BANKRUPTCY.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 197, 27 August 1901, Page 4

BANKRUPTCY.

MR W. 0. SHEET'S ESTATE.

Tin: adjourned meeting of creditors in the j estate of W. 0. Sheet, builder and eon- i tractor, of Gisborne, was hold yesterday, there being a large attendance. The \ssignte stated that he had received ; a under offering 40s per share for ten shares in Messrs Williams and Kettle, i and Captain Tucker had offered "XT higlier than anybody else" for the Park ! Co.'s shares. Messrs Clayton and Co. j offered £2BO for the stock, theirs being • the only tender. He thought this latter j was rather low. They ought to get at I least 10s in the £, and the tender was j about 7s. Mr Shelton thought the best thing j would be to realise the stock by auction. He moved to that effect. —Mr O’Meara | seconded the resolution, which was car- 1 ried.

With regard to Mr McKenzie's tender, j the Assignee thought that should be held over. lie had found that, according to the Act, he had to offer the shares publicly. On the motion of Mr Morrison it was decided that the shares should be offered by auction. Mr DeLnutour said that as he had since had time to look into the estate a great many things upon which inquiry was needed had been explained. There were a j few matters, however, that appeared to ! him to be not satisfactory, but they were ! all matters within the Assignee's jurisdic- ! tion, and matters that he was perfectly i able, as far as he could sec. to arrive at the bottom of, with the assistance of the | debtor. The first he would mention was the Wuiapu bridge contract. There had been a good deal of talk that Mr Sheet was interested in the contract. As far as he could see from inquiry, there was not much to support that. It was it matter that wanted some little inquiry by the Assignee. It would he easy for the Assignee to see whether timber for the bridge had been supplied in any way by the estate, or whether material had been supplied by the firm. Mr Coleman would have full power to call for papers and anything he might want, and would have no trouble in making a satisfactory report about that. Then there was the matter of the Palmer-ton road section, which appeared to have been acquired recently by Mrs Skeet. The consideration for the section appeared to be £l2O. That was a matter that they could entrust entirely to the Assignee, and he could ascertain whether that £l2O in any way came out of the estate, or was paid by ,vay of cash or by way of a contra account with Mr Ilamon or anything of that kind, or whether the moneys earned by the estate in erecting the house had been brought in out of independent moneys of the estate, and whether the £215 which appeared to be the sum paid was a full consideration for a house insured for £ooo, and which must have cost £IOO. These were all matters of current talk, and it was better for the debtor and the estate that they should be sifted by tijc Assignee. There was another important matter on which he had not arrived at an opinion, and that was as to the Palmerston road properties proper. They had been utilised for many years by debtor in his trade and business. These properties were estates for the creditors so long as they were ngt paid 20s in the £. As they wore aware, they were charged to the Union Hank to support a guarantee for

■fc±i>uu, mm ni uiu umniary case ui security and the estate the surety would have a right to prove, but where the surety was the debtor's wife, and where the property mortgaged was used by the debtor for many years past up to bankruptcy in his business, it seemed to the speaker that the Married Women’s Property Act applied. It wotdd follow, then, that the security in that case could not rank as a creditor to prove as against the unsecured creditors. He did not know whether debtor suggested that Mrs Sheet’s proof would rank with the creditors. At any rate his acquiescence in the views submitted would inlluoncc many creditors as to the position they would take on his application for discharge. It was to be regretted that the contracts had not been properly recorded. and it was a pity that debtor was not able to tell the mooting what loss had been incurred on the contracts. The statement which the Union Bank had made showed that there was about £'lsoo due to the Bank of New South Wales, hut now they found that debtor had inc eased the debt to £ISOO. There had been a distinct increase of £IOOO. Then, in addition to that, there had been an almost incredible loss in a few months amounting to between £2OOO and £4OOO. It seemed to the speaker this required some detailed explanation. On the part of the creditors he represented, lie would bo inclined to favor debtor's discharge, provided it was clear that there was to be no attempt to prove for Mrs Skeot for £ISOO as against other creditors. He was not pledging anybody, but that was his opinion. There was no good in keeping the debtor in suspense. His services were not required for the estate, either for its supervision or for the collection of his debts. That was much better done by the Assignee. One suggestion made by one creditor was that there should bo some record kept of all material on contracts abandoned at the time of bankruptcy. ft seemed hardly fair that contraetces who took the contracts out of~ debtor's hands should have the benefit of the material that went out of his yards. Another creditor said he expected to sec some horses and traps in connection with the estate, but the speaker had not found anything of the kina. As Mr Skeot had

kindiy offered him all information, he could see no object in questioning him further.

Tho Assignee : What you seem to wish for is a report ? Mr DoLftutonr : I tliink there should be some report on the bridge contracts, and what are called Hauion’s sections, and you call get the information very much beuei than wo can as creditors, and with the least inconvenience to the debtor.

The Ollicial Assignee said it amounted to this : that he should be authorised to employ an accountant to look into tho matter.

Mr Eliott asked if tho question of getting somebody to report would be put to tho meeting. Mr DcLautour, in reply, moved that a report on the matter submitted to the Assignee be obtained prior to the meeting of September 11th, when the creditors may he in a position to consider then tho resolution of the gift of furniture to tho debtor.

The resolution was carried, Mr Eliott (for Messrs Gainmau and Co.) voting against, and stating that he did so because it meant somebody at the expense of the estate going into these matters, and that would only be throwing good money after bad. Mr W. 11. Clayton also opposed the resolution, Mr DcLautour explained that there was no intention to ask ihe Assignee to go to any considerable expense. The Assignee said if there was any very heavy expense he would not incur it. Mr Matthewson asked how it would affect tho debtor's position before the Court. Ho could not expect to get his discharge while this report was impending. Tho Assignee said he would not take more than a few days, if they liked to adjourn the meeting for a weqk. Mr Eliott moved : That this meeting i is in favor of Mr Sheet getting his immediate discharge." Mr Hennessy seconded the motion. Mr T. Coleman asked debtor whether there was any claim for Mrs Sheet before the estate at the present time.

Tho Assignee said the point was whether Mrs Sheet would refrain from claiming until all the other creditors were paid 20s in ihe £,. Debtor; There is no claim against the estate on behalf of Mrs Sheet, nor is there likely to be one. The Assignee ; Well, Mrs Sheet refrains from claiming until all the other creditors are paid 20s in the £. is that clearly understood Debtor : Yes, Mrs Skeet has no wish to claim until they are all paid. Mr Eliott’s motion was then put to the meeting and carried unanimously.