BANKRUPTS' WIVES

Evening Star, Issue 12606, 11 September 1905, Page 3

BANKRUPTS' WIVES

CKEMTOBS I-QSE £9,300,000. Of tiro 8,651 bankruptcies and deeds of arrangement in 1904 in Khglanri, 487 -ware failures a£ women, compared with 465 ant of a total of 7,908 in 1903. Six fewer married women faded, says the annual return of the Board of Trade, but widows and spinsters exceeded the numbers in 1905 by 12 and 16 respectively. About 9 per cent, of the women bad no occupation. The trades in w4rich tie greatest number of failures among tnutsa occurred were: —Grocers, 65; mJHinero aad dressmakers, 50; drapers and babordastoere, S3; hotetkeepers and publicans, 31; and lodging-boose keepers, 24. Considerably more failures of women, occur under dwads of arramrement titan in bankruptcy, and tiiis is partly accounted for by the fact that a manned. wons*n cannot be made bankrupt unless die is carrying on baamess apart from her husbazid. Another aspect of the relation, of married women to bankruptcy is also noticed by lie Inspector-GeneraL "In nranerous bankruptcies of married men," he says, "a considerable portion, sometimes the whole, of the furniture is claimed by< the bankrupt's wife. TTCrtwr die has purchased it out of moneys she hae earned, or it has been given to her on marriage—and it is curious to observe how in such cases most of the wedding presents have been given to the wife —or it has been bequeathed to ber informally as a rule, by deceased relatives. Occasionally such claims can be controverted, but it is generally difficult to disprove tbem, as tic usual statutory declaration of orernerhhip by the wife ie nearly always forthcoming. At a later period, when the bankrupt, not having applied for, or having failed to obtain, his discharge, wishes to make a fresh start in business, bis wr/e is again of valuable assistance. He then—ostensibly, at any rate—assmnes the positron of manager in the business carried on

in the name of his wife, and' tbos avoids the <bsa&eeaMe necessity of informing those from whom credit to the amount of £2O and upwards is obtained that he is an undischarged bankrupt." Reference is «bo made to tt»e steady decline in the. desire of bankrupts to obtain, their discharge. Since the Bankruptcy Act of 1883.cams operation there have been 89,583 adjudications, and only 19,136 appScations for discharge, and the evils caused by the growing papulation of undischarged bankrupts have been baomgbfc to the notice of the Board of Trade, The total liabilities in last year's faunuM amounted to an increase of £2,411,075 over 1903; the estimated loss to creditors is £9,371,780, an increase of d 82,046,043. In the cases where ■women failed, the total liabilities are. returned at £315,030, and the assets at £142,535.