 20th April, 1878. Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your communication of the 17th April, enclosing what purports to be an extract from my speech to the electors of Wellington, as reported in the Evening Post, together with a copy of a letter from the Mayor of Wellington, and also a copy of a letter from the Superintendent of Police in reply, to a minute from you. From these documents I perceive that the Superintendent of Police has information which he must have obtained from ether .sources than my speech. I notice that he not only carefully abstains from a denial of the occurrence I mentioned—that a policeman handcuffed a prisoner in the lock-up, and while so handcuffed, beat and kicked him—but he adds to my statement the confirmatory particulars, “ that the alleged offence is said to . have taken place some time ago,” and "is also supposed to have been committed by some person who has left the police force." Had the Superintendent of Police been in a position to assure the Government either that no such offence had ever been committed, or that the guilty party had been expelled from the force, branded with infamy, he might have hoped:to restore confidence in the administration of hia department. But although he is not in a position tp do either, he deduces the extraordinary jresuit from 1 his enquiries that “ Mr. Barton has been misinformed,”, and that "it rests with Mr. Barton to take the necessary steps to have the matter thoroughly sifted by disclosing the name of his informant.” If I wished to • “have the matter thoroughly ‘smothered’”! could adopt no surer means than to "disclose the name of my informant.” I, therefore, beg to decline handing over my informant to the tender mercies of anybody, and I also decline to place myself in the position of a private prosecutor! conducting such an enquiry at my own cost, not only without the machinery to force disclosures, but with the whole of that machinery—Supreme Court and Ml —under the influence of those who, to say the least, are loth’to disturb the existing order of things,—l am, &c., . George Elliott Barton, To the Hon. G. S. Whitmore,: &c.