I.—2b

40

Son. Mr. Waterhouse.

interest, either personally or as representing the Bank of New Zealand, in the matter, except perhaps as the holder of bonds ; but subsequently I learned, from the annual report published by the Mercantile Loan Agency, that they had an interest in the matter, and that the profit which they had derived from it had rendered their year's operations unusually profitable. 715. You think the owners of the railway were anxious to sell to the Government ?—I cannot say anything of the holders down at Dunedin. Mr. Murdoch was undoubtedly anxious to sell. 716. The Chairman f] What amount did the Loan Company hold ;do you know ?—I do not kno\v r. The price originally asked for the railway was, I think, £200,000, but Mr. Murdoch came down to £185,000, and then Sir Julius Vogel was under the impression that he would get it for £175,000. 717. Hon. Major Atkinson.] If the Provincial Executive had recommended £200,000 should be given, would you have acceded to that ? —ln accordance with the principle I laid down, I should most probably have given way to their recommendation.

13th Oct., 1875.

Thhbsday, 14th Octobeb, 1875. Mr. Bbidges, Director, and Acting General Manager of the National Bank of New Zealand, examined. 718. The Chairman] You are aware that the House of Representatives have ordered this Committee to continue the inquiry in the line of examination on which you were examined before. This being a new examination, it is necessary that you should be re-sworn. [Mr. Bridges was then re-sworn.] 719. Witness.] Before you proceed with my examination, I should like to say that recently, when I saw the direction in which the inquiry was tending, I thought it necessary to decline to answer questions which would render me liable to a lawsuit. Now, however, I am quite willing to answer any questions you may put to me which are within my knowledge. I also wish to point out that there are errors in the printed report of my examination on the 6th October, and I wish to take objection to the evidence that was given by me on that date, having been printed without being first submitted to me. They are simple errors, and do not affect the evidence at all. I desire to be allowed to correct my answer to question No. 618, by adding the words, "or words to that effect" to my observation that I had heard Mr. Bathgate say that he would not consent to the price. I also wish to be allowed to explain my answer to question No. 624, by saying that I did not intend to imply that Mr. Bathgate had been subjected to any personal pressure upon himself. I think the printed evidence is calculated to mislead in that respect. 720. The Chairman.] The Committee will now proceed with the examination. Have you read the Act which has just been passed, by which you are fully protected for the evidence you will give before this Committee ?—I have. 721. Now, Mr. Bridges, the Committee will expect you to make a full statement of the grounds on which you gave evidence before the Committee on the previous occasions, to the effect that pressure had been brought upon the Government by the Bank in the purchase of the Port Chalmers Railway, and they will hear any statement you may have to make in the first instance ?—The opinion was founded on a variety of circumstances, some of which, I find, were not facts, as I stated to the House. 722. But what were the grounds on which you made the statement ? You must tell us what it was that led you to make the statement?—l say it was a floating opinion from a variety of circumstances. 723. What were the circumstances ? —lf you will ask me any particular question as to upon what the opinion was founded, I am prepared to answer it. 724. It is for you to inform the Committee what the circumstances were ? —I am advised by my counsel that the Act passed is not full, and that if I say anything that may be construed into malice, I am not protected, and I should not be protected in the Supreme Court. Therefore, I suggest that you should question me. I had no positive knowledge of the fact. The opinion was founded, as I said before, upon circumstances which I find were not correct; the chief fact being that it was not the Bank but the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company. I also received a communication from a member of the House that I was under a mistake, and that the pressure had not been put by the Bank, but by the Superintendent of the province. 725. Mr. J. Shephard.] Would you name that member ?—Mr. Luckie. 726. Hon. Major Atkinson.] You say you were informed that the pressure had been used by the Superintendent —which Superiutendent ?—Mr. Macandrew, Superintendent of Otago. 727. The Chairman.] 1 must recall your attention to this: that you must inform the Committee what the circumstances were that made you give the original evidence ?—I can only state a variety of circumstances. 728. What were those circumstances ? It is my duty to tell you that the House has decided that these circumstances must be fully disclosed; and the Legislature has given you now exactly the same protection that you would have in a Court of law. A Court of law would compel you to give answers to such questions, and you must give the answers here. You must tell the Committee fully what the circumstances were that led you to make the statement ?— It will be a long statement that I must make. I shall have to call your attention to a variety of matters. The first of these is, that there is a Company called the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, which is affiliated to the Bank of New Zealand, and so closely allied to it in the colony, that the Directors of the Company are also Directors of the Bank ; and the Company is managed by the Manager of the Bank in London, and by the Chief Manager of the Bank in the colony. The operations in the colony are often of a mixed character, partly done by the Bank ana partly by the Loan Company, and, in consequence, I have been in the habit of looking upon them as one concern. I have already stated what I heard Mr. Bathgate say. In January 1873, I went to England, where I was in frequent communication with Mr. Larkworthy, who is the Manager of both the Bank and the Company, in London. I heard him speak of the purchase of the Port Chalmers Railway; and it was he who first gave me a strong

Mr. Bridges.

14th Oct., 1875,