SUPERIOR COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7611, 7 December 1886, Page 2

SUPERIOR COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.

Monday, Dkcembkr 6. (Before his Honor tlio Chief Justice.) . KE JOHN MAHONV. • Mr Lee applied for the debtor's dig. ■ charge. / His Honor saiil he saw no reason for refusing it, as the debtor appeared to have been struggling against misfortune for years. — Discharge granted. KE JAMES JAMES. Mr Lee applied for the debtor's discharge. The debtor, examined- by his Honor, said that he had always been a laborer. His Honor to, the debtor : I don't see why you should have got into debt to the extent of £106. I fieo you are indebted for tho luxury of' a paper, so I suppasp that you. road it when yon' are out of work, A discharge will be granted, as no one appears to oppose it, but I entirely disapprove of persons not in trade coming to the Court for a discharge, but perhaps there is nothing else for it so long as they can so easily get credit. —Discharge granted. RE JOHN M'JJEILL. Mr Loughnan applied for tho debtor's discharge. His Honor : Another laborer ! I don't understand this. The greater part of the debts are due to creditors absent from the district, Tho Assignee reports that tho costs of your bankruptcy would have paid" a fair dividend, as your liabilities are only £90. The debtor, examined -by his Honor, deposed that he had been a sawmill hand in Xnvercavgill before coining to Hawke's Bay._ Was married, and had six children ranging from four months old to eight years old. He got 9s per day. His bankruptcy expenses would cost e620 at,, the least. ~ *- His Honor : That would have paid your creditors a dividend of 5s in the £1. I suppose that if I said that storekeepers should not give credit, they would reply that men n.ightotherwise become chargeable to the charitable. On the other hand, if they give credit, it happens i that a man finds it convenient, after running np a bill of £50 or £CO, to say, " Oh, I would sooner pay £20 to the lawyers, the assignee, and the newspapers than pay my debts or even to nronose to nay a dividend of 5s ?r the £I.'*- A discharge is gVaiVted'j'as' there appears to bo ho opposition from creditors. KE WILLIAM ROSE. Mr Sheath appealed for the debtor's discharge. a ■ The Assignee reported that the debtor ought to bo ordered to pay a dividend 'of 5s m the £1 as a condition of receiving a discharge. ' ' ' Mr Sheath: Very few debtors pay sq imich as that. " ..... His Honor : Well, let ns begin by making ibis one do so. . Mr Sheath would rather not see the 2ourt ( bcgin with his client. The Assignee stated that prior to the lebtor filing ho called a private meeting )f his creditors and otlered a composition. \fter that, and before filing, ho sold for 870 thu lease of a reserve in which he was . nterested, and with the proceeds paid tevoval creditors. .'• • - ' ; Mr Sheath explained • that those paynents would have been preferential ones. _."

even if filing had taken place prior to the . sale of the lease, His Honor said that perhaps the creditors might be reasonably suspicious that, if a discharge were granted, the debtor would bo immediately afterwards found to bo in comfortable circumstances. Ho ought at least to be prevented from getting further credit for a timo, if he would not pay a dividend. Mr Sheath proposed that a dividend of 2a Gd'in the £1 should be made the condition of a discharge being granted, and after argument His Honor agreed to that course. KE JOHN ROSS. Mr Sheath, on behalf of Mr Coates, applied for the debtor's discharge, and explained the circumstances which led to tho debtor filing. His Honor said that the bankruptcy appeared to lie due to misfortune and sickness, and a discharge would be granted. HE WILLIAM THOMAS COLE. Mr Sheath applied for the debtor's discharge. The debtor, examined by his Honor, said that he was a carpenter and contractor. His last job was the building of a house, for which he received £122. Tho Assignee presented an unfavorable report. His Honor : What became of the £122, for you do not appear to have paid any of it to the persons who supplied the material for the work ? The debtor stated it had been swallowed nj) in other debts. His Honor : Unless a substantial offer is made the discharge will be suspended. The debtor. was not in a position to make any offer. His Honor ordered the debtor's discharge to be suspended for six months. KE JOHN FOLEY. This debtor, a platelayer at Takapau, appeared to show cause why he should not be committed to gaol on the ground ' that ho incurred debts without having any reasonable hopes of repaying them. Mv Logan appeared for sundry creditors, Mr Moore for the debtor, and Mr/M'Lean for the assignee, < Mr Logan said it would be shown that in the month of June, ISSC, shortly before the debtor filed, he ordered goods to the value of £100 or thereabonts. He was at the time deeply in dept for a man in his position, as lie was only .a laborer, earning Cs Gd per day. The debtor, examined by his Honor, deposed that he had not dealt with Fowler and Co., one of tho