I.—IB.

T. H. JOHNSTON.]

37

73. Where did Dr. Beattie take you to? —To Mr. Lundon's office, as prearranged by letter after I had written to Mr. Massey. Dr. Beattie interviexved Mr. Lundon. Mr. Lundon xvrote to my xvife telling her that if at any time her husband came forward and liked to meet Dr. Beattie in Mr. Lundon's office he xvould grant me the full limit which the law alloxved. I, knoxving the law, came forward so as to be examined. 74. What xvas the limit alloxved by the law? —Twenty-eight days. 75. In the second letter that Mr. Lundon xvrote to your wife did he state that he had arranged with Dr. Beattie to get you discharged as sane if you came along to his office? —Certainly not. 76. I mean the second letter —not the first letter to Mrs. Johnston? —Mr. Lundon wrote many letters to Mrs. Johnston. 77. I am speaking of the letter that you received after he had seen Dr. Beattie —after the first interview he had xvith Dr. Beattie? —Speaking from memory, I do not think Mr. Lundon wrote to Mrs. Johnston after that letter. 78. Did you have any communication from Dr. Beattie forwarded on by Mr. Lundon to you or Mrs. Johnston ?—No. 79. Mr. Lundon forwarded you certain statements that Dr. Beattie made, or wrote to you in regard to conversation and arrangements he had made xvith Dr. Beattie? —I wish to state that that xvas a very short letter, and there xvas nothing stated in it about any statement xvhich Dr. Beattie had made to Mr. Lundon. It ran like this: "I have interviexved Dr. Beattie in my office to-day. Dr. Beattie told me that if your husband likes to come forward at any time and meet him in my office he xvill grant you twenty-eight days' probation." That is as nearly as I can remember that letter. 80. Did Dr. Beattie examine you when he took you to Mr. Lundon's office that day when you arrived? —Certainly. 81. What did he say then? Did he say you xvere sane or insane, or did he state he was going to keep his promise to Mr. Lundon? —I decline to ansxver that question, but I will say this: Dr. Beattie said I was perfectly sane, and in a public place Dr Beattie also said, " Fancy this man ever having been committed to a lunatic asylum! " 82. Did Dr. Beattie mention his confidential report, then, in your presence in Mr. Lundon's office —the confidential report that he made out when you arrived in Avondale? —No; I never knew that Dr. Beattie had made out a confidential report of any description. 83. The Chairman.] What induced you to petition the Government: were you advised to do so ?—I was advised by nobody. 84. Mr. Webb.] You stated that the xvhole truth was never told concerning the doings at the Waihi strike and as to xvhether the police took sides or not, and probably it never would be told? —Yes. 85. Do you think that your being taken to the asylum had anything to do xvith your having such a knowledge of the xvhole position? Do you think that had anything to do with your arrest? —I am firmly of the belief that that is one of the many points.

Dr. George Craig sworn and examined. (No. 7.) 1. The Chairman.] You are a medical practitioner, practising in Waihi? —Yes. 2. Hon. Mr. Fisher.] You are one of the doctors who signed the committal certificate in Johnson's case?— Yes. 3. Would you tell the Committee the whole transaction as you know it from beginning to end? —Y r es. I was called to the police-station on the day the certificate xvas signed to examine Johnston xvith regard to his mental condition. I did so. I examined him. and I formed the opinion that he was mentally defecti\ r e xvithin the meaning of the Act and a person to be taken care of. I had attended Johnston previously- about three xveeks, as nearly as I can remember, prior to his committal to the asylum; and from the symptoms he described I thought then that he xvas actually sufferings from a nervous breakdown, and I treated him accordingly. I suppose I had not seen him for some little time before I saw him at the police-station, and did not know how he xvas getting on. 4. Will you tell us what you were treating Johnston for for the three xveeks prior to signing the certificate? —For nervous breakdown and what I considered to be the minor form of epilepsy — -petit mal. 5. What form did the petit mal take? —It took the form of mental aberration —forgetfulness and losing himself. His description to me. as far as I can remember, xvas that he would absolutely lose all recollection of xvhere he was, and after a short interval xvould recover himself and recover his train of thought, and go on. These attacks occurred at varying intervals —not every day, but there was nothing to govern the frequency of the attacks. 6. You have been in charge of a mental hospital, have you not?—l was Assistant Medical Officer at Seacliff and afterxvards at Avondale. 7. You know something about mental diseases —something about the brain?— Yes. 8. When you signed that certificate in which you stated that Johnston was subject to petit mal. did you write that from your oxvn observation or from hearsay?— Absolutely from my own observation, on the data furnished by Johnston himself xvhen he consulted me in my consulting-room. 9. Did the police ever suggest to you that that was the trouble?—No, never mentioned epilepsy to me. 10. Did Dr. Galligan ever have a conversation with you on the subject?— Only after the examination.