D.—No. 26,
PAPERS RELATIVE TO OCCUPATION
10
and may be shortly summarized as follows : That I at first intended to take the house for the Crown, and to reside in it as a Minister; that on the lessor's solicitor objecting to lease it to the Crown, I proposed to Mr. Gisborne to have the lease made to him which he declined to accede to; that the matter then remained in abeyance for some time until the lessor's agent requested to have my final decision, when I arranged to take the house for myself, and the lease was made out accordingly. Tou state that there is no " record " —I presume you mean public record —of this. Of course there is not. I have never, nor has any other person, so far as I am aware, been in the habit of entering their private intentions or acts in the public records. Tou also state that the lessor and his legal adviser were quite ignorant that I had any such intention. To this I reply that for all I know the lessor, Sir C. Clifford, may know nothing of the transaction ; but his agent (Mr. Levin) knew for a considerable time before he left the house that I wished to reside in it when he vacated it, and had asked and been promised the refusal of it; and that subsequently he expressly told me, when I said I would take the house for myself instead of for the Crown, that he preferred me as a tenant. I have also been informed by a gentleman residing in Wellington, who wished to take the house, that Mr. Levin told him distinctly that he could have it, provided I, who had the refusal of it at the time, declined to take it within a day or two. As regards the lessor's solicitors, the only communication I had with them, after Mr. Brandon objected to the house being let to the Crown, was in connection with the lease to myself. My name was inserted in the lease, not (as you state) by me after I left office, but by the lessor's solicitor long before I left office ; and the lease was signed by the lessor's agent some time before I left office and before I had seen either lease or counterpart. I have stated all this as a matter of courtesy in reference to your expressed ignorance of my intentions (and I might add of the facts), but I must decline to permit any person to be the interpreter of my intentions. Nor can I admit, in reference to the latter portion of your letter of the 13th, that His Excellency has, in respect of his temporary occupancy of Sir C. Clifford's house, been placed in an unbecoming position, as it was never contemplated that he should be under any pecuniary obligation to me, it being, as a matter of course, understood that, so long as the house was occupied on account of the public service, the rent would be defrayed from the public revenue. With respect to His Excellency's own feelings, I am quite satisfied with what he has himself said to me on the subject. I propose to notice your letter of this day's date separately. I have, &c, The Hon. W. Fox, Premier, &c, Wellington. E. W. Staffoed.
No. 17. Mr. E. W. Staffoed to the Hon. Mr. Fox. Sic,— Wellington, 21st August, 1809. Eeferring to my letter of the 11th instant, I inadvertently used the word " lease " instead of " counterpart," when referring to the execution of the latter. The lease was signed by the lessor's attorney (Mr. Levin) some weeks before I left office, and was left for me at the office of Messrs. Brandon and Quick. The counterpart was signed by me on the 28th June, and on my taking it to Messrs. Brandon and Quick, I received the lease previously signed, and the same date was then inserted in it as the counterpart bore. I have, &c, The Hon. W. Fox, Premier, &c, Wellington. E. W. Staffoed.
No. 18. Mr. E. W. Staffoed to the Hon. W. Fox. Sic,— Wellington, 23rd August, 1869. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th instant, enclosing the copy of an opinion of the Attorney-General on two questions submitted to him relative to my lease of Sir C. Clifford's house. With respect to the first question, I transmit a copy of the opinion of Mr. Travers, and in connection with the subject have to state that the Attorney-General has been misinformed, if (as is apparently the case) he has been led to believe that I signed any contract, as no such contract was ever signed by me, nor w r as I ever asked to sign one. As regards the second question, the Attorney-General is also in error if he supposes that I asserted any legal claim to occupy the Ministerial residence in Tinakori Eoad until I was put in possession of my house in Hobson Street. It w r as not as a matter of law but of propriety that I intimated that while the Government had the use of my house, I should have the use of the house I now occupy. I do not desire to remain in the house I now occupy, but am anxious to remove into my own house in Hobson Street, and you will oblige me by informing me when I may be able to do so, that I may make my arrangements accordingly. I have, &c, The Hon. W. Fox, Premier, &c, Wellington. E. W. Staffoed.
Enclosure in No. 18. Copy of Mr. Teavebs' Opinion. To E. W. Staffoed, Esq., — I have perused the lease from Sir Charles Clifford to you submitted to me, your letter to Mr. Fox of the 11th instant, his letter of the 20th instant, and the Attorney-General's opinion in reference to the position which you are alleged to hold as lessee under the lease referred to.