creditors, prior to ordering £12 worth of goods which appeared in their claim. At this stage his Honor read a batch of letters sent to various Napier tradespeople in June, 18SG, each letter containing orders for goods of various descriptions. These letters were all summarised in the Herald at the time when the debtor filed, in July last. After reading the letters his Honor remarked that he could not see why tradesmen should be surprised at being swindled if they executed orders from unknown persons without getting a reference. There was no attempt in the letters to deceive, as the writer of them stated he was a platelayer, and yet the goods were sent. His Honor supposed that Napier tradesmen did sometimes ask for references, and that if lie were to send au order for goods to one of them he would be asked who he was, and strict enquiries would be made about him. The debtor, oxamined by Mr Logan, deposed that he was a laborer living at Takapau. His wages were 6s 6d per day. Came to Hawke's Bay about twd years before he filed. Had been in Wellington prior to that, but did not file there. Before that he lived in Canterbury, and was iwice insolvent there. In connection with the present insolvency he ordered goods from Rnddock and Fryer on Hie lltli of June, 1886. .Received the goods, about £6 193 worth. Ordered them by letter. Piled a petition in bankruptcy on the 6th of July. At the time the order was given he had-, no money at all. Received his wages four-weekly. Had no property. He expected- to be able to pay for the goods in about nine or ten months. Had a wife and seven children, none of them earning anything, the eldest, a girl, being only 12 years old. When he arrived in Hawke's Bay lie became indebted to a ' sau miller, for timber to build a small house on Crown land, Had no expectation of getting money from any other source than his wages. He left his employment $1 Christcimreh through going uankniDt. He was discharged in consequence,* and went to Wellington and • worked on the railway there. His Honor : Then tho Government went through the farce of discharging you for bankruptcy in one place and taking you on in another ! Why did you leave Wellington ? Debtor : I did not liko the province, your Honor. His Honor : H'm, yon didn't find the Wellington people so soft as you have found them in Hawke's Bay, I suppose ? What does it cost you to keep your family ? , Debtor : From £1 10s to £2 per week. By Mr Logan : At about the time he ordered goods from Ruddock and Fryer's he also ordered goods frem Mr Blair, a grocer. Among those goods was a case of stout. Had pome money in the house at the time the goods were ordered. Had previously said that he had no money, but had forgotten that he had received £9 from the sale of two cows.. Sold one for £0 and received £4, the difference being for a debt, arid the otherwas sold for £5. Mr Blair sent a threatening letter almost immediately after sending the goods, and lie (the debtor) then devoted the proceeds of the sale of the cows towards his bankruptcy expenses. The first cow was sold a\>out three months before ordering the goods from Mr Blair, and the other about a week before. Mr Blair threatened that lie would take the debtor to Court for ' obtaining goods by false pretences. Had some dealings with a firm called Harwood and Maudsley, at Takapau, and received goods from them in June to the value of " about £9. His Honor : This is most extraordinary. Here is a store on tho spot, and. they let this laborer, earning Cs 6d per day, run up a debt of £15 in a month ! How could they expect to be paid ? And if not paid I suppose that the storekeepers would in time fail to pay the merchants. It is a bad state of things. Examination of the debtor continued : During the month of June he ordered goods from Fowler and Co.; Webber and Wilson, Newman and Co., V, Jensen, ' and others. In writing to Mr E. S. Cooper for a watch he stated that he could not depend upon the watch he had, but he had no watch at all at the time. He had not possessed a watch for three years prior to writing to Mr Cooper. Prior to June he (the debtor) ordered goods from other persons, and his wife had ordered goods from Blythe and Co. These accounts were owing when he gave the other orders referred to,' in June, 1886. He ordered two gallons of whisky from Mr Gifford about a month before filing. At the beginning of June he owed about £70, and he hoped 'when he incurred between £50 and £60 additional debt in June that he would be able to clear it off by paying °ne creditor one month and oneanother month. By Mr Moore : He was still occupyingthe house at Takapau, which might bo worth about £30. In writing to tradesmen he did not send orders simultaneously, f, but waited to gee if he got a reply from one tradesman before sending to another. When he incurred the debt to Messrs Ruddock and Fryer he expected to be given lpng credit. Had been accustomed f.O order goods from Napier tradesmen, and had paid some of them. Had unlimited credit in Takapan, going five and six months without getting a bill, and he once had nine months' credit