A COMMERCIAL CORMORANT.

NZ Truth, Issue 168, 5 September 1908, Page 5

A COMMERCIAL CORMORANT.

THE STARTLING SUDDENNESS OF ALLAN HOPKINS.

A Coot That Was Keen on Commission.

. . . ; — ....... .^ Some Incredible Disclosures Made to Justice Denniston.

Ohristcfcurcu is a city wherein financial (transactions of ax astounding character occur with- the ' facility and; unobtrusive-.', ness of a shark swallowing a stray lunatic off Lyttenton Harbor on a- calm and sunny day. "Truth's" attention Was recently directed; with violence, to Sfche monetary Vagaries of several persons tof usurious proclivities, and this paper now hastens to add to its list of com- ! iripr*foi monstrosities, one Allan .Hopkins, estate and land agent, whose suave Hjyd holy 'demeanor covers a capacity tor p.affh abortion -so astonishing as to make even this luminous journal, familiar as ft is "with the seamy side of We m the - courts, paujje m an attitude of pained surprise; • The immediate claim of Hop- ' kins upon the disfavor of this -paper, was , furnished' by tfie revelations m a Supreme Court case m which HopJcms sought ,to claim certain moneys rrom Cover-' Hale, Slaymaker and Wood (of . whom more anon), but as a sort of literary purtaio-raiaer, "Truth" seeks permission, and Kants it to itseU, ,to p»ention anoiflter TSopkin* case, particulars, of . which, lirere mot admitted as :.. evidence, by we Uudge m the" more) recent action. 1* was given m evidence m bankruptcy, proceedings, before Day, S.SL, that m February, 1906, Hopkins scrutinised with the hypnotic eye of a successful land agent, a simple young man named Leonard Price, and induced him to sell Downlands, an etftate m "the Waimate district; a certain buyer for a sum of . about £5000. Over this transactionHopkins pouched £103 10s m commts; sion. Threw days later^ he spoke to young Price with such. fe^pr about the value of the property th/^indivjdnal had |ust parted ■With that t|»m^all6w yowtti TUMBLED OVErIdMSELF In his eagerness to buy tbe estate back at an increase of £500. Hopkins drew another divi. of £50 m. commission m respect of "his deal, and retired to think bard. His cogitations probably revealed to him the -imprudence of leaving a valuable estate; like this m the hands of an inexperienced person, so he approached Price, junior, m a fatherly spirit, and fiersuaded him to sell the estate': to his ather, Leonard Price, senr., and Hop-, kins', who is as keen after commission as , a wowser after 3d. on Sunday, pocketed / another £11): 19s. There, were real buy■trs. after -. the ... . estate, and when agents Guinness and Le Cren, of Timaru,\ offered to deal for . the property, Hopkins, still with an insatiable craving for commission, put* the other firm into; . communication with o)d man Price, who was. Induce to dispose of ii»e estate once more, Guinness -and Le Cren collecting £111 19s. m commission. In consideration of- having influenced the sale Hop- . icins '^claimed, and received, a third, or something like £40, as his '"cut" of the commission. ' But the most astounding feature is to come. Having appropriated his "cut," he charged Price,' senr., £116 19s commission for the same sale, and as Hopkins handled, all ..the moneys, and paid, himself, nobody • could offer the shadow of a protest. In other words, from January 5 to February 12, Hopkins received £417 8s i commission for different sales of one estate, not a bad income for thirty-eight days. In' no case, with the exception . of Guinness and Le-Cren's transaction, was. a transfer of the property effected. No deeds were executed, and Hopkins, who applied to have YOUNG PRICE HADE A BANKRUPT, stated, m. evidence, that the agreements jrere verbal. Price, by toe way, paid 20s m the £ , and - Hopkins thanked God, from whom all blessings now.. - Hopkins's habit of doing things verbally