Note.

—I then decided to leave for Wellington to lay the whole facts before Ministers, as my letter of 26th February was not written or intended as a complete defence of my action. It will be observed that the letter of the Justice Department, dated 20th February, has no hint or suggestion that I was then really being put upon my trial—as it turned out, to be summarily convicted without appeal. So that it will be readily understood my reply of the 26th was not in such a form as I should have adopted had I been consciously fighting for the retention of my license, and my status as a Justice. Hence the necessity for a more elaborate statement on my part. I accordingly left for Wellington on May 22nd with a carefully prepared and lengthy memorandum for Ministers' consideration, arriving there the same day late at night.

On May 23rd, in the morning, I handed the memorandum above referred to to the Under Secretary of Justice, and received on the same day the brief note which follows it.