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" with child. He knew at the time and all along that in the event of premature confinement there " was no assistance at hand. He knew that Mrs. Hill was subject to twins, and also early confine- " ment. Mr. Hill was warned by an eye-witness of her dangerous condition fourteen days before " her death; that it was time she was brought to town. That he went down to see her about a " week afterwards, but took no nurse or doctor —made no provision whatever —and returned to " town in the steam-launch, leaving her behind him on the island, and she died for want of help. " He then had the steam-launch at his disposal, and could have sent for her any day, he knowing " full well that death was staring her in the face, and that she had no assistance nor the means of " escape from the island. That Mr. Hill took her there and kept her there from alleged reasons of " being unable to support her in town, whereas he had an income of far more than sufficient to do " so. The policeman other than the detective who had the case in hand spoke of his conduct as that " only of &nj inhuman monster.' Surely it is a shocking occurrence, over which the City of Auck- " land will bum with grief and indignation when the details become public property, which will be " in a few days. —S. J. J." The following is Mr. Hill's comment on Jackman's charge : — " Sir,— " Customs, Auckland, 25th July, 1888. " Eeferring to my telegram of 20th instant, stating that Mr. Jackman of this department " had preferred certain grave charges against me relating to the death of my wife : at the time of " writing it I was so upset that possibly I did not state the matter so fully as I otherwise should " have done. The facts of the case are these :On Friday morning on my arrival at the office, I "found Mr. Jackman, together Mr. D. McKellar, the Landing Surveyor, discussing certain " points connected with a prosecution under the Beer Duties Act at present in hand, when he "turned round to me and told me that he had considered it his duty to apply for a coronial investi- " gation as to the cause of Mrs. Hill's decease. Subsequently, upon calling upon the Superin- " tendent of Police, I was told by him that he had received a letter from the Coroner, written by " Mr. Jackman, charging me with most heartless if not inhuman conduct. I then asked Mr. ". Broham if he would be good enough to place the matter in the hands of one of the detectives, in " order that it might be investigated to the fullest extent, as I was totally unconscious of being in " any way guilty of the charges brought against me. Mr. Broham complied with my request, and has " promised to forward copies of both the original letter and the detective's report to the Commis- " sioner of Police at Wellington. I have not seen these letters, but I have been altogether cleared " from any blame in the case. I should feel extremely obliged if you would apply to the Commis- " sioner of Police for the documents in question, in order that you may be in a position to judge of "my conduct. At the same time, I respectfully submit that it would be most objectionable to the " interest of the public service that Mr. Jackman should be retained under my survey, and I trust " that the Hon. the Commissioner of Customs will consider the advisability of removing him to " some other port. His charges have become a matter of notoriety here, and I have under con- " sideration the desirability of asking the Government's assistance in instituting criminal proceed- " ings in this matter. I presume that Mr. Jackman's presence will be necessary in the case " ' Hoffman v. Crown,' pending in the Supreme Court. I have just heard that Mr. Jackman has " himself written to you on this subject. " I have, &c, " The Secretary, H.M. Customs, Wellington." "Thomas Hill, Collector. As a result of this charge these minutes were written in the Customs Department in Wellington : — " Hon. Commissioner. " In making these charges against the Collector, Mr Jackman must have had an extraordinary idea "of his duty as a citizen. lam anxious to acquit him of maliciousness, and really believe that he " did think it his duty; but a more cruel attack, at a time when Mr Hill was afflicted by the news "of the death of his wife, can hardly be conceived. That it was altogether uncalled-for is " abundantly shown in the police record above quoted, and I can only conclude that Mr. Jackman " was suffering from temporary aberration of mind. His continued presence at Auckland cannot " fail to be most galling to the Collector, and I am glad therefore that you have decided to include "him amongst the officers to leave under retrenchment proposals. Eecommend that no action be "taken.—H. S. McKellar, Secretary and Inspector. 30/8/88." "Minute by the Hon. the Commissioner. " Dispense with Jackman at once. Give him leave of absence till the 10th proximo. Do any- " thing that will get him out of the service of the Government. His conduct is indefensible upon " any ground.-—Geo. Fisher. 31/8/88." Jackman, on oath, next swore to this statement: — "It is not a fact that I made charges against the Crown Solicitor at Auckland." The following is the charge against the Auckland Crown Solicitor addressed by Mr. Jackman to the Secretary of Customs at Wellington : — « Sib,— "Auckland, 27th July, 1880. " In support of my telegram of Wednesday, the 25th, I beg respectfully to request a public " inquiry into Mr. Williamson's conduct as Crown Prosecutor in the case of the Customs versus " Suiter. I do this in the interests of justice, and because it is necessary for the protection of " officers giving information. My accusation against Mr. Williamson is that he allowed the case to '-' be lost in consequence of his sympathy for the defendant, or else from culpable neglect and ignor- " ance of the facts of the case for which he is responsible. I shall ask that I may be allowed "counsel to assist me as, while I am sure of my grounds of complaint and of the accusation I make, "I cannot be expected to have the ability of argument which Mr. Williamson is supposed to have.