H.—No. 14,

54

REPORT OF THE MOTUEKA ELECTION COMMITTEE.

Mr. Campbell.

18th Sept., 1871,

Although it was a formal application ?—Yes. By Mr. Travers : Are you in a position to say whether you treated any application on the part of any Henry Tomlinson in that way ? —I cannot remember any particular name so far back as 1865, 1866," or 1867. In this recent case of Mr. Coppins, I believe it was made the subject of complaint that you omitted the name ? —Yes. Was the qualification altered in consequence ? —The qualification was altered. The name was not taken off the roll; it was simply an alteration of the qualification. Now, what do you do with the claims in respect of which names are inserted on the list for revision ?—The claims are retained by the Revising Officer. Are they returned to you by him ?—No, I never receive them. Are they retained by the Returning Officer ? —I presume so ;I do not have them back again. Now, what do you do with the claims which you omit to insert, in consequence of those instructions ?—I do not think they are of any further use then. I put them into the waste paper basket. Do I understand that you do not preserve any of these ? —No, I do not; I do not think it is necessary to preserve them. Then you are not in a position to say whether a claim was made by Henry Tomlinson or not?— No, I have no recollection of that at all. By Mr. Bunny : At any time ?—No. Not in 1869 ?—No ; I do not remember ; it is difficult to remember claims sent in years back. By Mr. Allan : I think you were Returning Officer at this election ? —Yes, I was. I understand the votes were equal: 193 for Sir David Monro, and the same for Mr. Parker?— Yes, they both were equal. You calculated them from the electoral roll ?—Yes. You gave your casting vote for Sir David Monro ? —Yes. You were a strong supporter of his, were you not ? —I took an active part in Sir David Monro's election. Did you ever canvass any electors before the election ?—I did not convass any electors that I remember. Try and remember. Did you, or did you not ?—I do not remember doing anything of the sort. Will you swear that you did not ? The Chairman : What is that to lead to ? Mr. Allan : I am cross-examining this witness on certain matters, and I have a right to do so. Witness : Of course I may state that I considered one candidate better than another. Do you know George Glover, watchmaker?—l did not ask him ; I never attempted to sway any man's vote ; I never asked him to vote; I never asked a soul to vote. To the best of my recollection I never asked any one to vote since I was Returning Officer. Do you remember asking Glover how he was going to vote ? —I do not think I ever asked him ;he told mc himself he was going to vote. Did you ever say to him, " You are a religious man, and you should know better than go and vote for Parker " ? —I might have said so; Ido not remember. Did you say " Look at the place ; it would make £50 or £100 difference to me in the value of the property, to have a man like Monro elected ?"—I never could have said so. I want to know whether you did or not ? —I cannot answer ;my memory fails me. I remember speaking to Glover. Ido not know what passed. We talked upon the subject of Tomlinson's vote. I didn't expect this would come up. Might you not have said something of that sort to him ;it is not so long ago ?—I cannot remember what passed when I saw him; I cannot remember a word that passed. Had you determined to vote for Parker ? —I had no vote. Supposing you had a vote, had you then made up your mind to vote for Parker?—No, I had nothing to do with it. Do you know a man named William Burrell ?—Yes, I do. Do you remember meeting him on board the steamer " Lady Barkly," when Sir David Monro was there ?—I have, some distant recollection of his being on board the steamer. With that distant recollection, try and see if tbis looms in view : did you say to him, "Are you going to vote for Sir David Monro ? " that was before the election, you know ?—I have only a recollection of seeing him on board the steamer, and that I cannot be positive of; I cannot say whether I spoke to him about the election or not ; I may have done so. Did you ask him whether he was going to vote for Sir David Monro? —I might have asked him, for all I know to the contrary; I cannot remember those casual conversations. Did he say, " No, I know nothing about him, and if I vote, I shall vote for Mr. Parker " ? —He might have said so, for aught I know ; I do not know what I might have said ; I have no recollection of having any conversation with Burrell on the subject. Did you not, in answer to that say, " I didn't think you would have voted for a man like Parker " ? —If I forgot one part of the conversation I must have forgot the lot. Ido not remember. Might you have said so ? —I might, for all I know to the contrary; I might have said so ; I don't think I did. You admit that you had a conversation with him?—l might have done so, but I cannot remember. All I can remember is, that I have a recollection of Burrell being on the steamer going to Nelson, or back. Was Burrell going over from the hospital ?—That I cannot tell; it is very likely he was. Was Sir David Monro on board at that time ?—I do not remember the day. You think you cannot remember, but you might have had a conversation? —I might have said many things which I forgot shortly afterwards. Y rou could not have said something about who he was going to vote for ? —Yes, I might have. It