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H.—2

476. You say you knew most of the policemen in Christchurch ? —Yes. 477. Speaking roughly, how many policemen are there in Christchurch? —About fifty. 478. And you say that out of that fifty you can remember six who were in the habit of going to this house and getting drink ?—Yes. , 479. You do not wish the Commission to understand that the whole of the police in Christchurch were in the habit of being bribed with drink?—l would not like to say that. 480. Then, the policemen who were served with drink would be men on the beat ?—Yes. 481. Or might they not be men off duty ?—They might. 482. The Chairman.] In uniform?— Yes, they might have been relieving police, or police coming off night duty. . 483. Mr. Tunbridge.] I mean, used the men to come in on Sundays and during prohibited 484. That would be the man on the beat, or it might be the man off duty ?—Yes, they all used to sit down and go out again. 485. Did they pay for drink ?—No, we were told to take no money. 486. Now the men who came to the house at 6 o'clock in the morning might have been men off duty ?—Yes. 487. Mr. Taylor.] When you say they might have been off duty, you do not mean to say they were all off duty ; you know some of them were on duty ?—I cannot swear whether they were on or not. 488. But were they in uniform ?—Yes. 489. Mr. Tunbridge.] You say you were paid £1 per week; were you paid weekly?— Sometimes I had to wait a month for it. 490. You told us you were told to leave at a moment's notice; can you say the day of the week ?—I think it was a Sunday night. 491. Did you consider Sunday to be the end of your week?—l did not care so long as I got my money. 492. Were you paid a week's wages in lieu of notice ?—Yes. 493. This was to get rid of you, for the reason you have stated ? —Yes. 494! Colonel Hume.] Were you in the hotel at the time this man was fined £10 and had his license indorsed? —Yes. . , . „ , „ .■,,,, 495. Was that the only conviction recorded against him ?—I cannot say. He only had the one while I was there. 496. You do not know whether he had one since ?—Yes ; he has been put out since. 497! You say this conviction was not brought about by the police ?—lt was brought about by the police in a roundabout way. . 498. The police laid the information ?—No ; two young fellows from Napier lost a£s note, and it was cashed for drink on Sunday at the hotel, and it was through this that the charge was laid. 499. Is it not a fact that this £10 fine and the indorsement on the license arose from the steps the police took ? —Yes. # 500. Then you cannot tell us about the next conviction ?—No. 500 a. But you know the police were the means of the landlord being fined £10, and having his license indorsed ?—Yes. 501. And he is now out of the hotel altogether ?—I believe so. 502. Mr. Poynton.] You say the police were told this £5 note was cashed, where?—ln the hotel, and it was traced to the parties. 503. The Chairman.] You do not say that these men who went in the early morning went in to set liquor ?--No ; they had tea or drink, whichever they wanted. 504 Mr. Taylor.] Which did they take most frequently, liquor or tea ?—A lot of them used to drink more tea than liquor ; a lot of them preferred tea to liquor because it warmed them better. 505. The Chairman.] Used the police in uniform to go in on Sundays ?—Yes. 506 For the purpose of visiting the house and for the purpose of liquoring ?—For both. _ The sergeant' and constable used to come in to visit, and the constable on the beat used to come in for liquor, or sometimes he would come in"before the sergeant and constable. 507 Did you leave the street and follow him in ?—Yes. 508. What hours did you stand outside for your ss. ?—From nine in the morning until ten at ' 509. With the exception of meal-times you were outside the house at these hours ?—Yes. sio! Mr. Poynton.] Were you paid by cash or by cheque ?—By cheque.

Saturday, sth March, 1898. Arthur Hume : Examination on oath continued. Colonel Flume : I wish, sir, to correct some of my previous evidence. I would like to point out that you asked me the other day when the police were given the franchise and I find I made a mistake in my answer. I was under the impression that Mr. Gumness brought a Bill forward for this purpose ; but it was the Permanent Artillery I was thinking of, and not the police. If you turn to the Armed Constabulary Act of 1867, clause 26, you will find that members 01 the Police Force are prohibited from voting. Then, if you turn to "The Police Force Act, 1886 you will see that the Armed Constabulary Act of 1867, No. 37, is repealed. Consequently there was no further restriction to vote, and the police have voted since then. To show that that is correct, the'police regulations which were issued in January, 1887, mention that, "Every member of the Force will studiously observe neutrality in political matters, and will rigidly abstain from the