CO129-278 - Governor Sir Robinson - 1897 [11-12] — Page 425

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justice and fairness to the Petitioner.

The Petitioner himself was not questioned, and he was given ample time to prepare a written defence in which he could have had legal assistance had he desired it.

With regard to (b) I have already mentioned the part taken by the Crown Solicitor in the enquiry. It is possible that he may have drawn attention to some portion of a witness' statement that I had omitted to question the witness on. But such was only done to economise time and to save me the trouble of constantly referring to the statements myself.

With regard to (c) I should mention that the Petitioner made no application at the time for professional assistance. Had he done so I consider that it would have been inadvisable to have granted his request, for had it been granted the first application that the Petitioner's legal adviser would have made, would have been that the enquiry should be conducted according to the strict rules of evidence, and his second, that according to such rules the list on which the Petitioner's number was found, should not be admitted.

By allowing lawyers to appear on both sides, which petitioner now complains was not done, a Court of Law would have been in effect created, which was not in reality.