I.—lα

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[c. macdonell.

84. But what should be dove to the man who does that? —He ought to be punished, undoubtedly, in my opinion. 85. Considering the necessary discipline that rmis-t be maintained in the Police Force, do you think dismissal for this offence alone would be too severe?—l have seen simpler cases where dismissal followed. 86. You have known of men being dismissed for simpler cases than that which I have mentioned?— Yes; that is, going in to have a drink while on duty—not after hours at all. 87. Men who have been drinking while on duty ?—That is so. 88. Would you say that they were properly dismissed ? —Well, their superiors thought so. 89. Did you concur in that opinion ?—Not in every case ; but in some cases I might if they were really bad men and misbehaved themselves. 90. In connection with a policeman in private clothes going into an hotel and drinking after hours, would you say the measure of punishment would be controlled by who paid for the drinks ?—No. 91. Would you consider him guilty even if he did not pay for the drinks?— Undoubtedly I would. 92. You look upon it as a very serious matter, even though the policeman is not in uniform ? —I would. 93. If a man was guilty of this, would you consider him guilty of a very serious offence ?— —Yes ; getting drink after hours, for the reason stated before. 94. The next charge in the petition is this : " Being asleep at Nelson Police-station at 11.45 p.m., 18th November last; again at 1.15 a.m., 19th November; again at 4.15 a.m. same day; and again at 11.45 p.m., 20th November, when he should have been on duty." I suppose you inquired into all these several matters? —Well, I cannot say 95. 1 mean you inquired into the several matters connected with the charges against these men—you, as Inspector for the district, were no doubt asked to report upon them, or should have been ?—I forwarded some of the reports made to me to the Commissioner without doing anything in the matter myself. 96. But, with regard to the charges that I mentioned just now of men being asleep in the police-station when they ought to have been on duty, did you make any inquiry into these allegations?—No; I forwarded the reports that were made to the Commissioner. 97. Eeports made by the policemen concerned or other policemen?— Other policemen. From the information I received I thought the matter required very serious investigation. I had reason to believe the thing was a practice. I was given to understand so. I had to hurry away at the time, and I forwarded the evidence to the Commissioner without investigating these particular cases. 98. Is the evidence that you forwarded on the file? Commissioner Tunbridge : Certainly. It was taken afterwards at an inquiry when the Inspector was present. He examined the witnesses. 99. Hon. Mr. Hall-Jones.] You are aware of the finding generally in connection with the cases mentioned in the petition—that is, single men taking girls into the single men's quarters at midnight (I say nothing as to the respectability of the girls), and entering a publichouse after the hour when the law said it should be closed, and other charges which were made at the time—and I again put this question to you: Do you think that men who have been proved guilty of these charges are fit to remain in the Police Force ? —No, I do not. 100. Who was in local charge at Nelson at the time?— Sergeant Mackay was until he was shifted. 101. How long had he been in charge there?—l think he was there about four years altogether, but lam not sure. He was there before I went to that district. 102. I understand that all the reports of the Inspector are upon the file ? Commissioner Tunbridge : Yes, all of them. The Chairman : I would like to point out that up to page 78 of the file the Inspector is called " McDowell " in every case. These papers were laid on the table of the House, and they are incorrect. Commissioner Tunbridge : I might explain, Mr. Chairman, that that is a mistake on the part of the typist. He has read the "n" as being a " w." The documents were required to be typewritten very urgently. They were wanted the day after they were given out to be typewritten, and were done at top speed. I believe, about six persons were set to copy the file. No doubt the editing was not done properly on account of the haste. 103. Mr. Lawry.] Did you say, Inspector, that you received complaints relative to the conduct of the Postboy Hotel ?—lt depends on what you call complaints. The fact was mentioned in connection with the alleged visits of members of the Police Force to that hotel. 104. That the hotel was not well conducted? —Yes. 105. Were those complaints made to you verbally ?—Yes. 106. Is it customary to receive complaints verbally?— Undoubtedly. 107. Do you not have any written record of complaints made by your subordinates ? —Yes, if they report them in writing. 108. That is, if the complaints are important ? —lf they report in writing the record is kept; otherwise I may or may not take it down in writing. 109. You keep no record except in your memory ? —I do keep records of anything of importance. 110. Do you not consider a charge against an hotel an important one ?—I do not in this case. It is an important charge in one respect, but these are charges that are very hard to prove. 111. Would you, as an Inspector of Police, not suppose that if it was important enough to put