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William Bichard Cook in attendance, and examined on oath.—(No. 2.) 32. The Chairman.] Do you wish to make a statement, Mr. Cook, or ask Mr. Easton any questions ? —I would like to ask some questions later, because all this is new to me. These are grave charges, and I would like to look into them in order to see how far they are true, though I know that a very great deal of what Mr. Easton has stated is absolutely untrue. Before asking any questions I would like to look into some documents 33. Will you be able to produce any documents for us to verify the statements that have been made, or otherwise ? —I should like to get all the documentary evidence. I have not been in Dunedin for more than three weeks during the past eighteen months, and, as I say, what Mr. Easton states is new to me. His charges must be refuted or supported; and I would ask the Committee to order the production of the companies' books here, and have the evidence of the secretaries and directors. In addition to asking questions, I should like to make a short statement. 34. We shall be pleased to hear your statement now ?—Very well; but I would also like to make a statement after this if the Committee wdll give me an opportunity of examining Mr. Easton. First of all, gentlemen, I would like to say, in reference to the allotment of shares in the Cook and Gray companies, that I was never at any meeting when the shares were allotted. I think lam absolutely correct in saying that, but I might have been at one. Personally, I had nothing at all to do with the allotment of the shares. There may be an exception that Ido not remember ; but, broadly speaking, I know nothing of the allotment of the shares. When these options were given me I had many options —the Nelson Creek, the Charlton Creek, the Lawrence, the Three-mile Greenstone, and others. 35. All of these were successes. We have heard this morning that out of twelve companies floated by Cook and Gray eleven will go into liquidation ?—ln answer to that I may say that I can name five that are paying. Mr. Allan Holmes, solicitor —I believe, an honourable man—■ prepared the articles of association of the companies; I have never read them, and know nothing about them. Mr. Holmes drew up those articles of association, and they are either good or bad, according to the legal arrangements, and had nothing whatever to do with myself or Cook and Gray. Then, sir, in every one of these companies I have at least 500 contributing shares, and Mrs. Cook has also 500. I think that we have paid all the calls that have been made in connection with all of them. It is news to me to hear this morning that Mrs. Cook owes £50 on the shares in the Tucker Flat Company. If she does, it is one call of 2s. per share. Mr. Easton has told you that I owed on the 19th April £500 or £600—1 forget which—to the Boss Day Dawn Company. I was away from Dunedin for five or six months, but on the 2nd May I paid up 20s. in the pound on the Boss Day Dawn shares. I hold 900 contributing shares, for which I have paid £900. I certainly owed for some calls on the 19th April, but they were all paid on the 2nd May. With reference to the No Town No. 2. Company, and Mr. Jackson's letter in connection therewith, the prospectus will be laid before you, and will speak for itself. Mrs. Cook and myself have up till now paid £600 on contributing shares in that company. Mr. Easton is distorting the facts with regard to Mr. Jackson's report on the No Town claims. There are two miles of creek— exactly similar ground. For his report I paid Mr. Jackson twenty-five guineas in cash, and he insisted on having twenty-five fully paid-up shares, making fifty guineas for his report. To support that report or otherwise I sent Mr. John Don, paying him his fee. They both reported that the ground was apparently gold-bearing, and both reports were very favourable. Then, we had the next mile of creek —a continuation of the No Town. Cutten, the engineer, was there, and he gave a report —which is printed on the prospectus —saying that this ground was precisely the same as the claim reported on by Messrs. Jackson and Don, with this exception : that it had a little more timber. That you will see from the report on the No Town No. 2. In regard to all the other companies — Lees Ferry, Wicklow, and others—Don was sent to prospect and report, being there some five or six weeks reporting on several claims—more than half of which he condemned— the others he reported on, as the prospectus shows, in a very favourable way. On what he based that report is for him to say. At any rate, he reported; his report was printed on the prospectus without comment, and the companies were floated on his report. As I say, in every instance I have taken 500 contributing shares, and Mrs. Cook has taken 500. The shares all went up to a premium, but we never sold; I have never sold a vendor's share in either of those companies, and I stand to-day to lose more than any one connected with them. We have never made a shilling out of them, and hold the vendors' shares, many of which are not allotted, and in addition I paid large fees for reports beforehand. As to the directors being my nominees—well, that is absurd. The articles of association were signed by seven—l think the legal number is seven—contributing shareholders in Dunedin in my absence, and they nominated and elected the directors. They elected me to be a director on most of them; they knew that I was travelling and could not attend the meetings—that I should be on the West Coast—and I was asked to look after the companies' interests on the Coast. Personally, I did not know that my fees had been paid; they were paid into the office, and I think that the companies have not got my receipt for one sixpence—they took receipts from the clerks. I believe that what was done was that a certain fee was voted to the directors for their services—not a fee for each director—but the directors were voted a sum for their services to be divided as they deemed well. Out of that they voted me a certain amount, for which I have given services by inspecting matters on the Coast. With regard to Mr Gray's evidence, where he swore about misrepresentation : Mr. Gray was my partner, but we dissolved. I had to step in and insist on a dissolution, and probably Mr. Gray is feeling a little sore. I asked my solicitor to have my evidence taken at the Court, but was not called, and the Magistrate decided that there was no misrepresentation without hearing my side of the question at all. As to the statements which Mr. Easton has made in reference to the Dunedin Stock Exchange, I never heard that there was such a meeting ; whatever was done was