H.—22

20

' ' In further support of my application for inquiry I beg to submit that it is a great injustice to the " officer who reported the irregularities of Mr. Suiter, and to Mr. Suiter himself, to lay a charge " of fraud which he now admits is without foundation, after examining the books on Wednesday, " the 25th, for five hours. Immediately after the judgment of the Court was given, and he was " aware I had reported him to Wellington, he said these words to me : ' There may have been a " little ' tiddlywinking ' going on. I think there was. [The book] s have been honestly kept, and "we can do nothing more in it.' Mr. Williamson had the opportunity to examine these accounts " for eight days before the hearing, and he did, at any rate, pretend to do so. The Collector, " having been warned by me that Mr. Williamson would lose the cases in Court, said to him before " the informations were laid, ' Now, Mr. Williamson, here is the evidence : Mr. Jackman has got " everything out of him.' The day-book of Mr. Suiter was, as Mr. Williamson knows, one of my " chief witnesses of his fraud. In proof of my sincere belief in the necessity for this inquiry, I beg "to disclaim any personal feelings. I never saw Mr. Williamson, to my knowledge, till I saw him " in the Collector's office on Friday, the 13th, and know nothing about him except what I may '' have seen in the newspapers, and could have no personal feelings against him. " I have, &c, " The Secretary of Customs." " S. J. Jackman. The following is the Auckland Crown Solicitor's comment upon Jackman's charge : — " Sir,— " 87, Queen Street, Auckland, 28th July, 1888. " I have the honour to complain of the conduct towards me of Mr. Jackman, one of your " subordinates, and to whom you referred me for information in respect to the Suiter cases, and " respectfully request that you may bring the conduct of this officer under the notice of the Hon. " the Commissioner. Mr. Jackman appears to be suffering under a sense of disappointment at the " result of these cases, as they owed their origin to his representations ; and when I conclusively " showed him the other day, after making a thorough examination (with himself) of Suiter's books, " that he had blundered into wrong conclusions, he completely lost his temper, and so far forgot " himself as to charge me, in the presence of yourself and Mr. McKellar, in your own office, with " having been bribed to lose the case. I respectfully submit that an insult so gross should not be " overlooked by the department. I was thrown into contact with Mr. Jackman through no choice " of my own, but in pursuance of my official duties, and, were it not that legal proceedings would " involve yourself and other officers of the Customs in something like a scandal, I should certainly " avail myself of the protection which the law offers in such cases. I am, however, content to " leave the matter in the hands of the Commissioner. I may state that Mr. Jackman's conduct " throughout these cases has been such as to satisfy me that his statements are utterly unreliable, " and that he ought never to be intrusted with such work as that involving investigation of such " cases. He was the principal witness for the Crown, and his manner in the witness-box, in- " dependent of his contradictory, careless, and inaccurate statements, was sufficient to throw " discredit upon the whole proceedings. On no account could I recommend a prosecution, the " burden of which depended on him. lam not in the least prompted to say this by reason of his " conduct towards me personally, but from my long experience of witnesses and persons (police and " others) who have been concerned in getting up prosecutions. I can confidently express the " opinion that it would always be hazardous for the department to place any reliance upon Mr. " Jackman's statements, or to commence any proceedings based upon his uncorroborated reports. " I have, &c, " The Collector, H.M. Customs, Auckland." " H. Williamson, Crown Solicitor. It is indeed difficult to restrain ones-self from commenting upon this man's conduct. Surely a more heartless or a more untruthful man never lived. I should explain that, after giving orders for his dismissal on the 31st August, 1888, I injudiciously and unwillingly consented to his reinstatement on the 13th October, 1888, upon the strong representations of the Secretary of Customs, Mr McKellar ; Jackman, in accordance with my directions, receiving a strong reprimand and caution. I had not at that time read the whole file of papers relating to his official history, or I certainly would never have consented to his reinstatement. I wish to point out that the matters above referred to are far from being extraneous. The importance of their bearing has yet to be seen. It is this : that, acting under certain inspiration, this man subsequently made a most serious charge against myself. The charge is addressed to the Secretary of Customs, and is as follows : — " Sib,— " Customs, 4th March, 1889. " I have the honour to submit to you that I have during the last ten months, while employed " in the performance of my duties, become aware of circumstances which in my opinion amount to a " strong prima facie case of fraud against the Hon. the Commissioner of Trade and Customs (Geo. " Fisher, Esq.) while exercising his power as Commissioner. The cases I specially refer to on this " occasion are for obstructing the prosecution under ' The Beer Duties Act, 1880,' of the Junction " Brewery Company and Mr. H. Gilmer, both of Wellington, in December last. I beg most respect- " fully to apply that the Governor will be advised by you to appoint a Eoyal Commission, as pro- " vided for in section 55, ' Customs Laws Consolidation Act, 1882.' " I have, &c, " To the Secretary of Customs." " S. J. Jackman, Officer of Customs. A copy of this document was left at my office by Jackman, when I at once suspended him from his duties. To this day I have never seen the man, and do not know him. I many times refused to see him when he was brought to my office by Mr. McKellar, because I regarded him as an exceedingly dangerous man. I have said that I suspended him. I did not dismiss him, as under any other circumstances I would have done, because I knew that had I done so, unpleasantly sur-