23

1.—6

Col. Whitmore,

25th Nov., 1879.

Mr. Sheeha»,

26th Nor., 1879.

Minister does not make a telegram a public document. Anybody can go inlo the telegraph office and send a message marking it " Collect," and then the receiver will have to pay for it. I have" sent several telegrams which have been marked in that way. My Private Secretary could have stopped any telegrams which I had franked if he had considered that they were of a private nature. 346. Why should the officers of the Telegraph Department examine telegrams in order to see whether they were public or private ? —I cannot say why they should do so ; but that has been their practice. If a Minister sends a telegram at the public expense, and the officers of the Telegraph Department consider it to be a private message, they send a boy to inquire whether it is intended to be paid for or not.

AVednesday, 26th Novembee, 1879. Mr. John Sheehan, M.H.R., sworn and examined. Mr. Sheehan : Before I proceed to give evidence, I should like you to be good enough to call the shorthand reporter and interpreter, who were employed by me during the time that these wires were being sent, Mr. Berry and Mr. Johnson, who are both officers in the Government service, and Mr. Brodie, Chairman of the Thames County Council. 347. The Chairman] Do you wish them called before you make your statement ?—I would like them to be called before I make my statement—l may say, lam prepared to give a portion of my statement now. I asked Mr. Maginnity to produce the receipts for wires that were outside the envelopes. I want to see whether I overlooked any of those telegrams, as being marked outside "On public service." They were delivered to me without any demand for payment; and I presume I am entitled to ask the Committee to take the matter in the ordinary course where they come to me and are uot asked to be paid for. I have got the list which the Committee kindly allowed me to make the other day, but I cannot go beyond that, unless I see the telegraphic receipts. I produce a list, wdiich I made, and I find out of two and a half pages that over a page and a half are minuted by Mr. Berry, who had the principal duty of transmitting the wires, as " Payment not demanded." They were wires sent to me by other persons. I would first of all state that, when it became evident that a dissolution of the House was about to take place, I stood iv that position towards the party that I was called upon to do more telegraphing, perhaps, than most of them; and, in consequence, I was authorized by them to do such telegraphing as might be necessary. All telegrams sent by me on electioneering business were specially marked " Private wires." I produce these for the inspection of the Committee. This is one of a number of receipts paid for by me under that head " Private wire, forwarded by the Hon. John Sheehan," and here are the amounts. I produce my private bank-book, showing various cheques paid upon the same account, and I have no objection to the Committee looking through it, if they like. I produce also my cheque-book, showing the cheques given by me. 348. Hon. Mr. Gisborne] AVill you specify the cheques which you paid the Telegraph Department ? —There are only a few cheques, because the bulk of the money was paid in cash, but Mr. Berry and Mr. Johnson will be able to give the Committee information. 349. At what stations ? —At all the stations at wdiich I happened to be. I was at AVellington, Napier, Poverty Bay, Tauranga, Auckland, Mercer, Ngaruawahia, Cambridge, Ohaupo, Kihikihi°and the Thames. 350. AVere those paid at the time the telegrams were sent, or on account afterwards ?—Except in one instance only, and that is the one I produce to you. Tou will see that, when I left Taurano-a Harbour rather hurriedly iv the evening on account of the tide, and the telegraphist had not an opportunity of sending on board for the money, advices were sent on from the Tauranga office to Auckland for the amount to be collected and forwarded. There may possibly have been one or two wires at Napier which could not be paid for the same reason. AYe left at a quarter-past 11 o'clock at night, and I fancy one or two wires were written at the Spit. I think 1 gave them to Mr. Kenny, District Court Judge, and asked him to put them into the office for me. I may add that Mr. Berry has gone through my private telegrams, and I find that between the two days mentioned, the 6th of August and the date under notice, I sent no fewer than 146 telegrams on electioneering subjects, all of which, with the excaptiou of two or three that have found their way into this list, the Telegraph Office itself admits were paid for. I may add that my practice in sending telegrams was that, two or three times a day, generally after breakfast and at lunch, and between the rising of the House at halfpast 5, and the sitting at half-past 7, I generally gave half an hour to reading and answering wires received by me during the course of the day. My answers were dictated to the shorthand writer, just as my evidence is being taken now, and the two clerks, Mr. Berry and Mr. Johnson, had express instructions from me to separate all wires not strictly of a public character from those being transmitted as Government telegrams, and to chargo them to my private account. 1 think the Committee will be disposed to agree that if, out of 146 wires, only three appear to have been marked " On public service" by them, that discretion was not very unwisely used. I will take the first case, " Mr. Sheehan to Mr. Tizard," from AVellington. The Committee will observe that the telegram is altogether in the handwriting of Mr. Berry, and if he has sent one as a public service wire it is an error of judgment on his part. Then there is a telegram of the 2nd August, " Mr. Sheehau to Mr. Palmer; " you will find that is in the handwriting of Mr. C. H. Moss. I simply gave instructious to the shorthand writer to write them himself, or, if the other clerk was present, they wero dictated by the shorthand writer. They had to decide on several occasions whether the wire was a public service telegram or an electioneering wire. This is another telegram next to that, of the 2nd August, " John Sheehan to Pilliett." That reply is in the handwriting of Mr. Berry. lam not prepared to say whether it is a public service wire or not, unless I see the message to which it was an answer. I suppose we could see the wire to which it was a reply. It was transmitted to me. There are two wires of the 9th and 16th August, " Mr. Sheehan to Mr. Grace and Major Te Wheoro." There is one telegram here from me in which I state that I notice a report in the papers that Major Te AVheoro is likely to stand for the Maori District, and I express my opinion that the report is not true, and point out that it