SHARP CRITICISM.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1095, 6 April 1911, Page 6

SHARP CRITICISM.

THE OFFICIAL ASSIGNEE'S DEPARTMEiNT.

DISSATISFIED CREDITORS.

AN ALLEGED AUCTIONEERING MONOPOLY.

The public office of the Official Assignee's Department was the scene of an outburst of adverse criticism from dissatisfied creditors yesterday, when the Assignee's administration of the bankrupt estate of Mrs. E. Ritson, cab proprietor, of Cambridge Terrace, was severely commented upon at a meeting of a number of the creditors in the estate* The meeting, at which nine firms were represented, was convened by the Official Assignee (Mr. A. Simpson) in response to a requisition by the creditors. »i o . n n akiDff " U! chr ' ir ' the Assignee said that the meeting had been called in connection with the bankrupt estate of Mrs. Jutson. He would have called the meeting earlier, but he had been ill with influenza, lie was happy to say that he was very much belter now, and able to geton with the work again. He was not aware of what business the creditors desired to bring forward, hut ho hoped that, th P press representatives would not relet- to any matters which might affect the sale ot the properties. The press had keen very good in the past in that respect, and lie had no doubt that on this occasion such matters as he had referred to would be treated with discretion.

A Direct Statement, S f r ' i l '!' then rose to his feet, aim addressed Mr. Simpson. "Mr. Official Assignee,- he said, "what we asked this meeting tor was this—l will say it right ol -jvc do not think this estate has been administered as it ought to have been." . I did not quite catch what you said," interrupted Mr. Simpson. Mr. 'iWnsend: "I say, wo do not think me estate has been administered as it "ii? it to have been. The first meeting m the estate was held on Julv 27, 1009, ami up til now, with the exception of a dividend of 125., nothing has been heard of it. It will no doubt be said tiat your department was unable to sell the property. We!!, what prompted the creditors to requisition for the meeting ivas the fact that several letters with rcierence to the sale of the property.had been received by creditors. Agents have been making inquiries about the price ot the properly, and your office has refused to supply the information. They were yeterred to a certain firm of agents in Wellington. If is rather peculiar, ■that firm appears to bo the Official Assignees in this estate, ami not vou."

Solo Agent for the Assignee. Mr. Townscnd then read out two letters whicii had boaii addressed to Mo-rs. Rowe and Son (creditors in the Ritson estate). Letter No. 1, from Messrs. .1. Fanning ■""I Co., estate agents, Wellington (dated March 1,), read as follows:— "The Ritson Estate: We understand that you are interested in the above estate. We have seen the Official Assignee on two occasions, with regard to sale of the Cambridge Terrnco property, but wo cannot get sale of same. \\ o might'state wo have an Oder for the property, but cannot do anything in the matter as the Official Assigneo absolutely refuses to give us any particulars in the matter." . (Signed) ,T. FANNING AND CO. " Letter No. -2. from Mr. Harry A. Shepherd estate agent, Wellington (dated March. 25) :— n"^*' 1 . I ,*™ 1 please-inform mo if the Umbridge Terrace property in Mrs. Ritson s estate is for sale? flavin" a very likely buyer for this block, 1 applied at the Official Assignee's office i n i, , Th,lr£(l: >.V afternoon, but was told by the clerks on dutv to go to -Messrs. Kennedy Macdonal'd and Co., as they agents fo.r. 'ho pr-;. perty Mr. hinipson, tho clones £a"id, had had several similar applications by agents and they had been referred rt> -Uacdonald's. It is strange, and I should say not in the interests of tho owiier or the creditors, for any one firm to have sole agency for more than one month, especially in n public mater such as this. I have the proprietors of an old established firm inquiring if this property can be purchased at .£2O per foot on the Cambridge Terrace frontage. 1 shall'bo glad if von will let me have n sketch plan of the property to sell, together with the lowest price you will accept. It will probably be a cash transaction, as the firm inquiring intends to build immediately."

