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72. Is that the total ?—That is one way of looking at it; but I have been fifteen years in the Government service, and that should be remembered. I should not be turned out of the service without some reasonable compensation. 73. What do you think you ought to receive? —I was put to great expense in going down to G-isborne to undertake the purchase of all that coast, and I succeeded in getting nearly all of it. Of course if I had received my higher salary and commission of id. per acre for that, it would be different; but I take all these things into consideration in making my claim. 74. According to the figures you have given to the Committee, we may assume that you claim, about £1,430 altogether ?—Yes. 75. Who dismissd you from your Land Purchase Office ? —Mr. Ormond. 76. Hon. Mr. Dick.~\ What reasons were given by Mr. Ormond for dismissing you ? —A Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into a report that I had made officially to the Government. I have no doubt that Mr. Ormond based my dismissal on the report of the Commission. 77. That report was adverse to you ? —Yes, to certain extent. 78. And you got no compensation when you were dismissed ? —No ; I did not apply for any ; but I came to Parliament, and a Committe of the Upper House justified me. 79. And as to the result of the justification of the Upper House, what took place ?—I apprehend the result was that I was appointed a Native Land Court Judge. It was in 1877 that the Upper House jnstified me, and in the following year I was appointed a Judge. 80. Was there a meeting of Parliament between those dates ? —No, I think not. Parliament was sitting when I was appointed a Judge of the Native Land Court. 81. Did you refer in your petition to the report of the Upper House ? —Yes. 82. And then Mr. Sheehan appointed you ? —The Cabinet appointed me. 83. You were appointed in the same manner and under the same conditions as other members of the Civil Service are appointed ?—Yes. 84. Were there any special conditions as to the permanence of the appointment ?—No ; I was subject to the ordinary regulations of the Civil Service, which regulations require that there shall be an inquiry whenever a charge is made which is denied by the accused. 85. You did not ask for an inquiry ? —No, because no charge was made against me. I may state that if I had been dismissed for retrenchment purposes I should not have felt myself so aggrieved. 86. Were you offered compensation for the period during which you were a Judge ?—Yes ; I was told to apply for what I was legally entitled to. 87. And you declined ? —Yes. 88. Do you say that when you made this arrangement with Mr. Sheehan, and accepted the Judgeship, you abandoned your claims for compensation ?—Yes ; I withdrew them. 89. You do not think that the Government had any right to remove you in 1880 without giving you compensation ? —I do not think they had any right to remove me without granting me an inquiry. 90. Not even if they had given you compensation ? —If they had given me £1,000 at once in lieu of the £600 a year, it would not have compensated me for the loss. 91. Mr. Turnbull.~\ Were you a Commissioner for the purchase of Crown Lands ? —Yes. 92. What is your mode of proceeding in purchasing lands from the Natives?—I agreed with the owners as far as I could ascertain them, and then obtained agreements from these owners setting forth the amounts to be paid them. This was all done in as public a manner as possible. 93. On what terms did you purchase land for the Government ? —The land was generally purchased by me at from 2s. to 3s. per acre. The land I purchased was nearly all in the back country. 94. I understand that you bought nearly the wholo of the coast land at Gisborne ? —No ; the country lying inland from the coast was what I purchased. During the fifteen years I was serving the Government I was engaged in connection with land questions in various parts of the colony. 95. And you accepted the Judgeship as compensation for any claim you may have had for acreage ? —Yes ; I accepted it in all good faith. 96. Was the claim for acreage denied by the Government ?—No. 97. You state in your petition that you were employed in a district which was in a lawless condition ? —Yes ; but it is different now. 98. Where was that ?—At Maketu. The Maoris were firing bullets over the Courthouse, and the police could not do their duty properly there. In fact the Sergeant of police told me that his men had been wounded in trying to preserve order. 99. What was the strength of the police force there ? —There was only one European constable and some Native police. 100. Then you think you ran some risk at that time ? —No ; not any great risk. We did not think of that at all. 101. A Judge of the Native Land Court does not require to have any legal knowledge?—Yes; a Judge should have a thorough knowledge of the legislation affecting Native lands, of Native customs, and I think he ought to know the language. 102. Judge Fentou telegraphed that he was coming down to hold a Court there ? —Yes ; but he did not go down. 103. Who has been appointed in your place ?—The Minister of Justice telegraphed to Judge Fenton requesting him to make a further communication to me, and presently I did receive a further communication from Mr. Fenton, in which he required me to go on. 104. I understand you to say that there was some implied charge of error of judgment against you in regard to the purchase of land ? —No ; I do not know of any charge of misconduct having been laid against me. As regards the purchase of land, I reported unfavourably with respect to the line of conduct pursued by certain officers of the Government, who were helping some land, speculators that were opposing the Government in purchasing. This was being carried on on an enormous scale, and I