11

I.—4a

Superintendent Shearman.

25th Sept., 1878,

248. Is the complainant present when inquiries are made ?—lnvariably. 249. Is notice given to him to be in attendance?—Tes ; of course I am only speaking from my own experience. 250. I may mention it has been stated incidentally by a member of the Committee that in the North Island a complaint was made, and the complainant knew nothing about the inquiry till it was all over ? —lt has not been the case in my experience. 251. Do you remember the circumstances of Mr. Barton's complaint against the police in Wellington ? Do you remember a complaint being made to the Government ?—Tes. 252. Was the matter referred to you ?—Tes. 253. And you wrote a letter on the subject ? —I did. 254. Tou had an inquiry made about these complaints ? —Tes ; I made inquiries to ascertain whether there was any one to come forward to prefer a charge. 255. And there was not ? —There was not. 256. Hon Mr. Gisborne] I understand there was no one particularly charged?—No ; nor could the person supposed to be ill-used be found. 257. This is the letter you sent to the Government on the subject (read) ? —Tes; I sent that. [Extract from Evening Post's report of Mr. Barton's speech to the electors, forwarded to the Government by the Mayor of AVellington, read.] Mr. Barton: That was what the Post published, but not what I said. [Mr. Barton's letter to the Minister of Justice read.] 258. Did you make any inquiries, at the time these documents were forwarded to you, on the subject of the allegations made ? —I did. 259. Did you learn that such an offence had been committed by anybody ? —I did not. 260. Tou say, in your letter, " The offence is supposed to have been committed by some one who has now left the police force." What did you mean? Did you mean that this was the ease? —I meant that some one who had left the police force was the person accused—the sergeant —who had left the AVellington force previous to my coming to AVellington. 261. Sergeant Monaghan ? —Tes. 262. How do you arrive at the conclusion that Monaghan was the officer alluded to? —I was told so by Inspector Atchison and the detective. "263. That Mr. Barton meant Monaghan ?—Tes. 264. Ho was then out of the police force ?—He was. 205. Tou had no reason to suppose that any officer now in the police force was at all implicated ? —None whatever. 206. Tou said that after you wrote the Government did not communicate with you again on the subject ? —I did ; the one addressed to Mr. Barton. 267. Hon. Mr. Gisborne] AVhen you read the words " supposed to have been committed," whom did you mean it was supposed by ? —" Supposed to have been committed?" 265. Tes. Tou said the person by whom it was supposed the offence had been committed was not in the police force. AVhy did you use the word "suppose"?—By whom was it supposed? —By Mr. Barton. 269. The Chairman] How did Mr. Monaghan come to leave the force? —I really do not know. I was not here then. 270. It was before your time ? —Tes. 271. Hon. Mr. Gisborne] Did you communicate with Mr. Barton on the subject ? —No; I instructed Mr. Atchison to make inquiries to ascertain if be could discover the person said to have been ill-treated, or the person who had been guilty of the ill-treatment. 272. The Chairman] When did you take charge of the police force of the North Island?- —About nine months ago. 273. Up to that time you were Commissioner of the Canterbury Police ? —I was ;up to May, 1877. 274. Mr. Bunny] Mr. Barton had no notice from you that you were going to hold an inquiry ?— I did not communicate with Mr. Barton, as I said before. I reported so far to the Government, and I heard nothing officially after that relative to the inquiry. 275. Mr. Swanson] In a case like this, I suppose it was desirable to get at the truth ?—Undoubtedly, it was my duty to do so. 276. Tet you did not communicate with Mr. Barton on the matter, asking him to come and talk the matter over with you, and invite him to assist you to get at the truth by giving you information and being present at the inquiry ? —No. I simply communicated with the Government, and awaited further instructions. 277. The Government communicated with you and told you there was something wrong about the police, and, I apprehend, wished you to inquire into the wrongs ? —They sent me the correspondence, and asked me to make inquiry. 278. Certain complaints were made against the police ?—They said no more than what appears in the correspondence. 279. It was said there were certain cruelties committed by the police ?—AVho said ? 280. AVho said ? Why, the newspapers, and Mr. Barton, and everybody. —The Government did not say there were more than what appears in the correspondence, and requested me to make inquiries. 281. The report forwarded to you showed that Mr. Barton said so ?—Tes. 282. Very well; what steps did you take to find out the truth? How would you ordinarily go about the matter to find it out ? AVould you go to the accused, or to the accusers ?■ —I should go to the accusers. 283. In this case did you communicate with Mr. Barton and say, " Here, come up and tell me all about this, and let us find out the truth ?" —I first made inquiries. 284. Of whom ? —Of Mr. Atchison and the detective. 285. Were they not the accused ?—They were the persons I looked to to get evidence.