IN BANKRUPTCY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 24 July 1923, Page 5

IN BANKRUPTCY.

- ESTATE H. W. JAMES.

The first meeting in the estate of H \\ . James, farmer, Mokoia, was held at the office 01 the Deputy Official Assignee (Mr R. S. Sage) /esterday \? % was represented by Mr. a \\ Homer, and there were also preset Messrs. Matthews (Mr W Melville), II Burdekin (West " Coast Mortgage and Deposit Co.), and Geo ■rlCkup. Bankrupt in his statement said he commenced fanning at N^aere with 'acapital of £400. He famed for years and sold out at a price which leit him a surplus of £2500,, £500 in cash and a second mortgage for -^000 fIL stoc\ and im Plem©ntß were worth £450, and were free. He bought a farm at Mokoia, putting down £800, the difference being made up by a guaranteed advance from the bank. He paid £8250 A i arm > a &£* mortgage beinoon tlwv place, and gave a second mor£ gage of £1600 for. the balance. 1 pro- i YlSlolio^- made that ]le Should pay £200 m reduction if he sold, and when he sold he paid this, reducing the mortgage to the present amount ?f™ d this, farm at £13'50G, getting £1000 m cash a7id taking a- third mortgage of £5829 from Minhinnick and ■tj-arns. He then bought a farm at Waitotara, taking over the first mortgage of £5431 and giving a second mortgage of £2080, there being a consideration, of £2000 cash. For this he handed over his mortgage of £2000 on ™S~,£ gaere. %'"•'. He paid ou.t the AdGOO. in liquidation of his bank overdraft, his debt to the Farmers' Co-op , agents' charges, and legal expenses. Thia was in August, 1920. Since then he had carried on fanning at' Waitotara till recently, when owing to the slurap he was unable to pay interest, and the second mortgagee sold the farm through the Registrar and bought it in. Owing to the fall in land values the Mokoia mortgage has become valueless, and the value is insufficient to cover even the first mortgagees. They have since sold and taken over the farm, leaving a balance still owing to them of £666. The sections at Inglewood were purely speculations, and he made only a small deposit on each, and they will have to be taken over by the mortgagees for their own protection. He statedl in conclusion that these last transactions were in no way the cause of his present position, which is due entirely to the rapid fall in the value of produce and x land during the last two or three years. ■ The statement of accounts showed amounts owing to secured creditorsMrs. Paul £262 14s, W.-Miles £412 8s —£675 2s. Unsecured: West Coast M. and' D. Co. £1871 9s 3d, Knight and Cottrell. (Christchurch) £666 0s 9d. Wm. Melville £1621 19s, Inglewood Borough Council £30 5s Id, Dr. Baird £2 2s, Halliwell, Spratt and Thomson £8 6s 8d—£4194 2s 9d, a total of £4875 4s 9d. Against there were assets estimated to produce £500, leaving a deficiency of £4375 4s 9d.

After some discussion on an intricate position, in which dealing in farms, buying of mortgages, and transferring of mortgage securities were the features, it was agreed .that as' Mr. G. Pickup had been drawn in as a guarantor _of James' second mortgage on Waitotara property he should appear as a creditor to the extent of £1000. He therefore.is ;added to the list,of unsecured creditors for that amount.

Mr. Burdekin said that his company had no fault to find with bankrupt's farming, and that the present position was attributable to bad luck only.

Bankrupt said that but for the collapsing of the Mokoia property he would-have bees able to go "along smoothly. He said he was at present living on the farm at Waitotara.

After a little more informal discussion, as nothing else could be done in the estate, it w?s resolved that the matter of realisation of assets he left to the Assignee to do what is best for the creditors.

The meeting was then adjourned sine die. .