69

I.—7a

50. In private orders do you cut lead ?—Never. 51. For no private customer would you cut lead?— No. 52. The same applies to glass, I presume ? —Yes. 53. Now the entry of the holding-down bolts was in your handwriting ?—Yes. 54. What is your explanation of the entry?—l have evidently sent a boy to weigh them, and he has weighed the washers in with the bolts and given me the total weight, and I have put that in as the weight of the bolts. 55. The washers are charged separately are they not ?—Yes. 56. Washers being a non-contract line?— Yes. 57. With regard to the jumpers and cleaners, will you explain what happened with regard to that ?—I made out the weight for the jumpers and cleaners on the amount of iron that I reckoned it would take to make them. There was a lot of iron cut to waste, and I included the weight of that in the weight I charged. 58. What happened consequent upon that ? —lbbetson came to us, and said there was evidently an overcharge, and I went into the matter with Mr. Gellatly, and he decided to make a reduction. 59. The amount charged was on 3001b. ?—Yes. 60. Did you have Eobertson's invoice at this time?— No. 61. Did Mr. Jenkins ever call your attention to any excessive charges in glass?—No; never. 62. Or in any other matter? —No; never. 63. Do you remember the circumstances leading up to Jenkins's dismissal ?—Yes ; I have a recollection of it. 64. He was dismissed on Saturday or Monday, the 11th or 13th of May?— Yes. 65. Did you have any conversation with Mr. Gellatly prior to that date ?—I believe I had. Mr. Menteath : I do not see what Jenkins's dismissal has got to do with the matter before the Committee. The Chairman : Any conversation between this witness and Mr. Gellatly, strictly speaking, would not be' admissible as evidence; but there is a good deal of that sort of evidence that has been put in on both sides. 66. Mr. Skerrett.] What conversation did you have, and when?—l had a conversation with him on the Friday night that he got the letter from Jenkins. 67. Did you have a conversation previous to that ?—I had a short conversation with him on the Tuesday or Wednesday. 68. What was that conversation about on the Tuesday or Wednesday ? —I think that was the day that Mr. Gellatly had been out to my desk, and had gone through my book, and Jenkins had offered some suggestion to him. 69. Who told you?—Jenkins. 70. Give us what Jenkins told you ?—He told me that Mr. Gellatly had been out there during the lunch-time looking through the book, and had said the thing was not working very well; and that he (Jenkins) had offered some suggestions, and Mr. Gellatly had sat upon him. 71. Mr. Montgomery.] What do you mean by the thing not working very well ?—That the contract was not a very payable concern. 72. Mr. Skerrett.] And Jenkins made some suggestion to Mr. Gellatly, and Mr. Gellatly sat upon him ? —That is what Jenkins said. 73. You saw Mr. Gellatly that same day ? —Yes. 74. And what took place between him and you ? —He asked me if I could do without Jenkins, and I said " Yes, I could." 75. Did he say anything to you then with regard to Jenkins, as to his leaving?— Yes. He told me I might just break it to Jenkins, and let him know that I had too many assistants with me, and that somebody would have to go. 76. And what did you do then?—l told Jenkins in the afternoon. 77. What did you tell him ? —I said that Mr. Gellatly had said I had too many assistants, and that some one would have to go, and I would not be surprised to find that he was the one. 78. On Friday was anything said to you by Jenkins about a letter?—Jenkins showed me a letter on Friday. 79. That was the letter saying he had complained to the Minister for Public Works ?—Yes. 80. What did he say when he showed you that letter?—He said he was very sorry, and that he had to do this under compulsion. I said I would not have anything to do with the matter, and told him he ought to hand the letter over to Mr. Gellatly. 81. You were afterwards shown the letter by Mr. Gellatly ? —Yes. 82. Mr. Montgomery.] What do you mean by " compulsion " ? —That is what he said. 83. Mr. Skerrett.] Was that what he said?— Yes. 84. That he was obliged to act under compulsion ?—Yes. 85. You said he had better hand the letter to Mr. Gellatly ? —Yes. I read the letter before I said that. 86. Had you previously had any occasion to complain to Jenkins of his conduct while in the employ of the firm ?—Yes, I believe I told him one day that he was not conducting himself at all well. 87. What was the conduct of which you complained?— His attitude towards me was what made me speak to him. 88. I think you have taken out some figures from the journal, showing the amount of vouchers rendered during the months of February, March, April, May, June, and July ?—Yes. 89. They show the total amounts of the vouchers for those months, at what ?—£3,434 Is. 4d for Public Works, and £2,013 2s. lOd. for Bailways.