Creditors' Meeting.

Otago Witness, Issue 1797, 30 April 1886, Page 22

Creditors' Meeting.

A meeting of creditors in the estate of S. G. Smith,- butcher, Dunedin, was held at the official assignee's office on Tuesday afternoon. About a doi'en creditors were present, and Mr Macdonald appeared for the debtor. The Assignee sa'fd there had been great difiiculty in bringing the acfiouirts up to; date, partly owing to the delay caused by the hoHda'ys. He had a lengthy report of 50 sheets stating the position of the estate so far as h'-id been ascertaii.ud, and he would give a summary of this. Fir->t as to the state of the cash account. There was £506 in hand, and when certain unpaid accounts had been settled there would remain a balance of £307. He had a cheque for £50 to prudent, 1 and payment of other accounts was promised by the l-,t May ; so that they had kept going without difiiculty and had a considerable m'ai gin. No doiibc £hefe wotityt be £350' or £400 afti'f pa} ing all accounts. The state 61' the collections was thab there had been a total tin-! >ugh the shop, apart from other .sales, of £1029, of which £417 represented cash sales ; so that £1500 had been received from accounts, a large proportion of which were old ones. They had also given fresh credit for a considerable amount,' so it really amounted to having got a number of old accounts paid. £178 had also been received for hides and skins. The business had fallen off a little lately. . Some Other shops were selling at starvation prices,and of course they had not followed*this lead. Several negotiations had been entered into with regard to the sale of the "business as a whole, and also the sale of the shop without plant ; but be was sorry to say they had not yet been offered a piice which was thought sufficient. He did not think it wise to mention the amount of the offers received; but one or two parties had been nibbling, and he hoped before long to get a satisfactory offer. No satisfactory bid was received at auction. The property at Brockville, which was mortgaged for £2000, had realised slightly over the mortgage ; so they had got clear of that without a charge on the estate. Thr^e sections of laud had also been realised — one at £75, less commission, and the other two at less than they were valued at. They were now in a position to sell for one sum everything but the book debts, and he did not think it likely they would get any satisfactory offer for them. They ought to get £2000 or £2500 for them, and if they were sold they would not probably get more than £1000. Anyone who bought the business should, he thought, take the collection of the book debts at 5 per cent., and when they were reduced to a small amount they could be sold. He had had one or two interviews with Mr Smith, but it seemed that his friends wished him to get his discharge before they came forward to assist him in making a proposal. In the meantime there were two other parties inclined to treat. Even now he could not say that he had anything like a satisfactory account to show where the losses had been. Supposiug that the state of\he accounts at the beginning of the year was about the same as at the end, there would be some £34,630 received against £35,900 paid away. The Debtor said he thought the state of the accounts in January 1885 did not differ much from Jauuary 1886.

The Assignee said to ascertain this properly it would be necessary to take out balances a,t the former date of some 500 accounts, and this would occupy some time. If his inference was correct, it showed a loss of £1400 in the 12 months.

Mr Jago said if the lousiness had been going on at that rate for four or five years it would mean a big loss. The chief loss was stated, he believed, to have been caused by the competition against Shand and Worth.

The Assignee said that was four years ago, and of course if things had remained the same since then, Mr Smith had been going on in an insolvent state for several 'years. The question was, Were they satisfied that further investigation would improve matters ? also, Were the creditors desirous of carrying on the business for a longer time ? The month for which he was authorise?! to carry on expired on the 29th inst.

Mr Buller thought the business should be disposed of if any reasonable offer was made at all. Mr Jago agreed with this. The Assignee asked whfather Mr Smith's friends were prepared with any offer.

The Debtor said all he knew was that they would do nothing until he got his discharge, because the custom would fall away the moment it was known that an offer was made in another name.

Mr Macdonald said a resolution recommending the debtor for his discharge would not preclude anyone from opposing it if there were grounds to show.

The Assignee said nothing disclosed within the past 12 months showed that there had been any improper dealing with the funds. What they would waut was the exact balances for 18S5 and 1886, and they had not the materials to get this thoroughly.

Mr A. Lee Smith thought the first thing to do was to put Mr Smith in a position to tender by getting him his discharge. He moved — " That this meeting recommends that the debtor receive his'discharge."

Mr D. Reid seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. * Mr Jago then moved, and Mr Lee Smith seconded — " That the assignee be authorised to continue the business for another month if not previously realised." This was also carried unanimously. Some discussion then took place as to whether the business should be sold if the price fixed was offered before the bankrupt received his discharge. The Assignee did not think they should so much consider the interests of the bankrupt as to shut out all others. Mr Smith, he thought, might go so far as to say that conditionally upon his discharge his friends would offer so much. The meeting then adjourned sine die.

Mr T. W. Glover, temperance lecturer, addressed a well-attended meeting at Clinton on Monday evening ; Mr J. W. Thomson, M.H.R., presiding. Mr Glover stated that the object Sir William Fox and himself had in view was the educating of public opinion in regard to the liquor traffic. He then reviewed the history of legislation on the subject, and advocated that the people should have the power to decide whether the trade should exist or not. The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to Mr Glover. •