10

A.—3

8. I required these gentlemen to procure their own witnesses, and I told them that I should expect them both to be present in Court during the whole inquiry, and to interpret the evidence of their own witnesses, each serving as a check on the other's interpretation. This mode of proceeding was carried out with the utmost success. There were a few disputed interpretations, all but one or two of which were settled immediately. Of those phrases in which they were unable to agree the shorthand notes will show the alternative renderings. 9. Mr. Baker and Mr. Moulton came on board the " Diamond," at my request, on the afternoon of Monday, the 28th March, and we agreed— (1.) That the inquiry should be deemed to extend from the setting-up of the Free Church in January, 1885, until the date of my arrival in March, 1887. (2.) That it should be divided into three periods, namely,— (a.) The alleged persecutions of the Wesleyans by the Tongan Government prior to the attempt on Mr. Baker's life on the 13th January, 1887 ; (b.) The period including that attempt, and before the arrival of the force sent for by the King from Haapai and Vavau ; and (c.) The alleged persecutions and ill-treatment of Wesleyans subsequent to the arrival of these men. (3.) That, although either side would be at liberty to take its own notes, those only taken in shorthand by Mr. Collet, the Secretary to the High Commissioner, should be relied on as a record of evidence. (4.) That Mr. Moulton should hand in a list of all the witnesses living at distant portions of the group, and of any other persons whose presence he could not himself procure; and that Mr. Baker, on the part of the Government, should undertake that these men would be produced. (This last arrangement was afterwards modified in the case of the witnesses from Vavau, for whom it was agreed to send a small interinsular steamer that was expected to arrive about that date : but, as this vessel broke down somewhere in the Fiji group, and did not come to Tonga, the Vavau evidence was not procured.) (5.) That the inquiry should be an open one, accessible to any persons, either Tongan or European, who might wish to attend it. (Note. —An exception was made to this in the case of the King, who could not have been reasonably expected to give evidence in an inquiry held within his own dominions.) 10. On the afternoon of Tuesday I went, by appointment, to the Palace, accompanied by the Chief Judicial Commissioner and by the Secretary to the High Commissioner. I had arranged that, as Mr. Moulton was personally obnoxious to the King, a gentleman (Mr. Parker) should attend the meeting on Mr. Moulton's behalf, to check Mr. Baker's translation of my questions and of the King's replies. I append a copy of these questions and replies. The King's manner to me was courteous, and his replies straightforward and unhesitating. I may here remark that I saw no indication, either on this occasion or on that of any of the many subsequent interviews I had with the King, of his mental incapacity, or of his being under Mr. Baker's control. On the contrary, his mind appeared to me to be clear, his manner decisive, and his whole bearing that of a man of strong will and independent character. 11. Having received from Mr. Moulton on the following (Wednesday) morning a schedule of his complaints, under the heads (a) and (c) mentioned in paragraph 9, subsection (2), I opened my inquiry at the Consulate that afternoon, and continued it from day to day until the evening of Saturday, the 23rd April, excepting only on Saturday, the 2nd April (on which day the Chief Judicial Commissioner occupied the Consulate with the trial of Mr. Hanslip on the charges mentioned in my despatch of the 18th March); on Good Friday (on which day it was thought undesirable, in view of religious scruples, to sit) ; on Monday and Tuesday, the 11th and 12th April (given to Mr. Baker, on the conclusion of Mr. Moulton's case, in order that he might prepare his refutation) ; and on the three Sundays. On the Monday succeeding the close of the inquiry I saw all the British subjects and a good number of the other European and American residents at the Consulate, and heard their complaints on matters other than that I had inquired into. None of these were grave. I impressed on all those present the great importance of their abstaining from interfering with the Tongan Government; and I assured them that, in my opinion, their lives and property were as safe in Tonga as they would be in any part of the civilised world. On Monday (25th April) I addressed a letter to the King, of which I enclose a copy, containing the advice I thought it necessary before leaving to tender to His Majesty. On the following day I received the satisfactory reply of which I also enclose a copy. This letter was brought on board by Mr. Baker, who informed me, in addition to its contents, that the King was prepared to allow of the reopening of the Tubou Wesleyan College (broken up by his orders) with the limit of thirty pupils, and with certain restrictions as to the readmission of those recently attending that institution. Matters having been thus, in my opinion, satisfactorily settled, I took my leave of the King at a "faikava " ring to which he had summoned all the chiefs and leading men, and I availed myself of this opportunity to assure him, in their presence, of the good-will felt by Her Majesty's Government for Tonga. The King's manner was very cordial at parting. 12. Having thus briefly recorded the general line of my proceedings, I will now furnish you, in narrative form, with my conclusions as to the origin and the history of the recent troubles in Tonga. I shall attach a summary of the evidence pro and con. in each complaint made, and the conclusion I have arrived at thereon. I shall also attach, for purposes of present reference, a transcript of the notes of evidence kindly taken for me by Mr. Clarke, Chief Judicial Commissioner, on which the above-named summary is founded, and I shall transmit, as soon as it can be completed, the voluminous verbatim report taken in shorthand by Mr. Collet, the Secretary to the High Commissioner, and calculated by him to amount to nearly 4,000 folios. In all cases the numbers, either in the margin, in the body of the report, or in the summary of evidence, will be found to be those attached to each witness in the notes of evidence and in the verbatim report.