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1911. NEW ZEALAND.

CHARGES AGAINST THE ADMINISTRATION AT RAROTONGA, COOK ISLANDS (REPORT OF HIS HONOUR SIR ROBERT STOUT, K.C.M.G., CHIEF JUSTICE, RELATIVE TO).

Presented to Parliament by Command of His Excellency.

EEPOET. Sir, —- Judge's Chambers, Wellington, 19th July, 1911. In pursuance of the request contained in your letter of the 13th May last, I have the honour to report on the charges referred to therein. I arrived at Avarua on Friday, the 9th June, in the afternoon. I at once made inquiries to ascertain what persons had made complaints regarding the administration of the Islands. So far as I could learn only three persons had done so —namely, Dr. Dawson, a former Medical Officer; Mr. Reynolds, formerly head of the police; and Mr. Hosking, a dentist practising his profession at Rarotonga. All these gentlemen reside together. Next day I sent each of them a letter, a copy of which is annexed hereto and marked "A "; and also published in the Cook Islands Gazette a notice inviting all those who had any complaints to call on me (see notice marked " B "). Dr. Dawson, Mr. Reynolds, and Mr. Hosking called on me on Monday about 9.30 a.m., and asked me whether the inquiry was to be a public one, and whether the evidence was to be on oath. I read to them your letter, and explained that I had no power to administer any oath. There is, I may add, no law in the Cook Islands permitting oaths to be administered even by a Royal Commission, and no provision for the punishment of perjury before such a Royal Commission. In my opinion, however, the administration of oaths before a Royal Commission has very little influence in the obtaining of true statements, and when Sir James Prendergast made investigation into the conduct of a former Commissioner no oath was administered by him. I informed them that, in my opinion, I could the better acquire the fullest information by an inquiry not open to the public. Persons might not desire to state what they knew if it was to be known to the public. And assuming that there is a law of libel or slander in the Cook Islands (regarding which, for obvious reasons, I express no opinion), persons might not choose to run the risk of defamation actions. They asked time to consider the matter, and on Tuesday they handed me in the letters marked respectively " C," " D," and " E," in which they declined to make statements. Subsequently Mr. Reynolds asked leave to withdraw his letter, and made a lengthy statement to me. A perusal of the letters will show that one of the main reasons given for desiring a public inquiry was that they had been attacked, and that they should have an opportunity of exculpating themselves. This seems to me to imply that there are many of the white settlers in Rarotonga who do not hold their opinions. I had, of course, neither authority nor power to investigate charges that may have been made against them, but only to deal with the charges that had been made against the administration of the Government. No person came forward with any complaints except Mr. Reynolds. I met the

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