from Ruddock and Fryer. Ho expected as long credit, or even longer, from Ruddock and Fryer, when he ordered the goods in June. But for being pressed he would have expected to pay most of his creditors ' in time. Mr Moore hoped that his Honor, in considering tho case, would bear in mind that the debtor had a large family, and that there did not appear to be any evidence of wilful dishonesty. His Honor did not feel the slightest doubt about the case, He was satisfied not only that the man had no expectalkn of paying, but had no intention to do so. The only question was what punishment should be awarded, and he would take time to consider that. The debtor would have to appear before tho Court at 10 o'clock on Tuosday morning, to be finally dealt with. HE EDGAR. PATTESON HULME. TSIO debtor catne before Hie Omirt fiW 1 nuhile exa.miaa.lian, fljtt' t\^° *° s ' iOW cause why tie, fiiioaM not foe committed to gaol for extravagance in living and fnv contracting debts without having reasonable grounds for supposing tlm*-. ho«n..i. repay mem. Mr Comford appeared" <m - behalf of certain creditors, Mr M'Lean for the Assignee, and Mr Moore for the debtor, , .■• • bii"M66re drew his Honor's attention to the fact that the summons calling upon the dohtor to show cause had only i )een . served that morning. He should have had P* timo to prepare an answer -to the serious charges laid against him. There was also anotherpointtowliichhe(Mr Moore) wished to'refer.. On Thursday, December 2nd, a properly convened special meeting of tho debtor's' creditors was held. It was not largely attended, but that was the fault of creditors, as they all received notice. At that meeting a preliminary resolution was passed to the efl'ect that an ofi'er of a composition inada by the debtor should bo accepted. He would therefore ask his • Honor if under those circumstances the present proceedings could go on. He thought that the resolution practically stopped the creditors from taking the present proceedings. His Honor : The Assignee has reported that there should lie a public examination of the debtor, and that will come on irrespective of tlie creditors,

Mr Moore urged that the examination should be postponed, to give all the creditors a chance to profit by the debtors offer. ' Mr Cornford ridiculed the oiler ,mndo, and said that thcro was not the slightest chance of its being confirmed. The resolution referred to was moved by Mr J. O. Fowler, who was a creditor for only the small sum of £1 15s, and. tho offer made was contingent upon the debtor obtaining permanent employment. It was further stipulated that if lie got the employment he should first deduct £4 10s per' week from the remuneration he might get, which would be from commissions earned as an insurance canvasses. The offer was a ridiculous one, and appeared to be an endeavour to shunt the liability of a public examination. After further argument his Honor decided that the public examination should proceed. The debtor, examined by Mr M'Lean, deposed that shortly before his bankruptcy he gave a bill-of-sale to a Mr Morrison. At that time he owed Morrison £195. At tho time of executing the bill-of-sale he got from Morrison £95 4s lOd. The latter sum was advanced to him on the day the bill was executed. _ In the mortgage it was stated that Morrison advanced £J 90 when the bill was executed, but the smaller sum was the amount due after paying Mr Ruddick, of Clive, about £GO, in repayment of a loan on a horse, trap, and harness. There was also a matter of about£39 paid to Mr S. E. Cooper for the balance duo on a piano. Langley and Newman also received £10 out of the money advanced. ' That came to £204 paid out of £190, so probably lie had • made a mistake in the figures. He could not tell whether the costs of the bill were ; deducted from the amount advanced^ Mr : H. Lascelles was agent for Mr Morrison, but the debtor did not know whether he (Mr Lascelles) received commission for negotiating the loan. The debtor ima gined that no commission was payable, as Mr H. Lascelles was told ■ as a friend that the debtor needed accom- . niodatioh, bnt was not authorised to. obtain it. : By Mr Cornford : He had a good re- ] collection of the first meeting of creditors 1 held on the 27th of September. He said at (hat meeting that ever since Mrs j Hulmo came to Hawke's Bay, a year on ; the April prior to the meeting, lie had not i been able to devote himself properly to ( his duties, because of Mrs Hulme's illhealth. When he came to Napier first he | was agent for the Mutual Insurance Asso- j ciation of Australia. He told the meeting of creditors that he took other 1 agencies in order to make both ends meet, j but ho did not find himself in financial difficulties shortly after Mrs Hulme came / to Napier. By telling the meeting what he < had, he meant that as he was prevented from travelling by Mrs Hulme's illness, he took other agencies in order to remain | near her. He was getting no salary from ( the Mutual, and he never got any salary > from any of his agencies. Ho told the j meeting' that since the January prior to