H.—44

4

Sir J. G. Ward replied that his request to be examined in camera could not be given effect to, but suggested that he prepare a statement giving full particulars of what he knows in the matter. 1 may add here that the statement by Greenhead, marked " B," was handed by him to me as the statement which he has prepared in accordance with the advice in Sir J. G. Ward's, letter. Uu the 26th November, 1906, he again addressed the Hon. the Minister of Justice, in a letter in which he carries the chai'ge a little further (J. 1906/1083). Besides alluding to his charge against the officials of the Deeds (Mice, he states that '' he is the victim of a most daring and systematic fraud, prior to which a series of equally daring frauds had to be carried through," and adds that he is now prepared to prove " beyond any shadow of a doubt a conspiracy and a systematic series of cruel frauds and deceptions." The last letter was sent to the Hou. the Minister of Justice by Mr. Massey, M.H.K. On the 4th December, 1906, the tile of papers in the Justice Department referring to Greenhead's petition was sent by the Hon. the Minister of Justice to Mr. Justice Edwards, and the Minister asked the Judge to favour him with any information or remarks that might assist the Government in dealing with the matter. Mr. Justice Edwards forwarded to the Minister the letter on the hie (J. 1906/1415), together with an extract from the evidence given by Greenhead, which 1 shall afterwards show disproves one of his statements to me. The Judge also, in his letter, remarks that Greenhead did not, at the trial or in his letter to him, allege that the suggested forgeries had been productive of any injury to him. On the 17th December, 1906, Mi , . Greenhead addressed a letter to the Hon. Mr. Millar, Minister of Customs, then apparently at Auckland, asking his assistance to get effect given to the recommendation of the Committee. On the 19th December; 1906, Mr. Greenhead addressed another letter to the Hon. the Minister of Justice, urging the immediate appointment of a Commissioner. On the 17th January, fi)o7, the [Jnder-Secretary for Justice wrote to Mr. Greenhead, informing him that the Minister regretted that under the circumstances the Government could see no reason to take any further action in the matter. Mr. Greenhead and ninety-one others petitioned Parliament in 1907 praying that effect be given to the recommendation of the Public Petitions Committee in 1906 (copy of petition on file, 1907/689, but not dated); and the Committee made, on the 29th August, 1907, practically the same recommendation as was made in 1906. Besides his petition to Parliament and letters to Cabinet Ministers, Mr. Greenhead was also, during 1906, in communication with the police on the same subject, urging them to prosecute Mr. Mahony. He first saw Sub-Inspector Black in August, 1905, who informed him that in the face of the Judge's letter he did not see his way to move in the matter. On the 28th February, 1906, Mr. Greenhead saw ('(instable Moffit, of Waiuku, and through him sent a complaint to Inspector Cullen, who wrote on the papers the following memo, addressed to Sergeant Twomey : ''If Mr. Greenhead is satisfied he has evidence to support a charge of forgery he should lay an information, and prosecute the person lie alleges committed the forgery. The police see no grounds for moving in the matter. Please return him his papers." To this Mr. Greenhead replied, on the 10th March, 1906, that he was not satisfied with Inspector Cullen's decision, and that he was forwarding a copy and particulars of the charges to the Commissioner of Police, Wellington. It appears, however, from the dates of documents that Mr. Greenhead did not write to the Commissioner until the 17th January, 1907. When he began his letter he says that " political and other influences had been brought to bear to smother up a series of most daring and systematic frauds, whereby by wilfully falsifying dates of documents to evade revenue, falsely attesting a number of valuable documents, and obtaining large sums of money by that means, imitating and forging other documents, and wilfully and knowingly using bogus and forged documents, calculated to and did deceive Mr. Justice Edwards, a judge of the Supreme Court, 1 have been one victim," <fee. In his letter he carries his statements further than in previous complaints. He states that six Auckland solicitors are involved ; that a trustee who was involved in the alleged conspiracj' had been removed by prder of the Judge; that several indisputable proofs of guilt have been overlooked; that the revenue has been defrauded, &c, but that he had had intimation that influence was too strong for him in Auckland. On his letter being referred to Mr. Cullen, he reported " that as far as he could judge this was not a case for police action, but that he thought Mr. Greenhead had been trying to repudiate an agreement entered into between himself and the late Mr. Hill, solicitor." The Commissioner replied to Mr. Greenhead on the 13th February, 1907, telling him that the matter was receiving attention, and proceeded to make some inquiries. On the 25th February Mr. Greenhead again addressed the Commissioner on the subject, who replied that he intended sending a special officer from his office to interview Mr. Greenhead and carefully investigate the whole matter complained of. In accordance with this promise Chief Detective Mcllveney was sent to Waiuku, where, on the" 11th March, 1907, he took Mr. Greenhead's statement, and afterwards made an able and exhaustive inquiry at Auckland, with the result that he was able to inform the Commissioner of Police that the seven charges into which he divided Mr. Greenhead's complaints had not in any case been proved, and in almost every instance disproved. He calls the charges foundationless. , • I have now, sir, to report to you the conclusions T have come to on the several charges made by Mr. Greenhead. As I have already said, the charges amounted to very little at the start, but Mr. Greenhead-. has/added to them from time to time, until they obtained large proportions—what he calls " a: series of most daring and systematic frauds to evade revenue, and obtaining large sums of money. by that means." (See police record 07/179.)