(Signed) HARRY A. SHEPHERD. Which is Which? "I don't know the man atall," observed -Air. Simpson, as Mr. Townsend finishreading the Idler. "Well," said Mr. Townsend, "he knows ■™"i.. .•"- 0 is a laml of tome lepute in Wellington." "Secretary of (he Hataitai Land Company, added Mr. Leigh Hunt. Resuming, Mr. Townsend said that his own firm had asked an agent hero to make ■inquiries from the Official Assignee with the object of buying or leasing the property in question, and had also been referred to Kennedy Macdonahl and Co. \\ hethcr you or Kennedy Macdonahl and I Co. are the Official Assignees in this estato or not," said Mr. Townsend emphatically, "1 do not think it was prudent to have left the property to the sole agency of one firm. 1 know' of one man m Wellington who is prepared to buv at the price put on it. 1 maintain that particulars should have been got from this office when wanted. Had that been done there would have been no necessity for this meeting. The estate would have been wound up long ago." Mr. Townsend then drew attention to the fact, ascertained from 'the office and from outside sources, that the first meeting of creditors had appointed a Sir. Black to act with the Assignee in connection with the winding up of tho estate, but that, except upon one or two trivial matters, .Mr. ]ilack had never been eonsyltcd by Mr. Simpson. Ho took it that -Mr. Black should have been mado acquainted with the progress of tho estato and his opinion asked on special points. It was the Assignee's duty to have consulted with Mr. Black, as directed by the meeting of creditors.

The Cost of Winding Up, ''Another point," said Vr. Townsend: No less than fivo auctioneering firms are interested m (he estate, vet vou have gone past them to an outside*firm not interested to the extent of one pennv piece. He would be the last, one to make any complaint about the cost of winding up an estate, but, so far as he could gather, the winding up of this estate had already cost the creditors "5 per cent.; the sale of plant had cost 10 per cent..; the cost, of advertising tho sale of a .£SOO odd lot was £21 lSs.-a preltv good record. Again, a sale involving £SS worth, cost .EG lis. in commission and advertising — another case in which (hoy thought tho business was not handled in the best interests of the creditors. " Yonv predecessor in office," continued Sir. Townsend, "always made a point—considered bv business people to l)e a good thing—of putting work in the way of creditors who wero interested, so long as the interests of the estate were not prejudiced. But in this case five firms have been completely ignored. The creditors feci tlint unless something is done—thev have been going since 1309—the thing "will go on (ill 1919. It lias been the custom of late for business people to trv and avoid the office of the Official Assignee " "I don't think that that enters into the case at all," interrupted Mr. Simpson. "Yes it does," retorted Mr. Townsend. "The business people here find that they can have estates administered more cheaply and with more promptitude by private assignees. In some cases I have been interested in. estates have been wound up inside of six months. This estate lias been going on since 190(1, and tve want some finality. That is why tins meeting has been called." Mr, Simpson's Reply, So saying, Mr. Townsend sat down, and n. pauso ensued, while Mr. Simpson, toy. Ed with the blotter. Then he sjoke.

| "Mr. Townsend, as spokesman," he began, ''has delivered a speech which is not consistent with fact." "i beg your panbn," said Mr. Townsend, with asperity. Tlie Assignee went on to say that this had been a very troublesome estate to manage. Mrs. Ititson was in bad health, and he had considerable.dilliciilly in get ling her to move out—in her own interest aim that of the creditors. She had also lo be given a means of subsislence. The position now was lhat upon the completion of the sale of a properly in Herald Street, on April It next, tile creditors would l;c paid in full. Properly had been very unsaleable for the last two years, it had tu be remembered, and ho had decided, atlcr a consultation with Mr. Black, not lo reduce his reserve price for the Cambridge Terrace property. Creditors would receive their payments after the ■ Easier holidays. Thereafter, it was his intention lo apply lo the Supremo Court for an order with respect, to Ihe remainder of the estate. After cveiything had been cleared up, Mrs. Kitson would have enough for the rest of her life. .In explanation of Ihe delay, Mr. Simpson said that soon after the cslatc camp inlo his hands he was laid aside, for three months by illness, and his staff managed Ihe affair's of the ollice. They found lhat Mrs. Ritson's cab business had been managed very loosely, and steps had to be taken to stop negotiations for the raising of a mortgage. The cost of repairs to the premises bad also been heavy. With regard to Mr. Townsend's remarks concerning the auctioneering agency, Mr. r'impW sail that it had never been the practice of the office lo give commission agents properties for sale. Ho was merely carrying out the practice of his predecessor in giving the work to one or two auctioneers. If ho were to agree to all the requests made, he did not know where the creditors would be. At (ho same time, he was always prepared to consider any offer mado to him independently of the agent, and where such was accepted no commission could be claimed by the agent. . As the, creditors would be paid in full after April 11, he did not propose to go further into the matter.

