The Bankruptcy Laws

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 169, 14 July 1888, Page 2

The Bankruptcy Laws

[to the editob.l Sip,. — I am not a lawyer, neither am I a creditor in Stewart's estate; in fact I have no in? torest in the latter matter beyond being per. plexed as to the action of some selfish creditors. There seems to have been some indignation because when it was found there was a chance of a dividend in the estate soma more creditors were allowed to prove, I under, efand tjiat the Bankruptcy Court is answerable for this, and I presume upon proper grounds, but putting the Court opt q! the question altogether, I fail to see what the dissentient creditors have to complain of. The policy of the Bankruptcy Law, I take it, is to secure a fair and equitable distribution of the bankrupt's property among all the creditors. Now in’Bngland, if I rerqember aright, before a dividend was declared each unproved creditor who was mentioned in the debtor’s statement received a notice, and we were given a certain time within which we must prove or lose our shares. In New Zealand I believe a certain time is given in which to prove, and this can only be enlarged by the Court. As the only reason of proving is in order to participate in the assets, it stands to reason that where there were no assets a proof would be useless. But sqrely it Is Unfair tliat because one creditor happened to prove and some unforeseen asset should fall to the estate, that some twenty others, who saw no chance of a dividend should be debarred from claiming what was rightly due tq them. To show the absurdity of the thing one creditor might be paid in full, a surplus bs left over, and yet th'e 1 other (unproved) creditors would get nothing!' Any to enrich one creditor at the expense of another, simply relegates the thing hack to the “ grab all you can '! state ot affairs before bankruptcy, and perpetuates that thing which bankruptcy was intended to obviate—the unfair and inequitable distribution of a bankrupt's property.— Y’ours, etc., I’EtirLEXm’.