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560. Mr. Tunbridge.] And more than one pair of boots ?—Two pairs of boots. 561. Fifteen shillings a week for lodgings, and £8 which it costs you for your uniform: does that come out of your pay?— Yes. 562. The Chairman.] Then, as to the compulsory payment of insurance?—lt is not compulsory in my case. I joined just before the regulation came into force. 563. Colonel Pitt.] What is your pay ?—7s. a day. 564. Mr. Tunbridge.] You are still third-class. What is your opinion about classes as against increments? Would you rather go on in your present way advancing by class, or would you prefer, say, to begin at a lower salary and increase your pay every year until you attained your maximum ? —I think that men starting afresh would not be worth as much as men with experience. 565. But as to the present class system, is that satisfactory to the Force generally ?—lt is unsatisfactory in this way, that a man will remain at the same stage for a lifetime pretty well. 566. Do you not think it would be more satisfactory if the men knew exactly where they were going to be at the end of, say, five years. We will assume that a man joins at ss. 6d. a day and .goes on by stages until he gets Bs. a day, do you not think that would be preferable to the present system of classes ?—lt would be preferable, and it would he an inducement to the men to do their best in the service. 567. You do think the increment system would be preferable to the class system? —Yes; that is, providing the first pay would not be too low. In my time it was necessary for a man to remain a number of years in the Artillery at ss. 6d. a day to get into the Police Force. 568. You think a rise in pay after a stated period of service would be more satisfactory than class promotion ?—Yes. 569. You understand now, do you not, that your failing to get Manners Street Station was not attributable to Inspector Pender? —I understand it now, sir. 570. Colonel Hume.] Are you equally satisfied that I had nothing to do with your not getting the Manners Street Station ?—I do not know, sir. 571. Then you are not satisfied?—l will say nothing about it. 572. The Chairman.] You still think Cairns was sent there with a view to ousting you ?— Well, I have been ousted any way, and I cannot say who did it. I had two years there on no extra remuneration, and then I was clone out of it. Of course, I do not think for a moment that the facts have been placed before Mr. Tunbridge in a proper light, or he might have acted differently.
Tuesday, Bth Mabch, 1898. Aethue Hume was examined on oath. Colonel Hume : I have the papers now in Constable Foley's case. I find Inspector Pender reported to me on the 7th February in connection with Constable Foley's complaint which you saw yesterday, and he says, " I noticed Constable Foley advance towards her in view of the Justices, and enter into conversation with her." On that I reprimanded him, and I had the following entry made in the defaulter's sheet: " Talking to prisoner in Court, and not desisting when instructed to do so. Eeprimanded." On the 7th July, 1896, I sent this memorandum to Inspector Pender: "The Minister of Justice has decided that the offence recorded against Constable J. T. Foley on the 27th January, 1896, shall be expunged from his defaulter's sheet. Please have this done. — A. Hume, Commissioner." The Inspector reports, " This has been done, and the constable informed." I also took it out of the defaulter's sheet which we kept in our office, and here is the entry, " Cancelled by the Minister of Justice.—A. Hume, 7/7/96." 1. The Chairman.] Was there any reason given. Was it recommended by you?—No; and there is nothing to show how it came about. 2. Colonel Pitt.] Did you refer Inspector Pender's report to Constable Foley for any explanation ?—No ; I had his explanation before me in the form of a complaint that the Inspector had reprimanded him in open Court for something he alleged he had not done. 3. The Chairman.] Is there any admission of anything in his report to you of having conversed with the woman ?—No ; he says the woman asked him the question. 4. Colonel Pitt.] But there is nothing to show that he answered her ; he had never heard of the Inspector's report to you before he was informed that he was reprimanded?—No, I do not think so. I have another paper here referring to Constable Foley which he thinks is another proof of my not having a very high opinion of him apparently. He says he was not promoted because he tried to arrest a man when he had a loaded rifle in his possession. ■5. He seemed to have a grievance because he received no recognition of it?— And that was a sign that he was not thought very favourably of by me. Well, it may tend to prove to Constable Foley that he made a mistake when he hears that the first time I saw the papers was this morning. The Inspector did not think it was serious enough to send on to me; and that was not Inspector Pender ; it was poor Mr. Thomson. 6. Constable Foley.] I would like to ask if you have the report in reference to the shooting case here? —Yes. 7. I should like it to be produced to show whether I deserved promotion ? —There were two reports about the shooting case : one written before I gave over to Commissioner Tunbridge, and one written since. The first report is as follows : — Police Station, Manners Street, 2nd August, 1895. Eepoet of Constable Foley re a man named Gustave Lenard Alexander, a coloured man, having attempted suicide by shooting himself:— I beg to report that at 8 p.m. a man named Charles Downie reported to me that a man in Dempsie's boarding-house, Taranaki Street, was locked in his room with a gun and he feared he would commit suicide. I proceeded at once to the place, went upstairs, and found his door locked from inside. Downie knocked at the door and said, " Open the
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