disfigured other transaction* which 'formed the subject of Supreme Court proceedings last week, when some incredible facts were' adduced. The circu-ioSances dance a horrible haka around tlia section' .m IJlgh-street upon which the skyscraper .known as "Grace's, folly" is now built, but prior. to this gigantic undertaking Charles Christian Sommers, speculator, - etc., had. thirty-five years lease of the property from Grace and Herman Lewis, of Wellington. There rested upon the ' shoulders of Charles, m addition \to a well-cut coal;, the heavy responsibility or . erecting a £1000 building . on the section ■ : . before January, 1905, and it is a coin- ■ cidence that Sommers should have got rid of the lease at this particular per-: iod to a couple of unsuspecting tailors hamed James Wood and Walter Thomas •Slaymaker, and here the value of Hopkins as prime persuader came into the business, o. Hopkins had no difficulty m selling the lease to. Wood and Slaymaker, who paid £1600 for the goodwill, and to whom it was represented that them.- . coming rents from sub-tenants, exceeded the but-going ground rent by £200. The prospect of sitting down and watching the . accumulation of a gigantic fortune was too alluring for the guileless man decorators, who. got the needle bad long before -Hopkins' had finished wit!i them. Fourteen *riort* months were sufficient to assure them i . that ease and affluence, would not follow the speculation, and. •they re-sold the lease to . bommers, ostensibly at a. profit of> £iOO upon what they had paid for it,, the price being £1700, but, m. reality, they dropped iJIOO deposit, £100 profit, and Hopkins claimed £250 from them, making a total loss of £450, and of this sum it was alleged m Court,. .. ..„''. HOPKINS GOT £380 after paying insurance rated and small repairs. . The surprising -middleman acted as agetftrfor, Sommers m selling to Slayman and. / Wood,, agent for Slayman and Wood in 'selling bafek lo^S'o'feimefs, and also acted as agent for the sartorial artists during' 'the period they held the . property. Hopkins's duty consisted m paying the! ground rent quarterly as' it fell due, collect the rents of the . subtenants, and charge m a costly, manner for his services. If the sub-tenants didn't pay with alacrity, Hopkins advanced the money for "the ' ground rent and charged 5 per "cent, for the same, also; 6 pet cent, interest ton daily debits, and 5 per cent, for collecting rents. Although tbe sub-tenants were substantial people mostly, they might not pay on due (late from' inadvertence, an advantageous circumstance for Hopkins, who was enabled to make an advance and charge for same. Instances were shown where advances had been made and char-* ged for, and later m the day, or next day, , sub-tenants' rents were^ received, but the commission and* interest were charged' just 'the same, although the advance made was unnecessary and uncalled for, and a fool arrangement, and calculated to diddle; the. simple tailors." \ ■ Thomas Coverdale also appeared m the transaction. He was manager of Strange and 'Cd.'s, and bought out, the. original business of Wood and Slayman for £800, which the tailors didn't lift, but left on deposit with Strange ,and Co. Covers dale, who had first refusal of SOMMERS'S DISASTROUS BLOCK after the tailors w«re done with it, guaranteed Wood and Slaymaß to the extent oi £.500, upon the excellent security of the £800 due to XV, and S. from theic' former business. The -recent pro-> cecdings were an action instituted by Hopkins ("Mi; Russell) ■to recover ,£251 from Cbvdrdale (Mr Wright), being, monr eVs" advanced,- with interest and commission, r,o Wood (Mr Dougall) and Slayman <Mr Alpers), who were ultimately joined with Coverdale, alter a period of \yrangling with Mr J ustice DerinMon, The array of gowns and horse-hair was most imposing^ .

