THE COLONIAL BANK LIQUIDATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2298, 17 March 1898, Page 23

THE COLONIAL BANK LIQUIDATION.

I r.ETIEEMENT OF ONE OF THE | LIQUIDATORS. ! Iv the Supreme Court in Chambers last Fi'ii day, before Mr Justice Williams, a tummons ! i'or liberty for Mr Kuta Rameay (who is aboub I v>o leave for England) v> resign from his office I cf liquidator of the Goioiral B.tuk and for tbe , continuance of Messrs Vigers and Simpson aa I liquidatora and for settlement of remuneration ! was taken. ; Mr Hosking, instructed by the official liquidators' solicitors, appeared in support of the summons, and Mr W. C. MaoGregor, who had j j been served ivifch cotic?, appeared on behalf of j j W. Barron, who had entered his name to be | '. served vu'bh notice of proceedings. j ■ The ofii Javibs filed in this case showed the ; i present position of tLe liquidators to be sub- ! | sfcantifclty s,i follows : That all the accounts in > the "B" list have bean closed ; that there is i about £21,000 to piy on the " O " list, to meet ! ' which ib in expected snfiioienb will be recovered j I from tbe liquidation ot tbe Ward Association ; ! that there nre from £5000 to £6000 worth of ' wise's to be realised out of ths ''DMisb and | some other smail assets which may Uke some ! j time to get ia ; tn.ifc there are a tew matters to ' be adjusted wish the Bmk of New Zealand; and that until the final disposal of the actions brought by Brooks and Co. and Connell and Co theie can bs no absolute closing of the liquidation. The tiffidivifc* further showed that there is now in hand s, sum of £20,804, tub thab ' no divts'ou of thia can be made unti' the liti- | gation in qviasMon has b:en settled. His Honor fa : d ii appeared that the bulk of the work had been done, and as Mr Ramsay oould ba discharged without inconvenience he would make aa order. The other part of the summons asked that the remuneration of the offifial liquidators nhould bo fixed. ; The affidavits showed that tae remuneration | uf the provisional ifiicial liquidators up to the ', RBth oi. February, 1896, had been to Messrs Larnach and Vigors £250 each, and to Mr R-vmsay £200 ; that for the first six months atterwardi each of the liquidators had beea authorised to retain £700, aud for the future to draw at the rate oi £75 per month en arcAiut ot remuneration. Froaa one of tbcfffidavitii it appeared that the work of the liquid*!. -I**, having diiviniahed EiLCa Ocfobsr, Bseasrß Simpson and Rams;ay had since that time voluatarily reduced thsir drawings to £50 j £ e.r month each. ) Mr Hoskiug referred to sffiiavits showing S the large amount of time which had beeu de- J voted by the liquidators to the work. Mr Vigerg, ib was state*!, bad bsen in constant ' attendance, and ia addibion totho daily attendance oE the liquidators ab ths offices ib was shown that Mr Ramsay had been absent 85 days and Mr Simp3on 89 days in journeys connected with the liquidation. The learned counsel said that the liquidators did nob ask for any particular sum, but left that to ba fixed by tha court. i His Honor said that when the remuneration j was originally fixed ho had stated that if tha liquidator devoted the whole of bis time each day to the business of the liquidation the rate of £1500 psr year would nob be unreasonable remuneration. j Mr W. C. MacGregor said he appeared in theintereabs cf ccDnomy, and while he did noi .' ab the present time say th^fc the liquidators had been ov.-r-paid, be thought; mora detailed information should be before the court as to the work actually done and the time the liquidators were employed doing it. Mr Hoskiug remarked that the liquidators would be glad to have the question thoroughly investigated, as they had no wish to press for remuneration beyond what they were fairly and j justly entitled to. I Mr M^cGrcgov drew ahrention to a recent J decision in Melbourne, called " the Ringaroomft > case," where au order was made for a solieibor | to represent the interests of the contributoriee. , His Honor said : I think ifc is reasocable that ' there should be an independent representative j of the caatnbutories ab the inquiry before the registrar. Ib is iusb as well that there should be some disinterested person, who will geb out the facts. Ib might possibly bs that a reaUy substantial benefit m ; ght be reaped by the contributories through such aa investigation. Ab any rabe it would enable ths court to form an independent judgment if the liquidators were asked questions not only from their own point of view but from an opposing point of view, arid the courb had a record of those questions. Of course is would nob do to have anything like a lengthy or costly inquiry. Ib would be quite unreasonable that the contributories should be saddled wibh the cost of anj thing more. The investigation before Ihs registrar need be by no means lengthy, and il need not be expensive. An order was made — " That Mr Ksith Ramsay be ab liberty to resign and order otherwise, ■ iv ttraia of paragraphs 1 fco 5 of sflimnqns ; registrar to inquire and report on the services rendered by the several liquidators, and as to the time occupied by them respectively in the business of liquidation ; Mr William Barron to ba appointed to represent the contributories on the inquiry before the registrar ; the reasonable costs of such representation to be b"-.rne by the company, costs to be fixed when the registrar reports."