E. MACDONELL.<

49

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167. I must call upon the Commissioner to favour me with a copy of a circular sent to all police Inspectors in regard to this very matter ?—I think I know the circular you refer to, but it does not apply to cases of this description. If such was the case, I say it would destroy the whole Police Force of New Zealand pretty well. Commissioner Tunbridge : I will see if I can find it among these papers. 168. Mr. Maginnity.] Very well, we can get it later on. You say, Inspector, that you do not know of any departmental instruction directing you to submit complaints of that nature to the men for explanation before sending them on ?—That is so. I know of a regulation that was issued in consequence of Inspectors sending confidential reports to the Commissioner many years ago unknown to the men accused and intended to be acted on without making them known to the police at all. Commissioner Tunbridge here produced the circular referred to. 169. Mr. Maginnity.] This circular is dated the 28th March, 1892, and reads as follows :" As some misconception appears to exist in reference to confidential reports against non-commissioned officers or constables, the Hon. the Defence Minister has been pleased to direct that in future no confidential report is to be forwarded to this office containing charges against any member of the Force without such member having been made aware of such report, which is to be perused by him, and every facility given for a reply ; he will after perusal mark it as noted and initialled. In all cases the non-commissioned officer or constable whose conduct is called in question shall upon application to the Inspector have a right to a copy of any such report against him, and shall be entitled to reply to it, which reply will be forwarded to this office." Do you say that those reports which you sent on to the Commissioner do not come within the category referred to ?— Certainly I say they do not—undoubtedly, because they were sent there for further investigation. It would be an outrageous thing if while the charges were being investigated they were to be made known to the accused parties. 170. I must invite the attention of the Committee to the circular. [Circular handed in.] The Committee will draw their own inferences. The Inspector did not refer these matters to the constables ? —Certainly not. It would defeat the ends of justice in nearly every case. 171. Why would it not defeat the ends of justice if you did not carry out the conditions?— But they would be carried out ultimately. The charges would be ultimately formulated and sent to the men. 172. Is it not ordinary fair play to let a man know what he is charged with ?—Not immediately. 173. It is not ordinary fair play to let a man know what he is charged with immediately ?— No, certainly not. 174. Now, in your evidence you stated, in regard to the girl in connection with whom Durbridge was charged with immoral conduct, that you would not believe her word: do you remember stating that ?—You mean the evidence she gave here ? 175. Yes ?—I did say so, under the circumstances. 176. Have you any reason for saying that her word is not entitled to credence ?—I have given my reason. 177. Give it aeain, please?— Just on account of the information given to me at the time. 178. By her? —No; I have never seen her. 179. On account of information given to you at the time ? —And the manner in which it was given—the unwillingness of the party —the dread that Durbridge would come to hear of it. 180. How did you know of the dread ? —I knew from what the woman told me, and that he had been there to inquire quietly if I had been there before I left the place. 181. Then,, you would prefer to accept these gratuitous statements made to you without any sense of responsibility to the statement made to this Committee by the girl under the solemnity of a direction from the Chairman of this Committee that her evidence was given under circumstances equal to being given in a Court of law under oath ? —I do not think you have a right to put in the word " gratuitous." 182. Very well, then ; if ■it was not gratuitous you sought for it. I will say, instead of " gratuitous " information, " sought for by you from irresponsible persons who were not under the responsibility of an oath or under circumstances equal to being on oath." You prefer to take those statements to what I call the sworn testimony of the girl before this Committee?— Undoubtedly. That she denied the thing here would not convince me in the slightest. I have seen too much of that sort of thing. 183. Do you mean with this girl?— No. 184. Notwithstanding the statement made by the girl here under the solemnity of an oath you still prefer to accept the statements made to you in Nelson ?—I said so. 185. She was not present when these statements were made ?—No. 186. Durbridge was not present when these statements were made ? —No. 187. With regard to the two girls whom Durbridge and Burrell took to the station, did you know that they were related to each other ? —No. 188. You will not dispute it if I tell you now that they are cousins ?—I will not dispute it at all. I cannot. 189. You said in one of your reports that these girls did not bear the best of characters ?—I said something to that effect. 190. I can get the exact words. This is what you said: "Be Constables Burrell and Durbridge having two young women (and not of the best repute) in the station at midnight." That is on page 44 of H.-16b, 1902. Can you tell us, Inspector, upon what grounds you made that statement ? —I have stated that already in answer to the Commissioner. 7—l. lα.