The earnest Wougall gave an instance-' of Hopkins's strange tactics. When the 'account opened on July .3,- 1905,- there was a credit balance of £114 2s 3d. On the same day am item was shown of 'commission and advances, £12 10s ; cheque paid to Sommers, £375, which left a debit of £273 7s 9d ; that is to say, Hopkins charged £12 10s for advancing £86.0, an advance, by the way, that was entirely, unnecessary, as on the following day Hopkins received m rents from sub-tenants the sum, of £265; yet Hopkins paid Eimself the commission mentioned m addition to interest. The defendants pleaded tbe Moneylenders Act, and claimed that the interest charged was unheard of and excessive, and, with the commission levied; rendered the transaction unconscionable. They didn't object to interest, hut they did object to the .-.-.... Mr Russell was surprised at these remarkable statements, and said Hopkins left it to his Honor to say if the rate , of commission- should be 5, 3, 2£, 1 per cent., or no commission at all. Lawyers Alpers, .: whose massive headpiece wottM make an. excellent advertisement foe ■"■■■■. • . h> ■■>. ■>.:■■ • ■ v . .-. ' .; • A ; REASONABLY GOOD HAIRRESTOI^R, took up the parable, and directed the .court's attention : to the remarkable and anomalous charges figuring m Hopkins's account, date August 6, when tbe' singular agent charged £14 for changing two cheques^ That particular section of the account is reproduced nerewith.c— ■ ."■■■'. ' ' ■ ■.'■ ■■■- ■' ■ 4' a. d. £ b. a. Aug. 6. To.com. advances, £1%4a4i&.< To cheqnepadd Sommera rent and ratxa, . ' . ' iSK4BB2d ... ... ... 16318 8 Ang. 6. Xo com. rente and byoaah^SonubeEßraxeirta - andinsoiatoce ... ... . 65 10 16§ .8 11. Aug. 6. By cash per Sommers ... ... .... f ... , 380 00, It will be seen that- Hopkins advanced £154 arid charged for same, yet the subtenants' rents were available on the same day. This profitable transaction was placed before- Hopkins m the wit-ness-box for explanation, and the agent said it was the ftrst time he had seen it, and blamed his cleric. The eloquent Alpers claimed the attention of his Honor by saying the case was like a sausage, open at both ends. His Honor lost the thread of a remark he was about .to make, and said perhaps the effort to grasp the idea of an open sausage ,was responsible.' • Mr Alpers:; Perhaps it is an unsa-v---ory sausage. 1 '■'■■'■ ■■■'.■■ ■ .'.•.'• -^ ;. .-. Hopkins stated in ' evidence that m all he had paid about £2000 m advances to coyer the liabilities of Wood and Slay--maker to Sommers. The Chamber of Commerce had fixed 5 ' por cent. , m its scale of fees for rerit-coliecting. At a /.certain stage Hopkins refused to lend ! any more money, as- he discovered- that Coverdale was really the man m ttie business, and Hopkins/ ' wanted to bring him m- The property- was? re-sold :to Sommers on July 15, i»O6. ' J^ came but 'm cross-examination that the sub-tenants: .were nearly all substantial, arid '■■■'■: ,' .^'-; .■ ..: ■'■'■ ' ';■. ''"'_ WERE GOOD FOR THEIR RENT if pressed at the date. They embraced : Wilding;, and Lewis, Olivia Bros., Cooke, and Son, Smith and Co., Victoria Insurance C 0.,, and Miss, Phipps. In reply to Mr Alpers, Hop kins said that Wood left Strange's over some misunderstanding, ; but he didn't know that faiaymaker had charged Wood with : robbing nim. ' He. didn't know what' trouble Wood Was in ' at Strange's. .Counsel quoted yet aaother , item of ' Hopkins's surprising .account: „- August 7, 1906, cheque paid Sommers, refund half month rent collected m error." It was ppintr ed out that although tbe rent had been refunded, the commission charged;. for collecting same hadn't been ; returned, and Hopkins said the mistake would be rectified now that bis attention had been directed to the circumstance. . Defendants proposed 'to bring expert evidence to show that Hopkins's charges had been hard "and 'unconscionable, but his Honor said he was as good a judge as the experts; he was "the" Judge, m ■fact. s ■ ■ „' . •"■ .• ■■ ■• . , After discussion Mr Russell, upon the suggestion of his Honor, "withdrew Hopkins' claim fpr commission on advances. This reduced the claim by £114i x • and compound interest bh that sum. Other items m dispute were referred to the Registrar for settlement; and when it is all over it looks as though Hopkins's dividend ' , .■>'■■' WILL BE SOMETHING UNDER £100. The 'slim estate agent Wore an air of injured innocence throughout the proceed^ ings. Verily financial transactions .. m Christohurch are hot sometimes— very hot, indeed. ■•;•... ,