H.—No. 7,

10

REPORT OE THE PRIVILEGES COMMITTEE.

Mr. Harrison.

deceived him in respect to No. 1 contract, and that he was satisfied they could work better under the present Government. On the following Tuesday morning I mentioned casually to Mr. Vogel what had taken place. He said it was a serious matter, and ho thought I was bound to mention it to the Speaker. I wrote to the Speaker to accord me an interview, and ho fixed the following morning, at eleven o'clock, at which time I attended in his room. I then related to him in general terms what had taken place; and he told me that I was not only justified in the course I had adopted, but that I had no option but to bring the matter before the House. He then desired me to write a letter to him, which he might read to the House. I wrote that letter, and delivered it on Thursday morning, and it was read on Thursday evening. In all my conversations with Mr. Holt on the occasions referred to, I considered that Mr. Holt was acting as Mr. Brogden's secretary, and not in his private capacity. 2. Did he say in so many words that he had any direct authority to make you any offer from Mr. Brogden?—No, he did not. I think he said it was first spoken of by Mr. "Brogden, and that the matter had been talked over by Mr. Brogden before he went to Picton. He (Mr. Holt) did not upon any occasion say directly that he had been authorized to make any offer. 3. Sir J. C. Wilson.] Was anything said with reference to secrecy ; I mean did anything pass between you and Mr. Holt ? —Yes. 4. At what stage was the matter of secrecy mentioned ? —At the commencement, or directly afterwards. 5. In the lobby of the House ? —No; in Mr. Holt's private office, at the interview in the afternoon. 6. At what hour did you dine at your house ?—At six o'clock. 7. How soon after the dinner hour did it strike you that an insulting proposal had been made to you; or, rather, when did you adopt the view that what had passed between you and Mr. Holt was derogatory to you ? At what time was that opinion formed by you ? —After I had spoken to Mr. Tribe, in the evening. 8. Do you recollect at what time you saw Mr. Tribe? —I cannot fix the hour. It was either at Bellamy's or the Metropolitan Hotel, but I cannot say the time. 9. About what time ?—I really cannot fix the time. 10. Had the House met ? —The House had not mot. It was on a Monday, and the House does not meet on Monday. 11. You had parted from Holt. At what time did you part from Mr. Holt?— About a quarter or half-past live ; he walked with me as for as the corner of the street in which I lived, as he had some business to attend to before dinner. 12. How do you account for the fact that when it struck you that an offensive proposal had been made by Mr. Holt, you sat at the table and took food with him ? —I have stated that as soon as the conversation assumed a dangerous character it ceased, and that I did not regard Mr. Holt as having acted except as an agent. 13. Mr. Fox.] Do you recollect what hour Mr. Holt left you after having dined with you? — I have already stated that it was about seven o'clock. 14. Did any other person dine with you ? —No; we dined all alone. 15. Mr. Rolleston.] Did you, on that day, communicate to any one else what passed between you and Mr. Holt, with the exception of Mr. Tribe ? —No ; not to any one else. 16. You said in your evidence that other facts had come to your knowledge, which influenced you in forming your opinion that the proposal as made was derogatory to you. What were these other facts? There was one circumstance to my mind very conclusive : for some time previously Mr. Tribe had been acting as agent for Messrs. Brogden and Co., at Eoss, for the purpose of obtaining certain concessions from the local authorities for the construction of water races. Finding that the thing was likely to hang on indefinitely, Mr. Tribe saw Mr. Brogden's chief engineer, Mr. Henderson, and had some communication with him on the subject, in the course of which he (Henderson) said they never allowed anybody to work for their firm for nothing; what did he consider a fair thing for the work done for them ? Mr. Tribe replied that he had never expected any remuneration. What he had done was simply done to see the water race for his district constructed, but if Mr. Henderson thought he was fairly entitled to some remuneration for his trouble, probably £20 or £30 would be sufficient remuneration. Mr. Henderson said that it was far too little, and they would not think of giving less than £100, as his services were worth £100. I know nothing further of what took place. It was the ' knowledge of that fact had a tendency to confirm me in the opinion I formed at the nature of the proposal which had been made to me. 17. Any other facts besides these ? —The general conversation I had with Mr. Holt relative to the state of political parties, likewise combined to form my opinion upon the point. I am likewise told that Mr. Eeynolds, Captain Eraser, and Colonel. Brett are able to state some things which will probably corroborate the correctness of the impression formed upon my mind. 18. Mr. Fox.] You are drawing a distinction between casual interviews and the formal interview you had with Mr. Holt in Mr. Brogden's office? —Certainly ; most distinctly I do. 19. Mr. Rolleston.] Did you give any intimation to Mr. Holt that you were dissatisfied with the proposal made by him ?—No further intimation than I said to him that we had better stop the conversation, and say nothing more until after the Session. 20. The Chairman.] This conversation took place under promise of secrecy, did it not ?—lt did ■ but the promise of secrecy related to the offer made to mo in the morning, and did not apply to the attempt made to compromise me. 21. When you left that interview, did you intimate that you considered your promise of secrecy at an end ? —No ; I did not. 22. Mr. Fox.] Did you understand that promise of secrecy to involve any particular action in the House ? —I simply thought that it related to the offer made for my professional services in my capacity as a private individual.

7th Oct., 1872.