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Hume's notice, and he cancelled both allowances. I had drawn the allowance for a month before it was accidentally brought under Colonel Hume's notice, and he cancelled them both. 216. Colonel Pitt.] What do you mean by being brought accidentally under his notice ? —lt was accidental. It was not brought under his notice by me. It was another constable who had been acting district clerk for a short time between the retrenchment of Sergeant Bulford and my arrival. He applied for compensation for doing the work during that time, and he pointed out that if Sergeant Bulford was worth 13s. 6d. a day, and I was worth 10s. 6d. a day, surely he was worth 7s. a day. Colonel Hume noticed this, and wanted to know why I was getting these allowances, and stopped them both. In June, 1893, Colonel Hume granted house-allowance of 10s. a week to all the district clerks in the colony, including Greymouth, Napier, and New Plymouth. 217. The Chairman.] You drew it in April; it was stopped in May, and you drew it again in June? —Yes. At that time, on the 18th May, when Colonel Hume stopped these allowances, I first of all saw him in the office, and represented to him the hardship it was to bring me up here as chief clerk, with additional responsibilities and work, and deduct my pay at the same time; and he promised then I should not be a loser in the matter—that he would try and make it up. I indorsed the correspondence at the time, that, in view of his promise, I was quite content to leave the matter in his hands. I saw him several times after that, and he always promised to see what he could do for me up till 1895. In 1895 he told me he could not do any more—that I was getting as much as he could give me, so I let the matter drop. What I could never see, and what I cannot see still, is why I should be picked out from the others. 218. Mr. Poynton.] Are the others getting Is. a day ?—Sergeant Bell is drawing Is. a day. Sergeant Ellison drew it up till he left, last year; and why I should have been picked out I cannot understand. 219. The As to Christchurch ?—Stanton was a new appointment, and he never had an allowance. After drawing it at Invercargill and Dunedin, and then being brought up here as a chief, I could never see the fairness of it. Up to date I make it that I am £88 out of pocket through the allowance being cancelled. 220. That is, through the loss of the Is. a day? —Yes. The only reason given to me for cancelling it was that mine was a new appointment. Of course, I pointed out that if it was cancelled all through the Force I should have had no more grievance than the others, but that mine was especially cancelled. Then, it was pointed out to me that mine was a new appointment, but I could not see the force of that. 221. What was the new appointment?—l was transferred from second to first here; and I could never see that that was a new appointment which should result in the docking of my screw. Of course, I do not wish it to be understood my pay was not increased by coming to Wellington, because I did not get 10s. a week house-allowance at Dunedin. In Dunedin my pay was £173 7s. 6d. a year; and in Wellington, after getting the 10s. a week back, it was £190 55., an increase of £16 odd. Sergeant Bulford, whom I replaced, got £235 7s. 6d. Stanton, the man who was appointed to Christchurch at the same time that I was appointed here, got a rise of £43 ss. a year. I got £16 17s. 6d. 222. Was that his first appointment as clerk?—He had been clerk at some small places in the North, but he never had any allowance at all. 223. And what is he getting now ? —He is getting the same as I am. That is all I have to say about that. 224. Colonel Hume.] In your experience of the service generally, when an order comes out for doing away with an allowance, or anything of that sort, have you generally found they cut it off from everybody, or only cut it off from the new appointments ?—I do not know exactly how to answer that. Of course, if an allowance is stopped in the service everybody is made aware of it by circular: but in my case I never got any intimation at all to that effect when I was transferred to Wellington. Your telegram to Inspector Pardy did not say a word about the pay being stopped. 225. Did it say you were to get the allowances ? —No. 226. What did it say, then?— There is a copy in the office. 227. Did not it say this: that you were transferred to Wellington as district clerk, with the rank and pay of first-class constable ?—No, sir, it did not. There was not a word in it about pay. 228. And nothing about first-class constable? —The telegram said, "Constable A. H. Wright is appointed district clerk at Wellington, wfth rank of first-class constable." 229. I thought the pay was mentioned in the telegram ? —No. In any case, if it was, it would not make me think you were going to cancel the allowances. 230. You said the other day you got " an Irishman's rise " coming here ?—Yes. 231. And you consider going from £173 to £190 an Irishman's rise ?—You forget you cancelled 17s. a week, which brought my pay down to £160. 232. The Chairman.] The £173 you got in Dunedin was the full thing?— Yes, the full thing; and when I came to Wellington Colonel Hume gave me 6d. a day, bringing it up to £182 ; and then he deducted £18. 233. What about the 10s. a week house-allowance ?—You gave that afterwards. 234. You got it the first month, lost it for about half a month, and then got it afterwards?— You cancelled the two. 235. Quite so, for about half a month, and then you got it back ?—Yes. 236. You say that is an Irishman's rise, going from £173 to £190 ?—You gave me 6d. a day rise, and took away Is. a day, and you afterwards gave me 10s. a week. That is the long and short of it. You did not give me the 10s. a week as soon as I came. 237. But you were only out of it for about half a month?— That is so. I got the same as the others got. You granted it to all the district clerks in the colony, but you never gave me back the Is. a day.