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Peebles came into your office. You had not even a form upon which to apply. He supplied you with a form and he supplied you with a cheque. You have not even offered to repay him the money, although you were the successful applicant. Has not your whole conduct been such as to warrant Mr. Peebles thinking, or to give him good grounds for thinking, that you were taking up the section for him, particularly inasmuch as your application was one more against his chances of getting it ? —He might think so, but I did not take it that way. 814. Mr. Smith.} When Mr. Peebles lodged the £40 odd for you, you say you did not offer to give him that money back for eight months'?— No. 815. As long as the question of the allotment of the section was in suspense you did not offer to return the man back the money?—No; I did not formally offer it. Alexander Peebles sworn and examined. [This evidence has not been revised by the witness.; 816. The Chairman.] What are you ? —A contractor. 817. Living at ?—Woodville. 818. Were you an applicant for Section 1, Block XIV., Woodville, some little time ago?— Yes, I think it was in November. 819. Were you the successful applicant ?—No ; I was not on my own account. 820. There were sixty-four applicants?— Yes. 821. You said just now that you were not a successful applicant on your own account. What do you mean by that ?—I mean that I did not draw the section—that I was not successful in drawing the section. 822. In what sense were you successful? —Well, this section was alongside of my ground, and I wanted very much to get it; it suited me very well. I put in all my own family that were of age, and several others besides, to try and procure it. 823. In what way did you put in other applications besides ? Who are they ?—Mr. Sowry, for one. 824. Any more?— There were my own family. 825. Anybody else ?—There was another one—Mr. Joseph Barrott. 826. In what way did you get them to enter their names—they signed the declaration ?—Yes. 827. First of all you wont to them?— Yes. 828. What did you say to them ? —I will take one at a time. In regard to Mr. Barrott, I told him that I wanted to get the section, and that I would put in the deposit. 829. If he made this declaration?— Yes. He went in on the understanding that the section should be transferred as soon as ever it could be. 830. Did you promise him any consideration for this ?—No. 831. Was he a friend of yours?—He was. 832. You were acquainted with the nature of the declaration which every person has to make ? —Yes. 833. What is the nature of it ?—The nature of it simply is that you have to make it for your ■own use and benefit, and not for any other person. 834. Would Mr. Barrott be applying for the section for his own use and benefit, and not for the use and benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever? —As far as I could see, he was applying for it for me. 835. Then you went to him and asked him to make a declaration which was not true —is not that so ?—I must admit that. That is what it really did amount to. 836. Now, you have referred to Mr. Sowry. What happened with regard to him?—l was up •on the day previous to the day the drawing took place in Napier. I went in with my son to get a declaration signed, as Mr. Sowry was a Justice of the Peace. I signed before him. When we had completed that business, I asked him if he was going in for the section on his own account. He said, No, he was not. He had no intention of going in for it, as he did not consider the section suited any one but me. I then asked him if there was anything to prevent him going in, as I knew he had held some other deferred-payment land. I asked him if he was eligible. He said he did not know anything to prevent him from going in. I said, " Well, I want to get the section very badly : would you go in for me?" At last he did do so. He went and signed a declaration. I did not see the words he made use of. 837. What did he answer you when you asked him to do it ?—He demurred a little at first. I could not exactly tell the very words he said. In fact, he did go and sign it. 838. I want to know what he said in answer to your request that he should put in an application for you ?—lt would be a very hard job to remember the exact words. 839. Did he say he would put in an application for you ?—I do not think he made use of those words. 840. In any sense did he ?—I understood so. I could not be certain of the words he made use of. 841. It was to him the section fell ?—Yes. He went and signed the declaration, and handed it over to me to put in the deposit with it. 842. And his application ? —Yes. He went and got the application signed, and then brought it and handed it to me, and I enclosed the deposit-cheque with it, and, in fact, took it down to Napier. 843. Before what Justice of the Peace did he sign it ?—I did not go with him when he went to sign. It might have been before one of the lawyers. 844. Was it some time after you gave it to him that he signed it ?—No ; he took it at once. 845. He brought back the application and gave you the money ?—No ; he did not have the money at all. I enclosed the money along with his application.