FARMER'S' FAILURE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLI, Issue 9431, 31 January 1921, Page 5

FARMER'S' FAILURE.

ESTATE IN BANKRUPTCY, j REPEATED BAD SEASONS. , PROPERTY TO~"bE REALISED. i\ A 'meeting of creditors m the bank-: rupt estate of Francis Cyril Davison, farmer, of Eiffelton, was held this morning, the Deputy-Official Assignee (Mr J. B. Christian) presiding over aii attendance of nine creditors. , ' Bankrupt, m his sworn statement, said that he started farming on his own account m June, 1914, when he purchased the farm at Eiffelton of 79 acres. The price was £28 10s per acre. He paid £200 deposit, which was advanced to him by his father. He had no capital of his own. The balance of the purchase money was, he believed, found by the Public Trustee. He arranged to pay £65 half-yearly to the Public Truste©j which was to cover interest and redemption. He had two very dry seasons to start with, and was unable to pay his rent. He went m for cropping principally, and carried very little stock. He had no team or plant of his own, his brothers doing all the necessary work for him with their teams. They received no payment for this other than the feed for their horses. In 1916 he volunteered, and left New Zealand on active service. He arranged with his father to look after the farm m his absence. His rent was the only liability he had at this time. He "returned home m September, 1919. He found that things had gone from bad to: wprse m his absence. No payment on account of rent had been made, and other heavy liabilities had been .incurred -for seeds, etc. The rent account at this time was nearly £700. A portion of his allotment money — about £80-^-had been spent on the farm. He immediately took over the active management of the farm, and his father removed to Loburn. He had kept no books, andN could not give any definite statement of the financial position. He purchased a team and plant for £219. There were five horses, with covers and harness, a plough, disc harrows, spring-dray, and a trolley. These are secured ; to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, who found all the money. . In spite of all his efforts he became more deeply involved, and the complete failure of this year's wheat and linseed crops convinced him that he could not possibly recover, and he was forced to file. He had never kept any books, and had made all payments m cash. He had no money m any bank or savings bank, and had not sufficient cash to pay his filing fee. ; This was paid by his brother. Bankrupt attributed his failure to repeated bad seasons and to the dirty condition of the farm, which was overrun with twitch and Californian thistles. He was married while m England, but his wife died m October last. He had one child. If he were allowed to retain the team and plant, he proposed to do contracting work m the future. He was a total abstainer, 'and did not gamble. The statement of and liabilities showed that the total amount owed to unsecured creditors was £488 4s lOd. The amount owed to secured creditors was £2782. The value of the security was £2904, leaving a balance to contra of £122.

His assets comprised a sum of £21 17s 6d owing to him for seed sold, and with the sum of £122 estimated surplus of securities, made a total of £143 17s 6d. The sectired creditors were: Eiffelton i-Land .Settlement Association, £2740; New' Zealand Farmers' Cooperative Association, Ltd., £42. The unsecured creditors were: M. Bruce, £15 10s 7d; Ashburton County Council, £1 19s 7d; Longbeach Road Board, £7 18s 4d; W. J. McDonald, £3 9s; McDowell Bros., £1 12s Id; John Orr and Co., Ltd., £17 4s 6d; Pyne, Gould, Guinness and Co.. Ltd., £373 3s lid; W. J. Sparrow^ £21 7s 9d; H. Stephenson, £24; Wright, Stephenson and Co., £21 19s Id. In reply to questions bankrupt stated that he knew_ that during his absence a crop of linseed had been taken off the place, but he had not received any of the money realised" from its sale, although he believed that his father had made some arrangement with the National . Mortgage and Agency Company to take it. Mr- A. Mac Donald suggested that ,s6me information should be obtained as ,to. what bankrupt's father did during' bankrupt's absence. Assignee : The whole thing seems hopeless m its present condition. { Mr T. J. Hunter: The father was getting the farm rent free whTTe 'the ! .son was away. > Bankrupt added that he had made an allotment of 3s per day from his military pay, and his mother had told him that his father had' received all thatv,' His idea was that the place had nejer been farmed during his absence. He had bought a motor-cycle and side-, .car for £205, paying £115 on it. He had had a smash-up with the machine, and it had since been seized on account of arrears of payments and for repairs. Nothing was allowed for the £lis he had paid on it under the hire-purchase system. Regarding the margin on the land, the district manager of the Public Trust Office (Mr E". J". O'Brien) said he presumed the best course would be to sell and. endeavour to obtain some equity for the bankrupt. He believed that bankrupt's^ statement regarding what his father had done during his absence was correct. ' Bankrupt said that if the property were put up for auction he thought it would realise something. A committee comprising Messrs E. J. O'Brien and O'Malley was appointed to act with the Deputy -Official Assignee m realising the estate.