I.—lα.

14

l>. H. DUEEEIDGE.

was her daughter-in-law he had been to. I then saw her daughter-in-law, who stated as follows : 'My name is , wife of , Waiinea Soad, Nelson. We all heard of 's trouble, and Constable Durbridge was blamed for it. I was not spreading it. I believe my mother-in-law said something about it. Some weeks after went to Wellington Durbridge came here and accused me of telling something about the girl, &c. I denied it. My mother-in-law asked him if he was not going to do something for the girl, &c. He simply laughed and passed it off, saying he had nothing to do with it; &c. The girl came back about three or four months ago. She was in old - —'s. She told about it; said Durbridge was the father of her child, and that it was a boy. —; 's daughter— — had tea with us at the time, and told us all the girl told her mother. They made no secret of it then. We do not wish to be mixed up in this matter.' I next called on , the old woman who used to have the Hotel, but she was evidently put on her guard. She was stopping at the time at a place called ' The Wood ' with a married son. All I could get out of her in answer to many questions was simply ,' I know nothing about it. I have nothing to do with it. I don't understand or interfere with such matters. I would not think would do the like of that, , &c. I gave her up. She is an untruthful old woman. I questioned her re girl's statement to her when she came back on a visit from Wellington—having tea with her, the child being a boy, &c.—but she gave the same evasive answers : could not remember; did not understand, &c. lam given to understand , the , could give evidence if he wished, but he will not do so, as he is very friendly with Mr. , who is the bosom friend of Sergeant Mackay, and gets all the possible horse-hire from the police that can be given. Although and his wife promised me not to mention my interview with them, he immediately told Mr. , who, lam told, said to him, 'He had no business in your place ; put the b up as high as a kite.' He was referring to me. This is all the information I got in referrence to this case, with the exception of the attached report from Constable Williams. I requested Constable Williams to report anything he knew to me direct. He hesitated a good deal, as he is afraid they shall be revenged on him, and from what I have heard all over Nelson I should not be surprised if they did. Durbridge, Burrell, and Kemp are apparently clubbed together, and, I believe, prepared to support each other in anything, and I very much fear they are too much favoured by the sergeant in charge. It will be observed that I instructed . Sergeant Mackay to investigate and report on this charge on the 24th December last, but he did nothing in the matter. I attribute the difficulty in obtaining information, to the fact that he knew such a complaint was made. Mrs. told me she heard Sergeant Mackay received several anonymous letters re Durbridge and the girl . If he did I never heard of it; but, judging from his failure to make any inquiry when instructed to do so, I would not expect to hear from him on the subject. Unless information can be got in Wellington, I do not expect to get much more in Nelson in reference to the girl's miscarriage, &c. Any steps taken shall have to be extremely cautious, and by trustworthy men, otherwise every effort shall be defeated. I find the number of people that can be squared is simply astonishing. Beferring to Constable Williams's report,.l understood he means a Mrs. , a supposed abortionist, not a Mr. . lam not, however, positive. I may add that in all my experience I never came across such a state of matters as appear to exist in Nelson apparently since the time Sergeant Mackay is alleged to have been drunk.—E. A. Macdonell, Inspector." That is the complaint, signed by Inspector Macdonell, at that time in charge of the Greymouth Police District, which embraced Nelson. It is a serious charge, as you appreciate ?—Yes. 137. Is this the first time that you have heard that complaint ?—lt is the first time that I have heard it. 138. Do you know Miss ?—I do. . 139. Ido .not want to go into all these innuendoes. It is a delicate matter, and I will put my questions as delicately as I can ; but it is of so serious a nature that plain speaking must be resorted to; so you can understand that I have no desire to be rude in the matter, but I will not be unnecessarily vulgar. You are charged with having been familiar with Miss to the extent that she was with child by you ? —Yes. 140. What have you to say to the charge?—l deny it point-blank. She was never in the " family way " to me. 141. You have heard what Inspector Macdonell said about visiting Mrs. and the others : have you had any conversation with any of these people to shield you from any consequences ?—No. Mr. Barnett told me that Inspector Macdonell had been up to him relative to this girl, and I told him that I did not care who had been there ; it did not concern me in the least. 142. Is that the only conversation you had with any person on the subject ?—Yes. 143. You distinctly state that now? —Yes. I can bring the girl forward, and the Committee can ask her any questions about the matter. 144. Hon. Mr. Hall-Jones.] You know the charges inquired into by the Commissioner upon which he inflicted punishment on you ?—Yes. 145. Do you dispute his judgment in finding you guilty on those charges ? —No, not in the least. 146. Mr Colvin.] Was this Miss —i a native of Nelson?— She is a native of Tadmor, I believe. 147. You deny having any connection with Miss ?—Absolutely. 148. Did Inspector Macdonell ever charge you with this, or bring it up and report it to the Commissioner? —This is the first I have seen of it. I was told in Nelson that the Inspector was making inquiries ; but I did not pay any attention to it, simply because I knew he could make all the inquiries possible and not prove 149. But he did not ask you personally ?—No ; he never mentioned it to me. 150. Mr. Maginnity.] I omitted to ask the witness if he was a married man ?—Yes, I am.