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from September to December fourteen years ago, I have at no
time rendered assistance of any kind in the carrying on of a
trade or business in this Colony or elsewhere; and I have the
honour to submit that the assistance so as aforesaid rendered
by me during the said period was not such as to come within
the meaning of the prohibition in the Coloniel Regulation.
8. During the whole course of my long service with the
Government of this Colony it has never been suggested to me
that I have failed in anyway in the proper performance of my
duties, nor that I have devoted any portion of my time which
ought to have been at the disposal of the Government in work,
or amusement, for my own benefit or recreation.
9. The said John Tatam, on whose initiative these proceedings
have been taken against me, is still indebted to me for a
large part of the moneys advanced to him by me to enable bim
to carry on the said business; and, in causing the se
proceedings to be instituted, I verily believe that he was
actuated by improper motives inasmuch as in the year 1904, I
was told by him that his Solicitor, Mr M. J. D. Stephens, had
advised him that I had committed a breach of the Colon ial
Regulations; but the said John Tatam stated that no complaint
would be made against me provided I paid to him a few hundred
dollers and wiped out all accounts between us, which I
absolutely refused to do.
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10. This was the first occasion on which the possibility
occurred to me of a contention being made that I had acted
incorrectly in rendering the assistance which I had rendered
to the said John Tatam. I believed however that I had not
in fact acted incorrectly in the matter, and preferred to
answer any charge which might be made against me rather than
to submit to extortion.
11.
Subsequently to my said interview with the said John
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