G—No. 34,

6

CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO CONDUCT OE

No. 7. Mr. A. C. P. Macdonald to Dr. Pollen. Sic, — Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 16th April, 1872. I have the honor, by direction of Mr. Gisborne, to transmit herewith, for your information, copy of a letter received from Mr. John B. Russell, of Auckland, on the subject of his complaint against Mr. Beckham, R.M., and to request you to be good enough to inform me what has been done in the matter, and whether you have acted on Mr. Ormond's instructions ; if not, I am to request you to be good enough to do so. I have, &c, A. C .P. Macdonald, D. Pollen, Esq., Government Agent, Auckland. (for the Under Secretary).

No. 8. Mr. R. G. Fountain to Mr. J. B. Russell. Colonial Secretary's Office (Judicial Branch), Sib,— Wellington, 17th April, 1872. I have the honor, by direction of Mr. Gisborne, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th instant, calling attention to your complaint against the Resident Magistrate at Auckland, and in reply to inform you that a copy of your present letter has been sent to Dr. Pollen, to whom the matter has been referred, asking him what has been done, and if he has not acted on the Hon. Mr. Ormond's instructions, to do so. 1 have, &c, R. G. Fountain, J. B. Russell, Esq., Solicitor, Auckland. (for Assistant Law Officer.)

No. 9. The Hon. Mr. Gisboene to Dr. Pollen. (Telegram.) Government Buildings, 23rd April, 1872. Please submit papers relative to Mr. Russell's complaint against Mr. Beckham to Hon. Mr. Vogel, whom I have asked, by telegraph, to dispose of the matter. The General Government Agent, Auckland. W. Gisboene..

No. 10. The Hon. W. Gisboene to the Hon. J. Vogel. (Telegram.) Government Buildings, 23rd April, 1872. I have asked Pollen to lay before you some papers referring to a complaint made by Mr. John Russell, solicitor, against Beckham. Will you please dispose of the matter while you are there, and return the papers with a memorandum of what you may have done ? Hon. J. Vogel, Auckland. W. Gisboene.

No. 11. Mr. R. G. Eotjntain to Mr. J. B. Russell. (Telegram.) Government Buildings, 23rd April, 1872. De. Pollen has been asked to lay your complaint before the Hon. Mr. Vogel. J. B. Russell, Esq., Solicitor, Auckland. R. G. Fountain.

No. 12. Mr. T. Beckham to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaey. Resident Magistrate's Office, Auckland, 25th April, 1872. In consequence of the repeated difficulties the unpaid Justices had been led into, several of them having been mulcted in large sums by the Supreme Court, and finding that Mr. J. B. Russell had deceived the Magistrate when investigating a breach of the Harbour Regulations, by misquoting the law, thereby causing the disposal of that case to be delayed, I conceived it to be my duty, when inquiring into a similar case a few days afterwards, to draw attention to the circumstance that the law as laid down by Mr. Russell was at variance with facts, in order to prevent the Justices being further intimidated. I feel bound to give my opinion of the law publicly, as I believe the Justices had no other means of ascertaining the truth without incurring expense. When I commenced to speak on the subject, I stated I regretted that Mr. Russell was not in Court to hear what I had to say, but in a few minutes he made his appearance, when I repeated what I had said, and it was his grossly offensive conduct which drew from me plainer language than I had previously employed, namely, that " Mr. Russell must have misquoted the law from ignorance or wilfulness, as every lawyer's clerk must have been aware of the law on the subject." And it was from further insolence, I was induced to remark that it was " easy to become colonized." Before I spoke to Mr. Russell with reference to his conduct, I had been made acquainted with the fact that, immediately after the case before Messrs. Daldy and Dargaville had been closed, he admitted