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222. Do you mean to tell the Committee that a respectable firm of lawyers would send a letter unauthorized ?—I do not know the purport of the letter. 223. Who told you to say that ? Do you wish the Committee to believe that ?—I say distinctly that I only spoke to Mr. Bees, and did not know he was going to send a letter to Captain Read. He merely said to me, " We will see about tho matter." (Letter read.) 224. That letter was unauthorized by you ? —The whole of it. I never heard of it before. I simply told Mr. Rees my case. 225. If you had received the £87 you demanded in that letter, would your evidence have been different from what it has been. Now, on your oath mind ? —I presume I have been on my oath ever % since the commencement of my evidence. My evidence could not be different from what it is, because I am merely speaking the truth. 226. Tou happen to differ from other witnesses who have also said they were speaking the truth ? —I do not know anything about that. 227. Do you know a Mr. Crapp ? —I know threo Mr. Crapps. 228. Then it is pretty certain you know one. Did you send one of these two or three Mr. Crapps to Captain Read ?—No; I did. not. 229. Was not some proposal made by one of the Mr. Crapps to Captain Read on your behalf— proposals which were of the same purport as the letter, aud demanding £87 without more ado, or you would make it pretty warm for him when you came to give evidence ?—No. 230. Then he went unauthorized, just as Messrs. Rees and Tyler wrote without authority?—Tes ; I was talking to Crapp, but did not send him. 231. Where does Crapp live?—At Gisborne; I know very well the one you refer to. I did not send him or anybody else. 232. Tou happened to be talking to Mr. Crapp, and then he voluntarily went to Captain Read. Is that the way in which we are to understand it ? —I did not tell him to go ; and if he did go, this is the first I have heard of it. 233. At any rate, you wanted £87 besides the money you had been paid, and the horse, saddle, and bridle, which had been given to you?—l considered I was entitled to that sum for what I had done. 234. And as you were not paid, you were determined to take it out by giving evidence against him ?—I do not know anything about taking it out of him. 235. Did you not apply to the committee for the money?—l did. 236. Although you have sworn that you had nothing to do with tho committee ?—I said I had had nothing to do with the committee at the time I left Gisborne. 237. Very well. When you applied to the committee, you were referred to those who had employed you ? —Tes ; that was the effect of a letter written by Mr. Wilson to me. 238. Did you act iv such a way to the committee that it became necessary for you to apologize for your conduct?—l did ; and I will tell you all about it. 239. Never mind telling us all about it; that is the fact, is it not ? —-Tes. 240. Mr. Wason.] I should very much like to hear the explanation, and it is but right that the Committee should have it ?—Perhaps the Committee will allow me to explain. When I was going away from Gisborne, I met Major Pitt, and he said to me, "Where are you going, Henshaw?" I replied, "I am going to Auckland, to place my affairs in the hands of Rees and Tyler, and try and get payment." He said, " Oh, don't do that; you were rather hasty in using such language to tho committee. If you write a letter to Wilson, apologizing, it will be all right." Of course, I thought I had better pocket my pride, and I wrote this letter of apology, saying that I was sorry for having written so hastily, and trusted that he would accept my apology in a proper light. I wrote in the hope of being paid. I met Wilson afterwards, and said to him, " I have written a letter of apology to you for the hasty language I used towards yourself, and hope you will receive it." I then added, "I should like some money." Wilson said," That's all we wanted," and that it would be all right. It was agreed that he should send me some money. On my arrival in Auckland, I wired to him, and asked him if he intended to send me some money, as he had promised it. There was no answer to that telegram, and therefore I wired to him again, asking him if he had received the previous telegram. If not, I would not take steps to recover. To this I received no answer ; and then I wired to the telegraphist, asking him if the telegrams had been received and delivered. He replied to me that they had been received —both of them —but that there was no answer yet. I then went to Messrs. Bees and Tyler, and asked them what I had better do. 241. Mr. Whitaker.] In this note of apology, you say you hope "it will be received in a proper light." I suppose that means you hoped he Would pay the money ?—-That was what I was looking after ; but I did not exactly intend to convey that meaning in those words. I thought the apology might be misconstrued. 242. The letter was written for the purpose of getting money ?—Tes, it was. 243. Then the " proper light" meant that you hoped he would forthwith pay the money ?—Something of that. 244. Mr. Barton.] Have you been convicted of any offence in Auckland ? —Me, Sir ? Never! 245. Or tried for any offence ?• —I decline to answer that question. 246. Mr. Stout.] Tou say, Mr. Henshaw, that Major Pitt ordered " this and that" to be done. What did he order at Tauranga ? —He ordered md to buy bread and meat for the polling booth, which was at my place. 247. Was he there himself ?—Tes. 248. Was there a committee-room there ? —Tes ; there was a committee in the passage, if you can call it a room. Johnson and another man were superintending the usual routine. 249. What is " the usual routine " at Tauranga ? —The same as anywhere else, I suppose ; people were asked to give their votes, and taken across to the polling booth.
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