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C. S. Com. - Police - Wednesday, 6th Feb. - FORTY-FOUR
10746. By the Chairman: We must drop the charge then, as you say yourself you do not know how Stafford
accounted for the horse? It will cost me £60 to get back to the place where I was employed. It does
not matter to you if that man has not disposed of the money. I can prove it from the Commissioner's
report.
10747. What Commissioner's report do you want - his annual report? I want the Commissioner present.
You do not want me to take a man up short and say this or say that.
10748. By Mr. Forrest: We expect you, when you make a charge of a distinct character against a man,
in a letter, to make it good, and that you have failed to do? Well, how else will I do it?
10749. Whatever way you like? Well I will summons the Commissioner, that will be pretty good
proof of it.
10750. By Mr. R. J. Gray: How do you know he did it I was present at the time he sold the horse.
10751. By Mr. Forrest: Did you not state that the man pocketed the money? Most decidedly. He
put the money into his pocket when he received it.
10752. You must not shuffle here. Answer my question properly or I will make you? Did he appro-
priate it for his own use? Most decidedly he did.
10753. By the Chairman: You will have to prove that? I will prove it through the Commissioner.
10754. By Mr. R. J. Gray: How do you know he applied the money to his own
use? Well I do in
this way. That he has tried to induce me to dispose of two or three more horses in addition to this one.
That is what he did.
10755. By Mr. Kates: If the Commissioner says he accounted for it, there's an end of it? Yes; there's
an end of it.
10756. By Mr. R. J. Gray: But there is not an end to the slander you are making now? What I am
saying I am worth it.
10757. By Mr. Kates: How will you look here if you are told he refunded the money to the department?
I can bet my life he did not.
1075A. By the Chairman: Well, we will send for the papers and see what he did? Very well.
[tick, left margin] 10758. You say in your letter that you reported Sub-Inspector Stafford to Inspector Murray of Cooktown
on three different charges - "1st. For receiving the sum of £30 under false representing to his inspector that
it would take the above amount to change the Glenroy camp to Palmerville." What have you to say to
that? That charge is perfectly true and I am prepared to prove it.
10759. Let us have it then? Out of the £30 he paid £8 to a carrier named Fox to draw the remains of
an old shed to Palmerville.
10760. Will you tell us first of all how you know he received the £30? I have seen all the vouchers
returned for it, [sic] With four Government horses I did the rest of the work of changing the camp, and, as
I say, he paid Fox £8 for drawing five loads of timber.
10761. We have an official record before us to the effect that Sub-Inspector Stafford never received more than
£10 of that money, and that the other £20 were paid to the men who did the work, and who gave a receipt as
per voucher for it. Are you in a position to prove the countrary [sic]? I am in a position to prove he never paid
a shilling but the £8 he paid to Fox. When I made my report against Stafford he may have gone to work
and issued receipts and vouchers for different things, when he found I would not be a party to his
disposing of Government property. I can prove by two constables and by the carrier that it only cost
him the £8 to change the camp. I did the rest, and I built cottages to the amount of £15 there. I can
get two magistrates and one member of Parliament who have seen the buildings I put up there.
10762. You must confine yourself to the question. You say he received £30, of which he only paid
away £8. Now I have a memorandum here from Inspector Murray, to the effect that he
paid the money himself, and that Stafford never had the handling of more than £10 of
it? How can he
say that whenStafford received the money and the vouchers for pay, I saw the cheque given to Stafford.
10764. What cheque? The cheque for £30 for the removal of the Glenroy Police Camp. I had it in
my hand.
10765. A cheque for £30? Yes; that is what he got for it.
10766. There must be some extraordinary stories somewhere? Yes; otherwise I would not have come
from Herbert River.
10767. Well, we have the vouchers here. You must give us some further proof. We have the official
documents at variance with what you have said? There is no such thing as vouchers between these two
sub-inspectors.
10768. Your own word is not quite sufficient against these official documents in such grave charges? I
could prove it by two other constables; but what have I got to do with summonsing
constables.
10769. What other constables? Constables Murray and O'Brien.
10770. Was the Government not willing to render you any assistance in this inquiry? I do not care
whether any assistance is given to me or not. I speak the truth.
10771. Well, I have here a report from Stafford on the subject, under date 2nd June, and addressed to
Murray, and he says:—

"Referring to the money expended in shifting the camp, you are aware that the sum of £10
was paid to
James Fox for cartage, also that the sum of £20 was paid to James Bostock for the cartage of five loads of building
material from Glenroy to Palmerville and the erection of buildings at Palmerville. You are aware that I only
handled £10 of it, which I paid to Fox and for which you have got a receipted voucher."

Inspector Murray corroborates that statement in the report from him which I have already read to you.
Now, are we to understand from you that both these men told lies on the subject? Most
decidedly.
[tick, left margin] 10772. By Mr. R. J. Gray: Would you say so if you saw the receipted vouchers produced? I would
believe it then, because Bostock did not have a saddle strap and he never drove a nail at the place.
10773. By the Chairman: The next charge you make is that you reported Stafford "for keeping a black-
boy chained up to a post by the legs for a period of thirteen days without food or water - and sitting in
his filth and dirt"? There is nothing in the world more certain than that. He was chained
to a
verandah post nine inches through, with a pair of handcuffs on him.
10774. By Mr. R. J. Gray: And had nothing to eat or drink during that time? I gave him something
out of my own pocket as there was no provision made for his keep. Stafford went away and he
instructed me to leave that boy on the chain until he returned. He went away one morning after
hammering him and breaking his arm.
10775. By the Chairman: Now I will read to you what Stafford reports on that subject, under date 2nd
June, 1888. He says:—

"I did have an aboriginal whom I employed as an interpreter leg-ironed to a post, as I was afraid he would
get away and give notice to the murderers of Wright, of whom I was in pursuit. If any inhumanity was
practised it was without my sanction and Heavey was responsible for it as he was distinctly in charge of the
prisoner and rations were ordered by me to be served out to him."

What have you to say to that? What is the date of that report?