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483. You are swearing to it. Who were present when you tendered these papers?— There was only myself and Mr. AVilliams. I cannot say how many weeks after I had been to Mr. AVilliams that Hone Mohi came with the names of four hundred people. I said to him at Kaikohe, " Hone, it is no use your going to Mr. AVilliams to have the names placed on the roll, because I have been to take mine to Mr. Williams, and Mr. AVilliams said it would not be right according to law." Hone replied, "I do not care. It does not matter. I will go." 484. Did you go down to Mr. Williams for the express purpose of tendering these claims?— That was the express purpose. I thought if I did not take them before the 31st of March, my name would not be placed on the roll. 485. Did you tell any one at the time that you were going to Mr. Williams with these claims ?— Yes ; it was with the consent of the people in the claims that I went. 486. What particular people did you tell ?—Te Pure, Whai Hare Ngakau, Tiopira Kirau, and Te Para Kura. 487. Did you tell any one when you returned that Mr. Williams had refused to receive them ? —I told them all. I said we had been disappointed —that our names would not be placed on the roll. 4SB. Have you the claims with you that you tendered to Mr. AVilliams ?—I renewed them, which are those I produce. I did not keep them, because I did not think they would be of any use, as the date had expired. The Court adjourned until Saturday, March Bth, at 10 a.m.

Hirini Taiwha^ ■nga.

March 7, 1879.

Russell. —Saturday, Bth March, 1879. Mr. E. M. Williams re-examined. The Commission resumed at 10 a.m. 489. The Commissioner.] Did I understand you to say, in reference to the evidence given by Taiwhanga yesterday, that you were able to produce documentary evidence to refute the statement he made respecting you ?■ —Yes, I will. 490. In that case, Mr. Williams, I think it would be desirable you should do so at once in Mr. Taiwhanga's presence. I would not think it necessary to take your evidence for the purpose of giving a mere verbal contradiction; but if you can produce documents to refute it, I shall be glad to see them at once ?—1 am prepared to do so. The Commissioner : Then I will administer the oath again. Mr. AVilliams was again sworn and re-examined. 491. You heard the statement made by Mr. Taiwhanga yesterday, to the effect that you had refused to receive electoral claims from him ?—Yes. 492. AVas that statement correct or incorrect ?—There is a certain shadow of truth in what he stated yesterday. AVith your permission I would explain. Sydney Taiwhanga stated yesterday that he had shown me a number of applications, and that I had told him to take them back to Kaikohe. That part of his statement is correct; I did so. He is wrong in the year. This took place in the year 1875. In the month of March, 1875, Sydney Taiwhanga came. lam not certain whether it was to my house. He met me, at all events, with a number of applications. He tendered them to me, and showed them to me, and asked me if I would take them on to Russell. Having shown them to me, I drew his attention to the fact that there was not one of them correct, and that if they were taken on to Russell, not one of them would pass ; that they were no use whatever ; that he had better take them back to Kaikohe and get his friends to sign them. 493. In what respect were they incorrect ? —The applications wereddramw m out in the names of the parties applying ; but, instead of each applicant signing his name, Sydney Taiwhanga, in ignorance, I suppose, had signed them all himself. I told him that if they were presented in that form not one of them would pass. I recommended him to take them back. He took them back. He stated yesterday that I had positively refused to accept these papers, and, finding them useless, he had destroyed them ; that when Hone Mohi was coming ou with papers he told him it was no use—that I had positively refused to accept applications from him. He took them back to Kaikohe, and subsequently they were returned here in an altered form, with the exception, I think, of one or two of them. They were signed by the applicants and attested by an elector. One or two remained in the form that he first showed them. They were not signed. This took place, as I have stated, in 1875. I think I can show you that Sydney Taiwhanga is wrong in his date, from the fact that he stated yesterday it was in 1878, and that shortly after he had tendered these papers, and I refused to take them, Hone Mohi came with a number of papers, and, notwithstanding that Sydney Taiwhanga told him it was no use for him to come, he still came down. These papers were brought by Hone Mohi in 1875. 494. What interval elapsed between the so-called rejection of the informal papers and the presentation of tho proper papers? —I do not remember ; but there could not have been a great interval, because if here at all they must have been here before the end of March. Ido not think it could have been more than a fortnight. 495. Can you produce the applications tendered in that year ? —Hone Mohi did present a number of papers herein 1875, but iv the year 1878 Hone Mohi did not bring in a single paper. The bulk of the papers were brought in by Patrick Lundon, not by Hone ; and I believe he brought'them here on the last day of March. I remember meeting him at Goffe's, and he asked me if he would be in time. I remember telling him that if he got over to Russell that afternoon he would be in time. I can refer to Mr. Greenway to substantiate what I say. The papers to which I have alluded will be found amongst the papers of 1875. [The papers for 1875 were here produced.] You will observe what I remarked about the signature, and about these papers being sent back to have the signatures of the applicants attached. Sydney Taiwhanga stated yesterday that he had destroyed those papers. 496. Howmany of these papersarethere ? —I can find now sixteen of them. [Witnesshere produced ten formal papers and eight informal papers for 1875.] The informal ones are signed by Sydney Taiwhanga in the place where the claimant's signature should be, and the formal ones have beeu signed also by Sydney Taiwhanga, but his name has been partially obliterated and the name of the claimant inserted.

Mr. Williams.

March 8, 1879,