PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O.882
2 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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of the Commission; and 2ndly, the correctness of General Smyth's statement that, "at the conclusion of the examination of witnesses, it was agreed upon unanimously that each Member of the Commission should furnish me, confidentially, with his views upon the evidence, in the form of a Draft Report, from which the Draft of the general one should be framed for discussion by the Commissioners."
It is, of course, impossible to say whether a gentleman who was absent from the discussions of the Commissioners whilst framing their Report, would or would not, had he been present at and taken part in them, have concurred in the conclusions at which, after long and careful consideration, they ultimately arrived; but that your colleagues were justified in believing that such agreement on your part was, to Bay the least, not impossible is, his Excellency thinks, proved by the Memorandum of Major General Smyth, of which, by his Excellency's direction, I now inclose a copy.
As regards the second point of your appeal, his Excellency has uniformly found all General Smyth's statements distinguished by scrupulous accuracy and precision, and he had, therefore, no hesitation in concluding either that you must, in the present instance, have been under a misapprehension, or that the circumstances of the case must have escaped your recollection. In order to ascertain, however, whether any similar misapprehension existed on the part of other Members of the Commission, his Excellency has caused the extract made by you from General Smyth's letter to Messrs. Stein and Currie to be communicated to each of your colleagues in the inquiry, and has received from them, in reply, an unanimous confirmation of its
statements.
Mr. Justice Gorrie writes as follows:-
"It was agreed upon by the Police Enquiry Commissioners that each Member of the Commission should send in a Draft Report to Major-General E. Selby Smyth, the Chairman, from which a Draft of the Report to be submitted to the Commissioners for adoption might be framed.
"In pursuance of this arrangement, I sent in a Draft Report, and I was informed by all the Commissioners, with the exception of Mr. Antelme, but including Mr. Fraser, that they had also sent in Reports as requested.
"A Draft Report was subsequently laid before the Commissioners by Major- General Selby Smyth, made up from the documents so sent to him; and at the meetings of the Commissioners, which lasted from six to eight hours each, this Draft Report was considered with the greatest care and adjusted. The separate Drafts were not laid on the table, and, personally, I saw none of those of my colleagues.
"The 'Summary of Conclusions' was adjusted in the same careful manner by all Commissioners who signed the Report; the paragraph in the covering letter of the Chairman, regarding the exact wording of two sentences in the summary, having been ocensioned by my absence at Cononier's Point when a final meeting of the Commis- sioners was held, after the Report sent to his Excellency had already been signed.
"I add this, as an attempt has been made, based upon that portion of the covering letter of the Chairman, to deprive my colleagues, General Smyth, Captain Blunt, and Mr. Robertson, of the credit due to them for their anxious labours, by representing me as the sole author of the Report, whereas it was a joint Report, care- fully prepared by the Chairman from the separate Drafts, and adjusted, paragraph by paragraph, by all the Commissioners who signed.”
The Hon. Mr. Antelme says:-
"J'ai l'honneur de vous faire savoir que je me souviens très bien que pendant et après l'enquête sur la police et la petition des anciens immigrants, le Général E. Selby Smyth, Président de la Commission, a demandé et obtenu la promesse que, l'enquête terminé, chaque membro de la Commission lui enverrait un rapport, séparé, destiné sculement à l'aider pour la rédaction du rapport général qu'il devait soumettre à leur examen."
Mr. Robertson reports :-
"I was not present at the meeting when it is said the Commissioners were unanimously of opinion, &c., and have no personal knowledge of what then passed. The same day, however, the General sent me a Memorandum, in which he stated that two of the other Commissioners and himself had agreed, and other two had concurred. each to communicate his ideas and views on the evidence heard by the Commission, as well as his opinion regarding the various complaints investigated, also his suggestions and the remedies he would propose; on which being given to him, the President undertook to draw up a Draft Report, compiling the various suggestions, for discussion and adoption by the Commission." I was asked to concur in this; I did so, and acted upon it.
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Captain Blunt remarks — "To the best of my recollection, it was most certainly agreed at one of our meet- ings, that each Member of the Commission should furnish the Chairman with his views on the evidence, in the form of a Report; and that after the Chairman had framed from these different Reports a general one embracing the opinions, as far as possible, of the Members of the Commission, we should all meet and discuss it. the Commissioners sent in their Reports, except Mr. Antelme, who said he had not had enough time to do so. Whether the Honourable Mr. Fraser was present when this matter was talked over and agreed upon, I cannot recollect; but that he was cognizant of the fact is self-evident, as he forwarded his Report to the Chairman.
All
"With respect to the discussions that took place on the Draft Report, there can be no doubt whatever, as we met at the Chairman's own house, and also at Judge Gorrie's, four or five different times. The Honourable Mr. Fraser was not present, as he had either left the Colony, or was on the eve of doing so.
"His Excellency, therefore, cannot perceive that there is anything in the state- ment referred to, to which exception can properly be taken."
As General Smyth was in England at the time when your letter was written- fact of which you can hardly have been unaware, his Excellency is somewhat surprised that if you felt aggrieved by any statement made by that officer, you should not have communicated directly with him upon the subject.
His Excellency regrets that you did not take this course, as it would probably have led to the correction of the numerous erroneous assumptions contained in the latter part of your letter.
The regret which you express, that the Governor did not allow a copy of the Report to be forwarded to you by the April packet, is unintelligible to his Excellency.
The covering letter to the Report is dated the 9th April, and it was only presented to his Excellency on the afternoon of that day. It is unnecessary to observe, that his Excellency could neither allow nor prevent its transmission by the mail-packet, which left five days previously.
I have, &o.
The Hon. J. Fraser,
&o.
&c. &c.
(Signed) EDWARD NEWTON, Colonial Secretary.
Inclosure 2 in No. 52.
Memorandum of Major-General Smyth.
PREVIOUS to Mr. Fraser's departure I made allusion to the Report of the Police Commission, and said how sorry I felt that it could not be completed and signed before he went away.
He said he should be inclined to approve of the Report adopted by the majority, and I might sign for him in his absence. I said I should be very happy to do so, but ⚫ hoped he would give me a written authority to that effect; he, however, did not do so.
This was the tenor and purport of the faw words that passed in the Council Room.
E. SELBY SMYTH, Major-General.
April 20, 1872.
(Sigued)
No. 53.
The Earl of Kimberley to Governor the Hon. Sir A. H. Gordon, K.C.M.G.
(No. 247.)
Sir,
Downing Street, September 26, 1872.
I HAVE received your despatch No. 209 of the 28rd August, inclosing a copy of a letter addressed by your directions to Mr. Fraser on the subject of the Report recently issued by the Police Commission.
I
presume the Royal Commissioners will consider this subject as coming within the scope of their inquiry, and will give it full consideration. The Colonial Secretary's letter of the 23rd August, and General Smyth's Memorandum of the 20th April
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