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54. Have you any reason to suppose that you were not reappointed by the Government in consequence of any disagreement between yourself and Mr. Penton ?—Up to the time of my removal I heard nothing at all about any disagreement between us. 55. Did you apply to the Government that you should be reappointed? —-I came down and saw Mr. Eolleston, the Minister of Justice, on the subject, and he told me that it was intended to appoint lawyers to the position of Judges of the Native Land Court, in accordance with the recommendation of the Chief Judge. I told him that he had not appointed me, while he had already appointed men who were not lawyers, and he replied, "What am I to say to one who is in conflict with the Chief Judge?" I replied "It is not so; you have been misinformed." If I had misconducted myself there should have been an inquiry. 56. Did you apply for an inquiry ?—No, because I had nothing to apply upon. No charges were laid against me. I have since heard from an officer in the department that it was desired to bring charges against me if possible, but that none could be found. 57. Do you hold any documents belonging to the Government ? —I do not know whether I hold any documents belonging to the Government. That is a question I should like the Committee to decide. I hold some copies of my own notes made by my clerk. The notes are in connection with inquiries I made with regard to certain lands at Tauranga. 58. Tou claim that any notes taken by you in your capacity of Commissioner are your own private property? —Tes; but I may say that if the Government had paid me my salary I should have given up the notes. 59. What do you now claim from the Committee. Do you wish to be reinstated in office, or do you apply for compensation in money ? —ln my petition I claim for money compensation to the amount of £1,111 6s. lOd. 60. How is that amount made up ?—I produce a list of the items. 61. What do you claim under your letter of appointment? Did you receive anything? —I received some money. On 17th April, 1875, I received the following memorandum: "Memorandum for Mr. J. A. Wilson: In accordance with instructions given to Mr. Wilson the arrangement previously entered into with regard to purchases of Native lands for the Government and other duties, will, from and after the 30th June proximo be subject to the following alterations: (1.) The agreement on the subject of commission will be cancelled, and no more will be allowed. (2.) Mr. Wilson's salary will be £550 per annum, with a travelling-allowance of 10s. per diem for each day when he is absent from his home on duty. (3.) In accordance with the original agreement Mr. Wilson will receive commission on the blocks which he has actually obtained for the Government up to the present date.—Donald McLean. Gisborne, 17th April, 1875." I then got a stamped permanent appointment as Land Purchase Agent for the General Government at a salary of £550 a year, and 10s. a day travelling allowance. Then, on 27th July, 1875, I wrote a letter. 62. Did you make application for this money at that time? —No ; not at that time, because I had received an appointment which was to be of a permanent character. 63. If there was a sum of £1,111 6s. lOd. due to you under contract, why did you not get it ?— I had not had time to complete all the blocks I was negotiating for. These were the outstanding blocks which I should have got in in the course of about twelve months. 64. Then it amounts to this : that the purchases had not been completed ?—Tes. It was not possible to complete them before Sir Donald cancelled the agreement. 65. And in the meantime you accepted the appointment of a Judge of the Native Land Court?— Tes, on the condition that I was to be a permanent officer; that is to say, that I could not be removed by Mr. Ormond in twelve or eighteen months without cause, as shown by the report of the Committee of the Legislative Council. [Eeport produced], 66. One of your claims is for £1,050 6s. lOd ? —Tes ; I asked for that, but I never got it; in fact, my claim for compensation was Dever attended to. 67. Subsequently to that date did you make any application for the money ? —Acting on the advice of my solicitor, I kept the amount out of my imprest account; that is to say, out of money which had been advanced to me as a land purchase officer. Before doing so, I took the advice of Mr Tyler (of Tyler and Eees), and the late Mr. Eogan, of Gisborne, lawyers, and they considered that I was entitled to keep the amount due to me out of the imprest. I may state that at one time it was the practice for land purchase officers to pay everything out of imprest. It happened, however, that Mr. PitzGerald, the Auditor-General, knew more about the Public Eevenues Bill than my solicitors did, and he demanded that the money should be refunded. My lawyers then went into the matter again, and found that the Auditor-General was right, the consequence being that I immediately returned the money. 68. And since that time you have not taken any action ? —Tes ; I sent in a petition to the House of Eepresentatives, but the petition was never heard, although a Select Committee was appointed to consider it. It was arranged between Mr. Sheehan and myself that, when I accepted the office of Judge, I should withdraw my claim for compensation ; but now, that I have been deprived of the Judgeship, I have a right to renew my claim. 69. How much would your claim have been if you had only charged for those blocks you [had actually purchased during your tenure of office ? —These blocks claimed for were actually purchased, but they were not passed through the Court. The Government had all the agreements in their possession. , 70. What is the next item in your claim ?—lt is the difference in salary as between £550 a year and £2 2s. por day—that amounts to £324. 71. Is £1,050 6s. lOd. the total amount of your claim ?—No. There is my salary, at £50 a month, during the last three months that I served; the compensations I was entitled to during the time I was Judge, viz., one month's salary for each year's service, or about £130. Then there should be something allowed to me for having taken my family to Tauranga and to take them back again. I could not ask less than £100 for that.