that event his earnings had not averaged j £1 per week. "He never had an income t at all. Prior to January his earnings, he c presumed, amounted to £5 ov £6 per ( week, but he could not- tell. Ho took other agencies in July, 1885, and then J represented three companies. At the < time of his bankruptcy two of these com- ( panics— the Accident Insurance Company ( and the Live Stock Insurance Company — hart judgments against him. t The Accident Company's debt had been owing two months when they oh- t tamed judgment. It was about the same with the other company. Tho two together came to over £30. He filed on the 21st of September. The promissory note produced, for one month, in favor of Mr J. T. Carr for £50, was dated on the 25th of the preceding mouth. "Ho was not solvent ] when he obtained that advance. He t obtained advances from the,_ late .Mr j Dewes by promissory notes prior to the r advance from Mr Carr. One bill from 'J Mr Dewes was renewed, the other was ( not. Was not solvent when he obtained i the advances from Mr Dewes. The f promissory note given to Messrs Diuwiddie, AValkerand Co., for £14 10a 7d, r was dated in July, 1886. The note was t not met. At the time that bill was t given he was indebted to the same firm 1 about £7 more. Signed a sale note over c a dog-cart, horse, and harness, in favor of a Mr George AVhite, for £31 ISs. Mr White t had advanced him some money. The i horse, dog-cart, and harness secured to I White were included in the mortgage to r Morrison. Morrison. did not consent to t that being done. Was not solvent in 1 November, 1885, when he bought from 1 Ruddock and Fryer £11 worth of goods, including some hose-pipe for the garden, t He did not think it would have saved c money if he had carried a bucket instead t of getting Ruddock and Fryer's hose, s as he would have been obliged r to employ labor. Perhaps, however, ■* he might if he had carried the bucket f himself. In that month he borrowed c £100 from Mr M. Morrison, the brother t of the Mr Morrison mentioned in the r mortgage. Did not remember saying t that he only wanted tho £100 for a pass- i ing emergency, and that he had £G0 in [ the bank. Would not swear that lie did \ not promise to repay the £100 in a month. 1 Gave a promissory note at a month for 1 the money. The account of Mrs Tux- l ford's produced, amounting to £50 14s 7d f was contracted between January and t April, 18S6. One of the items was for a t promissory note for £20 ]Gs_9d. Mrs t Hulme did not know his position, and 1 that would account for her wearing the t nine guinea dolman mentioned in the account. Ho had told persons that ( he had made £1300 during the i past year, it being a common thing 1 for insurance agents to exaggerate their c earnings. Did not think tliat he had told i any but insurance agents that he had t earned such sums. He remembered a t creditor at the meeting twitting the debtor I that he had passed £2123 through tho i bank, and must therefore have lived at the rate of £2000 a year, but as a fact he I did not live at the rate of more than £500 * a year. Said at the meeting that ho had .j been living at the rate of £GOO a year. He o never kept any hooks at all. f His Honor': You surely don't mean * that! You don't mean to say that you c acted as agent for several companies and t kept no books ! . * The debtor had only kept a little book, j which hecarried in his pocket, andthat con- i tamed private matters. He had always t relied upon the companies rendering him J periodical statements < His Honor : How is it, if £2000 passed c through the bank, that you only made £1 ! a week ? \ The debtor did well when he first came i to Napier, bnt afterwards, when Mrs Hulme's illness prevented him from 1 travelling, he could not do so well. The | .money passed through tho bank was on ; account of payments duo to his com- ] panics for insurance. At the meeting of creditors he said that he had no banking i account for the companies. His own account was kept at the National Bank, i and the account of the Mutual Insurance j Company at the Bank of New South ; Wales. Tho book of the latter ( bank showed £498 16s up to September, 18S5, when the account was made up; He used to pass moneys due to his company through his own account, drawing cheques afterwards to deposit .on behalf of the company. " Of the moneys that passed through the book referred to, nearly £500, the amount actually paid to the company were £107 16* l'ld. His Honor : Then you must have made a profit of nearly £<JOO in three months. The debtor explained that some of the balance must have been on account, of premiums that might have been returned. By Mr Cornford : Did not think that he liad attended at the ollico of the Deputy Assignee since filing. By Mr Moore : Had never heard of insurance agents keeping sets of books, bnt he had only two years' experience. Moneys received wero first placed to his own account, and then transferred to credit of the company. When he borrowed the money from Mr Carr and from Mr Dewes he had reasonable hopes of being able to repay it. He was then about to go down South to