G.-9A

2

Natives again interfering. He then, with the assistance of Perry and Nelson, took Huia to the lock-up. On the way to the lock-up a man named ("lark came up and also assisted the constable. After lodging Huia in the lock-up, Tapp arrested the man who passed as Iluia's brother, and another Maori, both of whom had been conspicuously active in the scuffle. The Natives continuing to appear vcrv excited, and congregating in a "menacing manner around the lock-up, the constable thought it expedient to report the matter to Mr. Bayley, a Justice of the Peace living at Waitara, and Mr. Bayley ordered him to release the three prisoners. This was accordingly done. The Natives dispersed, and there was no more trouble. Such are the facts ns we. have collected them from the evidence. We have constructed a connected narrative from the statements made by the different witnesses, reconciling them to the best of our ability where they conflict. The evidence .of Huia is obviously unworthy of credence. He had a strong motive to conceal the truth. He was not sober at the time in question. He was contradicted in almost every important particular by all the other witnesses; and Te Wetere himself said, before the Court of Inquiry, that Huia was.not speaking the truth—that he was telling a different story from the one he had told him. John Wilkinson's statement, too, should be received with great caution. He can only be believed where he is uncontradietcd by other testimony. He is a man of bad character. Some two years ago a Native at Urenui was convicted of larceny mainly on his evidence as the prosecutor. Suspicion being aroused, and inquiry being made, it became evident that he, Wilkinson, had perjured himself, and a prosecution was commenced against him. He was, however, permitted by the late Government to. compromise it by paying £~>o to the Native who had undergone his sentence of imprisonment. Wilkinson (who was present at the affray before the publiehouse door) is intimately acquainted with the Native character and customs. He speaks the Native language with remarkable fluency, and there is every reason to believe, we think, that if he had exertediiimself as he ought to have done, and spoken to the Natives properly, the disturbance would not have gone as far as it did. 2. There are, it would seem, two points on which we ought to report—(l.) As to the nature of the affray itself, and the conduct of the Natives; (2.) As to the' conduct of the policeman, and the use he made of the- handcuffs as a weapon. As to the first point, we are of opinion that the dimensions and nature of this disturbance have been very much exaggerated by newspaper paragraphs and telegrams. The Natives did not attempt to burn or pull down the hotel or lock-up; blood did not flow freely ; and there were not thirty Natives engaged. It was, in effect, a very ordinary drunken row, and there is absolutely nothing to show premeditated malice or contempt for the law on the part of the Natives before the affray, or ill-feeling on their part afterwards; and it is evident that'they could not have meant much mischief during the fight itself, otherwise the Europeans, who were" outnumbered at least four to one, would have sustained severe injuries, instead of the trifling hurts they actually received. At the same time, without bearing any particular ill-will towards any person, the Natives were; surprised and annoyed at the use the constable made of his handcuffs. "Were those, things to beat a man with ?" they said. We therefore think that this inquiry will have done good, by reassuring and calming their minds, and showing them that a constable cannot even seem to exceed his legal powers, or to exercise them in an illegal way, without provoking a searching inquiry into his conduct. We recommend that no steps should be taken against the Natives for obstructing and assaulting the constable, but as far as they are concerned the matter should be allowed to drop. And in regard to the second point, the conduct of the policeman and the use he made of his handcuffs, we think that, he acted throughout within the strict limits of his duty, but we regret that he did not exercise a little more forbearance, by endeavouring to induce the Natives to disperse peaceably, and take Huia with them, when that individual was trying to force the door in. Yet there is this excuse for the constable, that he did not understand the Native language, and that he could perhaps scarcely have made himself understood. As we have before remarked, if Wilkinson had exerted himself at this stage of the affair, no trouble would probably have ensued. As to the use of the handcuffs, it seems to us, looking at the matter in cold blood, and after the event, that there was no necessity for their use as a weapon, because the lives of the policeman and the two other Europeans were never really in peril. Considering, however, the darkness, the overwhelming disproportion in numbers, Constable Tapp's ignorance of the Native language, their manners and customs, the shout in English that the Maoris were arming themselves with pieces of wood, the roughness and tumult of the struggle, and the fact that he had no baton or other means of defence, we respectfully submit that the constable may reasonably have had a bond fide belief at the time that he was in imminent danger, and that he was justified in using the handcuffs in self-defence. On these grounds we consider that the policeman was warranted, under the circumstances, in so using the handcuffs, and we are of opinion that it is proved that he acted on the whole with courage, coolness, moderation, and discretion, in a somewhat trying situation, and that his conduct is not deserving of censure. But we would respectfully point out the necessity that exists for the issue of batons to the civil police, so that a constable may always have in his hand an instrument, adequate to his defence under all ordinary circumstances, and at the same time one not likely to take life, in order that there may be no excuse in the future for the use of such dangerous and improper weapons as handcuffs wielded