YOUNG MAN'S FINANCES

Northern Advocate, 6 February 1936, Page 2

YOUNG MAN'S FINANCES

UNPROFITABLE SHARE-MILKING AND ROADWORK

Attributing his failure partly to price-cutting on a road job for the "Whangarei County Council, Charles Kenroy Snell, a labourer, of Ngunguru, met his creditors in bankruptcy at the Whangarei Courthouse today. In his statement bankrupt said that he was a married man, with three children. He paid 6/0 per week house rent. Employment in the bush at Ngunguru had terminated, and he was now out cf work. His debts had been incurred when he had been sharemilking on a farm owned by his father, Mr H. R. Snell. Over a period of ten years he had received half the net proceeds from an average herd of 35 cows. As a result of price-cutting, road work for the Whangarei County Council had not paid, and it was during that period that his largest debts had been incurred, Bankrupt said that he had no proposal to make to his creditors, being unable to earn more than sufficient to keep his family and. therefore, was not in a position to reduce any of his debts. One creditor had threatened proceedings and he had no option but to file his petition. Unsecured creditors were shown at £B3 16s 3d and assets at nil. Cross-examined by Mr A. J. Ching. the official assignee, bankrupt said that about £35 of furniture, including a piano valued at £lO was owned by the family jointly. •i “A Hopeless Case.” One creditor commented that the case appeared to be a hopeless one, ancl that, from his knowledge sickness had prevented bankrupt from working over, a fairly long period. “There are thousands of men in New Zealand today who are as s badly or worse 'situated than j Snell” commented another credit 1 tor, “For a young man to seek the protection of the court for such an amount and scrape out of his obligations Is only making a joke of the Bankruptcy Act. “The sum involved should- not be an insuperable obstacle for a young man, but he appears to have become down- 1 hearted and to have dropped his tail.” The official assignee,' while agreeing in part with what had been said, and expressing the opinion that some offer i ! should come from Snell for the future, < pointed out that the bankruptcy pro- 1 ceedings had been forced by the action i of one creditor in threatening legal t action. i

Snell sai3 that in the event of his

• securing employment, he would be prepared to (id anything possible to meet his commitments, and his intention to do so, should his position improve, was placed on record.