SLUMP IN SECTIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 172, 23 July 1929, Page 9

SLUMP IN SECTIONS.

EX-LAW CLERK'S FAILURE.

PROPERTIES HARD TO SEEL.

A. H. MARTIN MEETS HIS

CREDITORS

The affairs of Alexander Henry Martin, formerly a law clerk, of Auckland, were investigated to-day, the Acting Official Assignee (Mr. V. R. Crowhurst) presiding over the first meeting of creditors. The debtor's statement showed claims of unsecured creditors amounting to £2220 17/, and those of secured creditors to £571S 14/3, the estimated value of securities being returned at £12,130, leaving a surplus of £6411 5/9. Total debts were £7939 11/3. On the credit side were shown book debts of £649 7/2, estimated to produce £475. There was a nominal surplus of £4665 8/9. Martin stated that he was a clerk in the employ of Messrs. Bennett and Jacobsen, solicitors, of Auckland, for some years prior to February, 1928. He lived at home with his widowed mother, his brother and two sisters, and had helped to support them. For the last nine or ten months, since his people went to Wanganui, he had been assisting the proprietor of an auction mart at Papakura, where he had been living. During his time with Messrs. Bennett and Jacobsen he undertook a few speculations, all of which proved quite satisfactory. The slump caught him holding about 40 sections in Reinuera, which were unproductive. He originally received about £SOO from his father's estate.

Martin set out a list of causes for his bankruptcy, which, he said, made his position very difficult. Otherwise his income from investments would have met all interest on his mortgages. Four mortgages, he said, made default in the payment of interest and principal moneys, and one of his houses in Franklin Road was unoccupied off and on for a considerable time, whilst an orchard on a lower block in Portland Road had failed to produce a satisfactory revenue. A fourth cause given was the judgments which had been made against him when he was not in a position to meet them. A tenant had failed to carry out an agreement regarding tenancy. "My creditors know how. I tried to avoid bankruptcy," stated debtor, "as I believe that, given time to realise, I could have paid more than 20/ in the pound." It was still his desire that his creditors should receive their full amounts. He had handed over to the solicitors for the first mortgagees the authority to collect dues on his properties. This was the fairest thing to do for the benefit of his creditors. Answering the Acting Assignee, Martin said he received the £800 from h' father's estate about seven years ago, and it was about that time that he began to invest in property. He had tried to dispose of a number of his sections, and if he had been successful he would probably have been able to carry on. Property had, however, proved very difficult to dispose of. He had not been spending more than £2 or £3 a week on living expenses recently.

Asked by the representative of one of the principal creditors why he had not called his creditors together earlier, Martin said that, given time, he could have cleared his affairs up. He admitted that he might have called them earlier, but said none of them had suffered in any way. "That remains to be seen," remarked the questioner.

After bankrupt had been examined at length regarding his transactions, it was decided to set up a committee to be associated with the Assignee in realising the estate and investigating the properties. The question of Martin's discharge was held over.