FALL IN VEGETABLES WHAFFOR ?

NZ Truth, Issue 1080, 12 August 1926, Page 8

FALL IN VEGETABLES WHAFFOR ?

(From "Truth's" Soutli Auckland Representative.)

i nURING the past eighteen months no fewer than seven Chinamen have gone bankrupt m Hamilton. The excuse usually put before creditors has been the kesn competition m the fruit and vegetable trade, but there is more than a mild suspicion that a love of fan-tan has played no unimportant part m lining Chinese pockets with European creditors' money.

THE latest crash concerns 1 one Wing Lee, whose father, it. was stated, is a big merchant m Canton/ Wing ope.ned a fruit and vegetable shop m the main street of Waikato's hub about four months ago, and m that tjme ran up debts to unsecured creditors of over £600, his assets being assessed at about £160, although it is doubtful if they will realize anything, like this amount. SING, who is of the young, smiling, round-faced type, ■ when asked it he could speak English, replied with the most' friendly smile: "No, not many," and continued to grimace. Several creditors, however, declared that this son of Confucius possessed quite a fluent English vocabulary and never required an interpreter when giving his orders for their fruit, on which' occasions he could always chat quite pleasantly. , ; , Asked what he had done with his money, he essayed not to understand and looked inquiringly ' at his interpreter, who supplied the 1 very informative answer that he had lost it. One creditor asked Wing how many banks he did business through. "Only

Bank of New South Wales," he replied. The creditor (somewhat heat- ' edly) : "You gave me a, cheque for £20 on the Bank

of New Zealand. »'i^w'M™ir,imr!Mi™aa! You transferred your account so that] you could get a cheque- D.-). i 'c." Further questions elicited tha fact that when lie issued the postdated cheque to the creditor m ■ question, Wing had only 6d to his credit m the Bank of New Zealand. Another creditor: "He did the same) thing to me— issued me a post-dated; cheque." The first creditor stated that "Wing must have known when he issued the post-dated cheques that he had no chance of paying. , The creditor asked for the bank pass-book, and when this was not produced declared the position to be most unsatisfactory, especially m view of the fact that the meeting had already been adjourned for a fortnight to enable Wing to produce his books and a proper statement of his affairs. Wing admitted that He went on a recent tour of the North Island, and that he always travelled finsticlasswhen moving around. • Questioned as to where he' got the money for this jaunt, he stated that his '-kind fliends" supplied the funds and he borrowed from other Chinamen as he went round, getting £10 here and £10 there. Wing was put through a pretty

severe cross-examination relative. ...to the time and money he had lost on gambling. One creditor stated that his carter had told him that whenever he went into the shop Wing was gambling m the rear portion' with other Chinamen, and^hat they did not even trouble to shift the money from the table when he entered. Wing, however, declared with his most innocent smile that he never gambled— he just played an odd game of mah-jong like the' Englishman played poker. Several voices: "Yes, we know all about that!" A creditor: "Is it not a fact that a Chinaman from Te Awamutu took £20.0 away from your slipp m one week-end as a result of a' gambling school?" Wing professed to know nothing of this. - Another creditor declared that bankrupt had lost over £600 m four months. - Wing was plied with, questions as to his losses, but nothing satisfactory could be elicited. ' He stated that he had to sell bananas below cost price and had lost about 7/- a case on them. . . A creditor: "According- to bankrupt's

statement he -has only accounted for about half 'his losses. "It seems im-' possible for him

rt«rmg73f.lAj\3itfii T iJ&lgj\h-«Mn[T-» ii« h3VG ma.d.c such large josses m so short a time." \ Another creditor asked for the receipts for bankrupt's payments, but : none was produced. The D.O.A. said that bankrupt had been given a fortnight m which to prepare a statement, but had failed to do l SO. ; : A creditor: "He can read and speak all right when he is .doing business, but he is very Ignorant now."-' Another creditor: "What, about , your property m Wellington and Taumarunui?" Wing denied that he had any. "True," he added, "when you find you can have." The D.O:A.: How much money do you send to your wife m China?— Oh, £20 a year. • . • Do you get receipts? — No. A creditor: He told me his wife was dead! ''.-'.. The D.0.A. : Where does your wife live?— ln Canton. What street?— Oh, no street. Creditors generally expressed great dissatisfaction with the position, an<? after the D.O.A. had impressed, upon bankrupt the penalty likely to follow his failure to supply details of his transactions, the meeting was further adjourned. ' . \