I.—sb.

6

[JOHN WALSH.

41. Did you pay Sherwood's account? —Yes. You can see all the accounts I have paid to these storekeepers. The accounts were not separate at the stores —they were just for Williams and Co. — and I paid all these that I got. 42. Mr. Buchanan.] They got their stores together ?--Yes. 43. And I suppose they were kept together? —Yes. They camped together —in fact, the camp is there yet. That is where I got that receipt. I put it into an old trousers-pocket of mine, and I got it from that pocket since I was here the last time. 44. The Chairman.] You say you paid Sherwood £21, either in cash or by cheque? —I said that I paid him in cash, but he says there was a cheque. He gave me a copy of a letter sent to the Minister of Lands. After I had been here I went home on the Saturday, and before I got up on the Sunday Sherwood came to see me. He woke me up, and said he wanted to see me badly. Be said, "By the by, I made a false statement, and I would like you to correct me." I did not know what statement he wanted me to correct, and I said, '.' What statement?" He said, " There was some Government man asked me what money you gave me, and questioned me a lot, and I know I could not remember what to tell him rightly." "Well, then," I said, "the best thing is to write to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, New Plymouth, or to the Minister of Lands, and you will be able to certify to what you said, I suppose." He said he would do that, and he sent me this copy of a letter that he sent to the Minister of Lands —which you see there. He did not tell me what he said to this Government officer who questioned him. He did not know who the man was. 45. The Chairman.] Did he say what size the cheque was that he received? —He says that it was £10; but lam almost certain that I did not pay him a cheque at all. He says that I paid him £10 by cheque and the rest in cash. 46. Mr. Bennet.] What difference would it make if the payment was by cheque or cash? — That is what Ido not know. It seems to run in your minds here that it was a peculiar thing for me to pay cash; but there was nothing peculiar about it, because if I pay two accounts I save Is. by paying cash instead of cheques, on account of the exchange on the cheques. 47. The Chairman.] Did you make up any accounts to show what you had paid on account of Sherwood's stores? —No. I had no time to do anything when I got your notice. It would be only from the storekeepers that I would get that information, because I do not think I could get the receipts. 48. What storekeeper did you settle with, on account of Sherwood? —It was on account of the three of them. The three of them got their stores as a company would get them. I paid accounts clue to Mr. Taylor, Mr. Parrot, Mr. Blennerhasset, and to the butcher, Mr. Duncan; and these men have all acknowledged that I did pay them, as those documents show, but they did not give me the receipts. 49. Did you pay anything to Mr. Adams? —That is the man I call Mr. Taylor —Mr. Taylor is the manager for Mr. Adams. Yes, 1 paid him. 50. Were Sherwood and Williams getting stores together from the same place?— Yes; they all got their stores together. The storekeeper would deliver the stores for them in one lot. "Williams and Company" they were called; and anything got in their name while they were working for me I undertook to pay for. 51. How much do you consider you paid Sherwood altogether ? -Twenty-one pounds. 52. I mean with the stores?- -I could not tell you, because they were not in separate lots. I could not even tell you what I did pay for the stores. 53. How much did you pay Williams? —About £21, I think. 54. The same amount? —Yes. 55. When did you pay him? —Somewhere about the same date, I think. 56. Was Sherwood present when you paid Williams?--No. 57. How did you come to pay them at different times? -When they ceased felling bush Williams went away to look for a job at milking, and he was not there at all at the time I paid Sherwood. Sherwood stopped in the camp until I had to get a job for him. 58. I do not think you told us about Williams on the last occasion? —No. 59. How is it you told us all about Sherwood's contract and did not mention Williams? Ido not think I told you about Sherwood's contract. I said that the three were in the contract. 60. You gave me to understand that you had let a contract to Sherwood, who was to take your son with him to do the work? —Perhaps I did say that Mr. Symes: That is in another letter. Witness: Perhaps I did say that. I meant that the three of them had equal shares in the contract, and I still saj' the same. Williams was the man who signed the contract. 61. The Chairman.] You now say that all the money you paid to Williams was £21? —Yes; I think that was about it. When I was here before I thought I had paid Sherwood £25, but he says it was £21; and I thought I had paid that in cash, but he says I paid him a cheque. 62. How did you pay Williams? —That was by cash, too. 63. Hon. Mr. Duncan.] You say that your son was in the contract? —Yes. 64. How did you pay him? —I paid him in cash also—in three small sums. I gave him the money to pay for life insurance. That is how I paid him. 65. How much did you pay him? —It would amount to more than the sum I paid Sherwood, but I cannot tell } 7 ou the amount. 66. Mr. Witty.] What was the amount of the insurance? —Five hundred pounds. I think the premiums would be £7 10s. or £7 12s. 6d. ■ 67. What insurance company was it —the Government Life Insurance Department?—l could not tell you from memory. 68. Were they half-yearly payments? —Yes. 69. What age is he? -Almost twenty now.