FILING THEIR SCHEDULE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 102, 1 May 1908, Page 5

FILING THEIR SCHEDULE.

BANKRUPTS AND BANKRUPT-

CIES.

■' TALK WITH A RETIRED , ASSIGNEE

. [»ROM OUB COHUBiPONtiBNT.T

CHRISTCHURCH, April 30. '• It has fallen to few public servants to have to their credit a record of such long and honourable service as that which distinguishes Mr G. L. Greenwood, Official Assignee in Bankruptcy at Christchurch (says * The Press) who,retires from to-morrow,on. superannuation. Mr Greenwood presided to-day-in the old familiar room at a .meeting of creditors', and thus he went out of office absolutely in harness, his last day's work as Official Assignee carried through. The office had been held in Christchurch by Mr i Greenwood for 16 years. Prior to that he was stationed for sixteen years at Gisborrie. ' - , In the course of his bankruptcy ex- . perience in Gisborne and Chffstchurch Mr Greenwood has dealt with .over 800 cases. "My experience has not been such as to give me a poorer opinioi? of human nature than I had previously entertained," he said. "Whenever there has been a case of I genuine misfortune, brought about by uncontrollable causes, the creditors generally have^ exhibited a,kindly and considerate spirit towards the bankrupt; in many instances they have done more than one could possibly .expect. A very small proportion of the cases which nave passed through my hands were the result of deliberate villainy on the part of the bankrupt. "The principal causes of bankruptcy? Well, a large propj*tion are due to'people embarking in business in which they have had little:or- no previous experience, with little or no capital. Other people have no idea, of book-keeping, and get into diffi-i culties through that ignorance. Other bankruptcies are brought about by pure misfortune, ajid these form a large class. For instance, farmers have been utterly ruined through hailstorms destroying crops which were promising liberal returns for the labour and money spent on them. As to the Bankruptcy Court's being improperly used to get rid of I think that, with very few exceptions, no one comes into the Court who is riot Absolutely justified in doing so. Fraudulent cases are a very, small minority indeed."