THE COLONIAL BANK LIQUIDATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2317, 28 July 1898, Page 11

THE COLONIAL BANK LIQUIDATION.

CHAPvGSS AGAINST THE LIQUIDATORS.

(From Ouk Own Corbespondent.) Wellington, July 19.

Speaking on the question of the advisability of substituting the official assignee in bankruptcy for official liquidators in the winding up of companies, the Hon. Lee Smith to-day made some interesting remarks. He referred at considerable length to the liquidation of tho Colonial Bank, the Ward Farmers' Association, and the Guthrie companieo. He said he thought a great error of judgment had been niado by Judge Williams in eubsfcituting Me VV. L. Simpson for the Hon. Mr Larnach as one of the liquidators of the Colonial Bank, and ia dealing with the results of the operations of the liquidators he pointed out that oply £100,009 of the total aesets had been divided. Estimating the liability of the Ward and Ryley accounts at £150,000, that would leave a balance of £300,000, the whereabouts of which was absolutely unknown to the shareholders and to the public. He thought that this was a glaring example of an anomaly in our present law which would not exist if a Government or public official were substituted in lieu of the official liquidator, as under the present system many csmpromisea were sanctioned without the knowledge of anyonecompromises that ia some cases were of an extremely questionable nature. There were now to-day in Dunedin many people who had advantageously compromised with the bank trading in comparative affluence, while on the other hand a few had had the whole of theic business concerns held up to the public gazo. With regard to the Ward Farmers' Association, be Had no hesitation in declaring 16 to have been one of the soundest businesses in the colony. Th6re had been a system pursued in its liquidation which was not in the interests of the goneral end sought. Mr Lee Smith also referred to tho Guthrie Company, and stated that its assets had been squandered and its connection decimated by mismanagement. These were, he thought, examples that eloquently demonstrated the necessity for an alteration of the law in regard to the winding up of companies. Any amendment made in the act should be o£ ft character to prevent any scandals such as those he had mentioned occurring in the future.

Samuel Brown and Alex. Winkie, seamen on board the American barque John S. Emery, were sentenced at Auckland on the 19th to one month's imprisonment, with hard labour, for assaulting Captain Woostor and the mate on thanhio.