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H.—l6b

"My name is , wife of , Waimea Eoad, Nelson. We all heard of trouble, and Constable Durbridge was blamed for it. I was not spreading it, I believe my mother-in-law said something about it. Some weeks after went to Wellington Durbridge came here and accused me of telling something about the girl, &c. I denied it. My mother-in-law asked him if he was not going to do something for the girl, &c. He simply laughed and passed it off, saying he had nothing to do with it, &c. " The girl came back about three or four months ago. She was in old . She told about it; said Durbridge was the father of her child, and that it was a boy. daughter had tea with us at the time, and told us all the girl told her mother. They made no secret of it then. We do not wish to be mixed up in this matter. I next called on , the old woman who used to have the Hotel, but she was evidently put on her guard. She was stopping at the time at a place called "The Wood," with a married son. All I could get out of her in answer to many questions was simply, " I know nothing about it. I have nothing to do with it. I don't understand or interfere with such matters. I would not think would do the like of that," &c. I gave her up. She is an untruthful old woman. I questioned her re girl's statement to her when she came back on a visit from Wellington—having tea with her, the child being a boy, &c.—but she gave the same evasive answers : could not remember; did not understand, &c. lam given to understand , the , could give evidence if he wished, but he will not do so, as he is very friendly with Mr. , who is the bosom friend of Sergeant Mackay, and gets all the possible horse hire from the police that can be given. Although and his wife promised me not to mention my interview with them, he immediately told Mr. , who, I am told, said to him, " He had no business in your place, put the b up as high as a kite." He was referring to me. This is all the information I got in reference to this case, with the exception of the attached report from Constable Williams. I requested Constable Williams to report anything he knew to me direct. He hesitated a good deal, as he is afraid they shall be revenged on him ; and from what I have heard all over Nelson I should not be surprised if they did. Durbridge, Burrell, and Kemp are apparently clubbed together, and, I believe, prepared to support each other in anything, and I very much fear they are too much favoured by the sergeant in charge. It will be observed that I instructed Sergeant Mackay to investigate and report on this charge on the 24th December last, but he did nothing in the matter. I attribute the difficulty in obtaining information to the fact that he knew such a complaint was made. Mrs. told me she heard Sergeant Mackay received several anonymous letters re Durbridge and the girl . If he did I never heard of it; but, judging from his failure to make any inquiry when instructed to do so, I would not expect to hear from him on the subject. Unless information can be got in Wellington, I do not expect to get much more in Nelson in reference to the girl's miscarriage, &c. Any steps taken shall have to be extremely cautious, and by trustworthy men, otherwise every effort shall be defeated. I find the number of people that can be " squared " is simply astonishing. Eeferring to Constable Williams's report, I understood he means a Mrs. , a supposed abortionist, not a Mr. I am not, however, positive. I may add that in all my experience I never came across such a state of matters as appear to exist in Nelson apparently since the time Sergeant Mackay is alleged to have been drunk. E. A. Macdonell, Inspector.

Sir,— Police Station, Nelson, 12th February, 1902. About the 25th of May, 1901, when out on night duty, Constable Durbridge asked me what part of Willis Street did Mrs. live in ? I asked him what he wanted to know for. He stated, " Nothing particular." I said, " Near the Brunswick Hotel." There was a man named , a butcher in Waimea Street, present at the time, who had been speaking to Durbridge when I came along. said to Durbridge, " I saw you in company with on several occasions." Durbridge replied, " Yes, but I can tell you who is the father. It is ex-Con-Stable •" He stated that he would go and tell the girl where this woman lived, as he did not like to see any girl in trouble. He went away in company with . I was not aware at the time why Durbridge inquired for Mrs. , or I would not have given him any information. Durbridge took some money out of the Post-Office Savings-Bank about that time. On the 27th May, 1901, Durbridge escorted a prisoner from Nelson to Auckland. The Inspector of Police, Nelson. J. S. Williams, Constable 754.

New Zealand.—Police Department. From Inspector Macdonell, Grey. Eeceived 26th February, 1902. Subject : Complaints of Assault by Constable Durbridge, &c. (2). Inspector Macdonell, —These assaults, if committed as alleged, constitute statutory offences, and the complainants should have laid informations against the constable at the time, when the matter could have been inquired into on oath. As they failed to do this, in my opinion it would be unfair to the accused to now institute an inquiry where the complainants can say anything without fear of the consequences. You will observe from the papers returned to you this day that I have formulated charges for offence against the regulations, police discipline, &c, against the various officers concerned, arising out of the other reports submitted by you.—J. B. Tunbridge, Commissioner. 27th February, 1902. • Noted.—E. Macdonell, Inspector. 23rd March, 1902.