BANKRUPTCY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 48, 27 February 1890, Page 2

BANKRUPTCY.

EFFECT OF LAND SPECULATION.

The following sworn statement was made before the Official Assignee yesterday, by Mr John Wilson, of Cambridge :—" For several years pasblhayo been dealing m native lands. My difficulties commenced about four years ago, owing to the fall in the price of land. The immediate cause of my filing is a judgment obtained by a principal creditor for £2,500, for ■which a charging order has been issued on the Rangitatau and Mangapapa lands in the Wanganui district. The foundation for this judgment was the purchase by the creditor referred to, at the nominal price of 10s, of a mortgage due by me for £2,500, money advanced and interest in the purchase ot the Mangawhara block of 1,364 acres, valued by Messrs Grant and Foster as worth £3 per acre, but which is now unsaleable at any price. , My financial position Borne years ago was unassailable. In 1877 I sold to Messrs Rich, Williams, and Strode 17,000 acres of land forming the Richmond Estate, near Mataraata, for 30s per acre, or £25,500, my debts being then under • £4,000; but engaging largely in the purchase of native lands, and land being unsaleable at any price, I have lost all my means. My heaviest losses were in the Waikato, in the great losses connected with the sale of the Patetere lands, some 269,000 acres ; and to the Thames Valley Land Company in England, in which I had about one-39ve.nth interest. Some £32,000 was paid by us in. conaection with the Va-fcetere property as commission for ostensibly gelling this laud, namely, forming ib into a company ol 50,000 shares, of which we, the vendors of the land, had to take 32,500 shares, the people in England only taking 17,500. The calls on the shares I had to take more than came to the money paid to me, and to crown all, the balance oE money due to us (£174,000) was not paid, but instead, 100,000 acres of land were returned to the vendors without any rebate In the commission, and we had .to pay, on re-con-veyance, some £800 for stamp duty, etc. Now not an acre of it can be sold at even a third of the price at which it cost us. Out of these transactions in Waikato and Wanganui arose the debt. £3,09911s 9d, due to Mr James Smith, who had 10-25fcb interest in my share in Patetere. Mr Smith advanced to mo £40,000, exclusive of interest, and my disbursements on his behalf amounted to £42,000, also without interest, but owing to the payments in the Thames Valley Co. being less in amount than the calls a.nd charges, I was unable to make the payments accruing to Mr Smit/h on the sale. My unsecured debts amount to £9,233 8s 3d, and secured £3,250. The latter I believe to be fully covered by the securities held, as particularised in my schedule. The assets consist of my interest in the Rangitebau Block, of 3,826 acres, sold in the early part of this month at 12s per acre.: £2,295 123, subject to a lien of £1,020 to the Bank, the proceeds, £1,275 12s, being payable as soon as the transfer is effected. My interesb in the Mangapapa Block, of 12,402 acres, is valued at £1,555. The only lien on' these two, properties, outside the £1,020 to the Bank, is a charging order unsatisfied to the amount of £1,450, and which I am advised is made invalid by ban-kruptcy. There is also a survey claim of £680 on the Mangaoike block. This 13, however, contingent, on the natives effecting a sale. Two leasehold properties at Cambridge are of very doubtful value, and the same may be said be book debts to the amount of £194. For Bqme past J- have. kept, no books. All ihy transactions are, however, recorded in my notebooks, which shall be put m along with the copy letter book, bank pass books, and cheque books. The Patetere and other large transaction records are, of course, fully set forth in the respactive companies books in the hands of the liquidator. I have disclosed all my assets, and they are described in my schedule. I have a life interest in the furniture and other property under the provisions of a will made by niy late wife, but the value of this interest is not included in my assets.