Further Discussion. Mr. Townsend, remarking he would not have got up again had not Mr. Simpson questioned the facts of his previous statements, said that nothing had yet been advanced to disprove what he had said. Mr. Simpson had said that property was unsaleable. He (Mr. Townsend) denied this. There had been gcocb sales, and these were going on. "At a price," said Mr. Simpson. "Yes," responded Mr. Townsend, "at a price. The price you asked for this property has practically been offered,- though, of course, When people come hero for information on tlio subject, they arc refused. Yet you tell us there-arc no sales-." "If," continued Mr. Townsend, "there wore no sales, why did you advertise? How was it that this property was put up at auction twice by that firm? How much did (he advertising of the Cambridge Terrace property cost?" "C'losb on ,£so—l haven't got the details," replied Mr. Simpson. "You spent .£SO in advertising property you knew wouldn't sell?" persisted Mr. Townsend. "I did not know it would not sell," protested Mr. Simpson. "I tried to sell it." "You said you knew it wouldn't sell," insisted Mr. Townsend. Mr. Simpson replied that there had been very little sale for property. Mr. Townsend, ticking off something ou a slip of paper, then proceeded. "You haven't told us why you (lid not give these agenis the information they wanted," he said. "If you give a dozen agents a sale," replied Mr. Simpson, "you will soon see where you are."

"From Sublime to Ridiculous." "I never suggested anything of the kind," retorted Mr. Townsend, irritably. "You are going from (he sublime to (ho ridiculous now. I didn't ask Hint. That's a lame excuse," he added. "There are just as good firms in Wellington as the firm which has had this estate since 1909. Then you say that Mrs. Kitson was difficult to move. 'What's that got to do with us?" ... "If ' you ' knew 'flie v (rouble I've had you'd be surprised," said Sir. Simpson. "And if I diil," said Mr. Townsend, "what's that got to do with the windingJip of (ho estate? Now, about Mr. Black. "Was he consulted about the sale of (hose properties?" "I was ilk in bed at the time," said Mr. Simpson. "Can you get the information from your office?" pursued Sir. Townsend. "Mr. Black is here, but I want it from you." Mr. Simpson held a brief consultation with one of his staff, aud then said that they could not remember whether Mr. Black had been consulted or not. Mr. Towns-end ticked oft' something else on his slip of paper, and then inquired: "Can you show me tlio arrangement, with Kennedy Macdonald and Co. with reference to the charges?" "The usual charges," said Mr. Simpson. Mr. Townsend remarked that if Mr. Simpson would look up and compare the, charges in (his estate with those, in Trotman and Company's estate—a confectionery business, which would be expected to cost more—he would find something interesting. "I've had some, experience, in the auctioneering biviiness myself," said Air. Simpson. "Oh," said Mr. -Townsend, ironically. "Your experience; as an auctioneer! What I've said about your administration of this estate are facts. You're wrong, not me." "Bleeding the Estate." "Well," said Mr. Simpson, finally, "you'll get your dividends." "Why didn't we get them twelve months ago?" queried Mr. Townsend. "You have hfon bleeding the estate all the time keeping it in hand like' this, and if we hadn't taken steps to call this meeting, nothing would have been done yet." "Y'ou are tackling me in a very unfair manner," complained Mr. Simpson. Mr. ' Townsend: "I had a resolution which 1 was going to propose.. However, I won't now. It's a very funny tiling," he added, "that you can do this thing now, after yon have taken two years." "You have no juslifieation for making such a remark," said Mr. Simpson, with asptritv. He went on to say that he had had a great deal of trouble with the Cambridge Terrace properly. After a few more desultory remarks, Ihe meeting dissolved without the usual formality.