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107. And there was not much feeling- between you and him ?—No, Ido not think so; I do not know what he beat me by exactly. 108. Was I supporting you or Mr. Hannan ?—You supported Mr. Hannan, I think. 109. If it has been said in any place that my repute was of an indifferent character would that be correct or otherwise?— Well, I never heard, except that there were some bitter enemies in a general way. I never heard anything. 110. Have you heard anything, as far as my uncle or myself are concerned, as to any overpayments ?—No, not a penny. 111. Did my uncle continue to act as caretaker for the borough till the day of his death ? —Yes. 112. You remember a resolution asking the Council to get the new borough auditors to go into the accounts and see if there was anything against him ? —Yes; as far as I can remember, you got a resolution passed, and said you would not go to Parliament until that was done, and if there was the slightest stain on Nathaniel Seddon's character you would not go to the House. That was the reason the committee was set up, although it was thought at the time that it was useless, as the special auditors could not find anything wrong, and it was believed that the local auditors would also fail. I, at any rate, thought that it would be useless, but the majority ruled. I voted against the auditors with a view to saving expense, as they were to have two guineas each. 113. You did not reckon it worth two guineas for an investigation ?—No; I reckoned the thing had been fairly and fully investigated, but the auditors were appointed. 114. Do you remember my uncle having an assurance that there was nothing against him at the time ?—Yes, I remember that; not one of the councillors, I think, ever thought there was anything against him. 115. What was his character? —Well, he was a quiet old gentleman who never bothered himself about anything. 116. The Chairman.] There never were any reflections on his character ? —No. 117. Hon. W. Bolleston.] Why was this resolution moved by Mr. Seddon never given effect to —that, is that the whole case should be investigated with reference to the alleged overpayment ? —Well, to tell you the truth, it sort of fizzled out; the Committee met, but found it only a waste of time. 118. Now, there is a report in the West Coast Times of the 11th November, 1882, which says "that the report of the auditors is unanswerable:" is that correct?—-Yes, I suppose that is correct; we thought there was matter for investigation. 119. You say, according to that report in the* newspaper, that the auditors' report was unanswerable. Now, that is at variance with what Mr. Seddon says?— Well, yes; we considered the matter required further investigation; that was my opinion, and that was ultimately agreed upon, and steps were taken. 120. But the newspaper report says that you, and the Mayor, and others supported the auditors' report ? —Yes, certainly. We thought there was something requiring investigation; we could not possibly throw the report away. Had Wylde attended the investigation as desired, Ido not think it would have come to his having to go to gaol. That would be my opinion if I made use of the words ascribed to me. We would have to investigate the whole matter thoroughly, and we thought Wylde might be able to explain some matters, and by resigning, and making good any deficiency, save himself to a certain extent. 121. What do you think of Wylde's statement before sentence was passed on him, to the effect that the animus against him was on the part of a clique who wished to put a tool of their own into office ?—I hardly know who could have been referred to ; there was no tool, so far as I know, to put into office, Of course, Wylde was desperate, and felt himself in a very bad position; and there was, no doubt, very bitter feeling against Wylde on the part of some of the ratepayers who had a special animosity against him. Something leaked out, I believe, through the local auditors, and this Simmonds, being a busybody, went along with a petition, and once started there was no stopping it. 122. I understood you to say that there was no ill-feeling: how was it that Mr. Barnett ? —Well, it was thought that this matter had helped his election. 123. At the declaration of the election on the 30th November the newspaper report states that he claimed that his action in respect to Wylde was the cause of being elected ?—Yes; he used this petition as a lever. He made out that the borough'sifinances were going to " pot," arid in a small place like Kumara this soon caused a sensation. No one knew at the time he was elected whether the auditors' report was in favour of Mr. Wylde or against him. 124. But at the time of the declaration of the election the auditors' report must have been known, for it came out on the 7th November?— Well, I may be mistaken, but I thought at the time of the election that he made use of this auditors' report; I was under the impression that he was already Mayor-elect. It is likely enough, however, that he did make use of that remark which you have quoted. 125. I wish to point out that this was at variance with your previous statement that there was no feeling against Mr. Wylde outside ?—There was a feeling against Wilde—there was also sympathy for him. 126. Mr. Massey.] You remember the first asking for a special audit ?—Yes. 127. Did you have anything to do with getting it up? —I might have signed it, but I cannot remember positively. I think I signed one, but I would not swear to it. 128. Do you remember exception being taken to a number of the signatures ?—Yes. 129. What were they?—As far as I remember, they were not ratepayers; and this man Simmonds himself was not a ratepayer. 130. Did he sign tho petition ?—I do not know, but I know he was taken off the roll for not paying his rates.