secure oilier agencies to extend his business, and lie afterwards got them. When he borrowed the £100 from Mr M. Morrison he thought hu would bo able to repay it in a month. If he had been able to travel he would have had no difficulty in earning sufficient money to repay those amounts'. He reckoned that if he were free to travel he could make from £15 to £20 n, week by insmftnCQ inißilHffifli Frank William Garner, Deputy Official Asftijjtxio, deposed tlmfc lio was an aceonntttnibyprofession. lla<l)i.i<l.isl<ortex(isrlenca in life assurance, anr? nnoiit seven years of ftra assurance. It was tho custom when ho was connected wllb. life r * ...,w,..u mi 1 proper cash books to be kept. He went to the office of the debtor , the day he filed, and applied lor his books, 'but all that lie- coiiW gbt were a little hook, chiefly containing private letters, one bank book, and some cheque books The debtor said that ho had kept no hooks. It was impossible for witness to make up the accounts of the estate '. from the books obtained from the debtor. I The debtor should have had no difficulty in drawing up an account. Mr Moore: No doubt ho would have ! done so if ho had been asked. t The witness : He has been asked, and f lie professed himself unable to do so. Matthew Morrison, cattle-dealer and i drover, deposed that at tho end of 1885 he i insured his life through the debtor. About 1 a week later ho wanted to borrow sonic i money from witness. He represented his , turn-over at from £1200 to £1300 a year, \ but Hint ho wanted some money lor a ; short time. He gave witness a bill at a , month, and assigned " the interest in his bu&inoss " as further security. Jho 'nil l was not met. Witness took the bill to , tho debtor after it was dishonored, and he . asked that it might not bo again presented, as }t would he all right in a week

or two. About the end of February witness allied again for the money, but could not {*ot it, Thh concluded the evidence. Mr Cornford iir^ed that the evidence adduced showed that the debtor was not solvent when lie borrowed several largo amounts, and that lie luid in reality never been solvent. His Honor said that the ease was one requiring careful examination, as it it turned out that it was so bad as it seemed on the face of it, it was one deserving very severe punishment. He woiild not like to send a debtor to gaol for twelve months with, hard labor .without direct proof of criminal action, and lie thought Mr Cornford should produce evidence as to the indebtedness of the debtor at the time he contracted the liabilities that had been ' W Mr Cornford submitted that the debtor should have kept books that would have shown that, and that his failing to do so brought him wiohin the summary jurisdiction of the Court. His Honor said that the contention was reasonable, but a criminal charge had been preferred against the debtor, and ins Honor did not like to send him to gaol without direct evidence being produced. . Mr Moore urged that the examination slionld be postponed till the next sittings of the Court at Napier, and that wouldgive Mr Cornford time to make any further inanities he thought necessary. Mr Cornford would not object to that course being followed, and an order was made accordingly. HE NEIL O'NEILL. The debtor came up for public examination. Mr M'Lean appeared for the Assignee, and Mr Dick for the debtor. The Assignee reported very unfavorably. He said that he could not place any reliance upon the debtor's statements, and that lie was dissatisfied with the result of the preliminary examination. He had refused to make the bankrupt an allowance, as he was convinced that the debtor had plenty of spare cash and a lot of jewellery in his possession after filing. The report concluded by expressing the Assignee's opinion that the debtor had rendered himself liable to punishment under the summary jurisdiction of the Court. Mr M'Lean said that the creditors had asked for proceedings to be taken, but apparently they iiad all stayed away from the Court, and practically there was no one to examine the debtor. Mr Dick said that the debtor was perfectly willing to give the Assignee all the information that he could. Mv M'Lean said that as the creditors had not chosen to attend it was useless to take up the time of the Court. His Honor declared the examination finished, bnt that the bankruptcy was not closed. RK GEOKCH3 BUSS CHANT. Mr M'Lean, for the Assignee, applied that a bill-of-sale for dSISO executed by the debtor should lie declared null and void, on the ground that the debtor had not received the amount stated. It transpired that the full amount was paid over to a solicitor for the debtor, but that the sum of £12 was afterwards deducted to pay for the costs of the bill and for commission. His Honor held that as the full amount had been paid over by the lender the charge for commission and costs was a debt actually due at the time the deduction was made, and that the deduction was good payment to the borrower. The application was therefore dismissed. The Court adjourned till 9.30 o'clock this (Tuesday) morning.