25

H.—l6b

Had Howard lent his ear to evil advisers, as Walker has done, he too would have been persuaded to enter into this evil and, apparently, plotted agitation. The Trasks (butchers) are interesting themselves in a great measure on Walker's behalf, and the only reason I can assign for them doing so is that I dealt with them as butchers, and, finding them unsuitable, left them and "went elsewhere. This appears to have annoyed them very much, and it seems to me they are determined to have revenge, and not having any other method of making complaint have evidently used Walker as the medium of their grievance. It does seem strange that it is only the four members of the Force who were dealing with the Trasks and left rhem that are mentioned in this alleged grievance. E. Mackay, Sergeant No. 210.

Police-station, Nelson, 11th July, 1901. Report of Constable T. S. C. Kemp, re Accusations in A. B. Walker's Letter, dated 19th ultimo. I beg to state that the particulars of the case will be found in my report of the 11th ultimo. As stated therein., we left on the 7th ultimo; being unsuccessful we returned to this station on the Bth; interviewed Henry James Howard same evening, who volunteered to accompany Constable Durbridge and myself over the Maungatapu Eange the following morning. As it was late before Howard finished his statement he decided to stop at the police-station for the night, it being agreed that an early start would be necessary to reach the camp before dark. On our way over the Maungatapu we met a young man who said he had come from Canvastown, and was on his way to Nelson. He said he was very hungry, and we supplied him with lunch, and informed him of his distance from town. There was neither threat made or revolver shown to this man referred to. On the face of this assertion it is easily to be seen that it is a nefarious falsehood, as I fail to see how Walker, who was miles distant at the time, could know what took place when we met this man, and in my opinion this imputation was aided by some prejudiced person against the police. Eegarding the maltreatment at the arrest of Walker, I may say that on approaching the camp Howard gave us to understand that Walker would take to the bush. I crept ahead and got close to Walker before he noticed me. I arrested him. He struggled violently to escape. We both fell, being tripped by underwood. Constable Durbridge came to my assistance. Walker was handcuffed with no more force than was necessary to secure his custody. As Walker still made repeated attempts to escape, we put a large pair of handcuffs on his ankles and took him to the tent, where we left him while we separated stolen property from that belonging to the prisoner. How this prisoner could see he was black in the face is beyond my comprehension, and, in my mind, sufficient proof that he is given to gross exaggeration. After sorting portion of the stolen property, we removed the handcuffs off the prisoner's ankles. There was no revolver pointed in his face, threat made, or skin pulled off his wrists or ankles. He was not made to carry a swag ; he volunteered to carry one, which consisted of a 12 lb. ham rolled in a blanket. We ourselves carried from the horse-bridge 1 cwt. each. As to his accusation that he was not searched when placed in the cell at the police-station, it, too, is untrue and without foundation. He was searched twice—first when arrested, and again at the station, in the presence of Sergeant Mackay, Constables Burrell, Durbridge, and myself. He had none of the weapons on him he alleges to have had ; and this in itself will plainly show that his assertions are more in the nature of an agitation than a grievance. His allegation that they were not visited during the night when in the cells is fictitious. I had the keys and visited them during the night. They were brought before the Court and pleaded guilty to one charge. Sentence was deferred to the 16th ultimo, waiting report from Probation Officer. Bail was allowed. Walker refused to accept it. Howard obtained bail. Walker was placed in the police gaol until the 12th ultimo, when he was bailed, and asked as a special favour to be allowed to stay with us single constables, as he did not wish to go home, stating that if allowed to stay he would show the police a horse-track by which means they could get pack-horses within a short distance of the camp. Knowing the road to be of a rugged and dangerous nature, we deemed it advisable to accede to his request, keeping him the time at our own expense. Had we not allowed him the favour he asked it would have been almost impossible to get the stolen property for exhibits in Court. Constable Durbridge and myself worked very hard, going almost night and day to work up the case and recover the property. The accused were represented in Court by counsel, and made no complaint whatever. They were asked by their solicitor to listen attentively to the list of articles being read in the information, and if there was anything therein mentioned that they did not steal to plead not guilty. Howard and Walker left the station, apparently quite satisfied. From the attached statement of Howard, and the fact of Howard's father bringing his son to this station to make it, and being present and witnessing his son's statement, also the attached memo, from Walker's guardian, would tend greatly to show that Walker's complaint is instigated by an older counsellor than himself, and 1 believe that counsel to be the Trasks (butchers). We single constables were dealing with them for some time, and finding them unsuitable we decided to leave. Ever since they have shown great antipathy towards us. Thos. S. C. Kemp, Constable No. 915. Sergeant Mackay, in charge of Police, Nelson.

Police-station, Nelson, 7th November, 1901. Beport of Constable F. H. Durbridge re Accusations in A. B. Walker's Letter, dated 19th ultimo. 1 respectfully report that from instructions received I, in company with Constable Kemp, left for the Maungatapu Eanges in search of a camp belonging to Howard and Walker ; being unsuccessful, we returned to town. Having learnt that Howard, one of the suspects, was in town, we informed Sergeant Mackay of what we had learnt. He instructed us to bring Howard to the station ; this

4—H. 16b.