LIABILITY FOR CLUB DEBTS.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5476, 23 February 1910, Page 4

LIABILITY FOR CLUB DEBTS.

INTERESTING CASE. Having been eng'a'gxsl to cnrr> haivs for tho Hutt valloyj Coursing CIL-a, and iiraduig t'hjat <thcjir uccount of i^ll os hod not been paid, the New Zealand Kxprtss Comjiauy, LimJUd, last, wwjfc suwl.'J. E. Fitzgcralcl. cycle deakr. and' Joined Williamson, ol tifre G oMeriuneiit lTfcilinfe Oflicj, as prosi'dont and secmtary ol the club .respectively. Xr Samuel api>qarod for fho piaintLfl cutnpiany, and Jlr J&ukson for the defendant Fitagerald. Mr Samuel's contention was that merj associiatiton with a club of this, Eci't, which had a k<gal stonxHixg;. ronder^d a man liable. On© dH not need to (bp v member of the cli/b to be I held responsible for a prouortiion of j its ddbts. Mr Jackson considt>rad thtit this argument was contrary to common acnee. -"Many men mi'ghi be rujjiod ii thatj i»rLncipl« held," ha »i\4<l, *"fc» Iwe Know thut some mm .accept appointments as president or vice-pre-sident of forty or fifty cl-übs, of one kind or another. Your Worsh p may he ' president or vice-president of a'fwit,'ball club, with which you' have had I mo association wha't'evtir. ,You accept the office out of courtesy, and give a donation. A prosidont is usually a iigurahstid, and if he does; not make a donation - to tho club's funds luj is probably 'dropped.' " Mr Jackson went (on to say that the plaintiff company was not justified in picking i>ut two to sue on behalf of tke club, becausy, even if they wirj membera, they would not .bo liablo. Individual members wenj 'not li"abla for the dobts of their club > t'hoir'only responsibility was in- rcgurd to thoir own subscriptions. la evidence, Fitzlfeeraltl stated thut he had bean prosiaont of tho club for three ■ years. He had never been elected a m(Jrhl>er, and had only 'given donations to the club. He vvas sorry that the Recount ha<l n<>t'V>een pawl, and was endeavouring to ascertain the Reason. Williamson »tatod that he wan not a rnerrtber of the club, aiid had acted as secretary, without payment, because he bnd been approached by mombers who desired him to "undertake the work. The magistrate decided that honorary menVhers wx-ro not ■linbl'3 for the deibts of their club, and n'on-suitci the plaintiff company. No costs were allowed.

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