G.— s

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Mr. Brookfield objected to the question, and insisted that the document should be produced. He would give Mr. Quintal any document he chose. Mr. Quintal then examined the witness as to the contents of a document, dated the 25th of September, written in Maori, and signed by the witness among others, agreeing to sell to the Government their interest in Waiparapara, Eotorua, and Ngaihumutu Blocks, and certifying that they had received the money. Witness: That document was signed by me, but it was a very unusual one, and not executed in the regular way. I received no money on account of these lands. We merely signed the document to enable us to ask the Government for certain moneys on account of them. Mr. Quintal was proceeding to question the witness as to an application for an advance of £200 on the lands mentioned in the document. Mr. Brookfield submitted that the question was not relevant to the inquiry. The transaction which was the groundwork of the present charge took place a month before the document in question was signed. Mr. Quintal: Did you not apply to Mr. Sheehan for an advance of £200 in August on these lands to meet the election expenses of your brother? Witness : Tou possibly make a mistake between me and my brother. I never asked for £200. Mr. Quintal: Do you remember asking Mr. Sheehan to advance the money to pay Hans's election expenses ? Witness: I never asked for any money on the last occasion of Hans contesting the seat, but on a previous occasion I did, when I was standing myself. I received money from Mr. Wilkinson. Mr. Wilkinson gave it to Mr. Young, and Mr. Toung gave it to his brother William, who gave it to me. That was on the Patetere Block, and it was by the Minister's consent. Mr. Quintal: Did you not sign that agreement I have shown you, acknowledging the receipt of money ? Witness : Tes ; it was signed before Mr. Piercy. Mr. Quintal: Was it not to enable your brother to receive £200 from the Native Minister ? Mr. Brookfield submitted that all this was irrelevant. Mr. Quintal: This £51 is a portion of that £200. The £51 is a portion of the £125, which is a part of the £200; and it was on his agreeing to sign that document that the money was advanced. Mr. Brookfield: The question is, did Eetreat Tapsell receive £51 on the 26th August, and is his signature genuine? Mr. Quintal: I have shown you another receipt, admittedly signed by the witness, that he received money in September, and now he comes and says that, though he signed a receipt, he received no money. "What credence, then, are you to give to his statement when he says he received none from Mr. Toung ? The Natives are not likely to sign receipts for money they never got. Mans Tapsell was the next witness examined. He said: I live at Maketu, and am the brother of the last witness, Eetreat Tapsell. I was in Tauranga on the 26th August, and received some money from Mr. Toung. I did not give any part of it to Retired, nor did Mr. Toung ask me to give him any portion of it. I paid a part of it to Philip—£so. That was in Mr. Young's' presence. Mr. Toung gave me no voucher or receipt to be signed by Eetireti. Ido not know that I sent the voucher for £51, purporting to be signed by Eetireti, to Mr. Toung. I did not send a document signed by the three of us to Mr. Toung. That is the document which was signed in the presence of Mr. Piercy. "When I received the money on the 26th August, the only persons present were Mr. Toung, my brother Philip, and myself. Philip signed his voucher in Mr. Young's house, but lam not sure where I signed mine—it may have been in a publichouse. Mr. Quintal: Do you remember during the election having been promised an advance of £200 ? Mr. Brookfield objected co the question as not bearing on the case. Mr. Brabant: We do not see what it has to do with the charge, but we wish to give the defendant every latitude. Mr. Quintal: Do you remember sending a telegram to Mr. Young about this £200 a few days before the 26th of August ? Witness: We sent a number of telegrams to Mr. Young. Mr. Quintal was proceeding to examine the witness as to the contents of these telegrams, when Mr. Brookfield objected, until the originals were produced. Mr. Quintal: It is on these telegrams we rest our defence. If we are not allowed to examine on these telegrams, I must ask for an adjournment to enable us to procure the originals. We had only two days to prepare our defence. Mr. Brookfield : I must decidedly object to any adjournment at this stage. The application should have been made at the outset. Mr. Quintal: The information was laid on Thursday, and it was impossible to get copies of telegrams from Wellington before the case came on. These telegrams I produce were sent by the witness to the accused, and as they have a direct reference to this charge, I am entitled to examine upon them. Mr. Brookfield: Get the originals. Mr. Quintal: Give us an adjournment and we will. If we had these documents, very probably they would completely establish the accused's innocence. Mr. Brabant: if they were so important, why were they not alluded to before? Mr. Quintal: We had not the opportunity. Mr. Brabant : There was no suggestion made at the commencement that you were not ready to go on. Mr. Quintal: We understood there was to be an adjournment. Mr. Bromfield said the first time he saw the telegrams was that morning, and they were in Maori, and he could not read Maori. The course pursued by the Crown Prosecutor made these proceedings take more the nature of a persecution than a prosecution.