5
8E.—14
I make this application on the conditions following :— That the costs attending the examination and valuation of the property and of surveying the same, if it shall be thought necessary by the Public Trustee, and also the costs of his solicitors for the examination of the title, &c, shall, upon demand, be paid by me whether the transaction be completed or not. That the negotiation will be considered at an end if the amount required to cover the cost of the valuation be not deposited within one month after notice that the application, subject to a satisfactory valuation of the property, will be considered, or if the deeds of the property be not deposited with the Public Trustee's solicitors within one month after notice that the loan has been granted. J. Cathcaet Wason.
No. 7. Land- and Income-Tax Department, Wellington, 189 . Mr. Johnston, —Did your department buy J. C. Wason's Corwar Estate, near Highbank ? Could you let me see the papers for a few minutes ? — J. McG. Marawiti Estate, 2,026 acres 2 roods 33 perches, purchased from Mr. Wason for £14,200 18s. 10d (£7 per acre.)
No. 8. Sir,— Public Trust Office, Wellington, 21st March, 1898. J. C. Wason's Application. —l have delayed replying to your letter of the 12th instant until I had made certain inquiries with respect to the security offered herein. The result of my inquiries is that the security is not a suitable one for anything like the amount applied for, and I have decided to decline the application altogether. Yours, &c, J. C. Martin, Public Trustee. The District Agent of the Public Trustee, Christchurch.
No. 9. The Public Trustee to the Eight Hon. the Premier. Sir,— Public Trust Office, Wellington, 15th July, 1898. In continuation of my letters to you of the 13th and 14th instant, I have now the honour to inform you that Mr. Hamilton, the District Agent of this office at Christchurch, arrived this morning and brought with him his letter-books and all documents in his possession relating to Mr. Wason's application. I gave instructions in my office before Mr. Hamilton's arrival that none of the officers were to communicate with him about, or to discuss, this matter. Previously to Mr. Hamilton receiving my telegram requesting him to come to Wellington, he had written to me in consequence of a paragraph in the Lyttelton Times. His letter arrived by the "Tarawera" this morning before he did. I attach a copy, so that you may have a copy of every document in my possession relating to this. On Mr. Hamilton's arrival, I read to him the Hansard proof of Mr. Wason's speech which you forwarded to me, and a copy of Mr. Wason's letter to yourself, and I asked him certain questions in order to save time, and to let you have his testimony at the earliest possible opportunity. A shorthand clerk took down my questions, and the statements made by Mr. Hamilton, and they are enclosed herewith. Unless you desire that Mr. Hamilton should remain here I propose to let him return to Christchurch by this evening's boat, as he has important business requiring his attention in Christchurch. His attendance here can always be secured at a few hours' notice. As Mr. Hamilton may be held to be implicated in Mr. Wason's charges against myself, he has requested me to ask that any inquiry into my conduct which may take place may also include his. I have, &c, The Eight Hon. the Premier. J. C. Martin, Public Trustee.
No. 10. The District Agent, Christchurch, to the Public Trustee, Wellington. Sir,— 13th July, 1898. /. G. Wason's Application: Explaining re Interview with Mr. Wason. —l see by the local Lyttelton Times that Mr. Wason has made a most unwarrantable attack upon you from his seat in the House of Eepresentatives. I therefore hasten to place you in possession of what transpired here in connection with Mr. Wason's application. The application was sent by me to Wellington on the 12th March last. On the 23rd idem I received your reply declining the application. On the following day I wrote Messrs. Wilding and Lewis, solicitors, through whom the application was made (copy of letter herewith). A day or two after my letter to Messrs. Wilding and Lewis, Mr. Wason and Mr. Lewis called, when Mr. Wason asked by what authority you decided the question without a valuation. I replied that the custom of the office was, not to put applicants to the expense of a valuation if it appeared that the security was not a suitable one, and, no doubt, you had satisfied yourself as to that point. He said, "How?"