MEETINGS OF CREDITORS,

Otago Witness, Issue 2363, 8 June 1899, Page 9

MEETINGS OF CREDITORS,

Re Edwaed William Elliott.

L meeting of creditors in the estate of Ed,ward Wm. Elliott, hotelkeeper, Macetown, <which was to have been held at the Official ■ Assignee's office on Thursday, lapsed for want ■ of a quorum. The Bankrupt's statement showed his liabilities to be £302, and his assets £140, there being a deficiency in the estate of £162. The following are the unsecured creditors: ; — F. Montagu, £16 ; W. G. Neill, £20 ; Lane i and Co., £20 ; H. Hawson (Invercargill), £20; Whittingham Bros, and Instone (Invercargill), £40; R. Prichard (Arrowtown), £40; J. L. Jopp (Arrowtown), £7; — Ches- ' „ney (Queenstown), £1; J. Perriman (Cromwell), £114 ; — Reid (Queenstown), £45. I The secured creditors are : Mackerras and ( Hazlett (who hold a first mortgage, to secure , a debt of £150, over one-third share in hotel , . and property at -Macetown) and W. Reid (who holds a second mortgage, to secure a debt of £100, over the same property). ' The -assets consist of stock-in-trade, £100 ; and furniture, £40. The Bankrupt, who was examined on ttath by the Assignee, said that he took up a hotel at Macetown on April 10, 1897. He was then ' . indebted over £100 to Keid and M'Dowelly • and it took another £100 to supply the house with liquor. He had kept no cash book or ■ any other books, except the ledger forwarded, ' .'showing debts owing to him. These amounted .to over £100, but a good deal of that was .•irrecoverable, and most of the debts were { ■barred by the "Tippling Act." He had been j -going back nearly all the time except about < " March, 1898, when there was a boom in mm- ; ing. He gave the mortgage to Mackerras ' and Hazlett over his interest in the freehold last February, and the mortgage to Mr Reid about a month later. i Re 8. L. Bbookes. The firet meeting of creditors in the estate i of Samuel Lewis Brookes, of Anderson's Bay, • labourer, was held at the office of the Offioial ' Assignee on Thursday afternoon, the creditors present being Messrs Fisher and Barclay. ■ The statement filed by the Bankrupt disclosed that he had unsecured creditors to the ' extent of £72 4s, and that he had book debts - amounting to £I], estimated to produce { , nothing. .The unsecured creditors were : The ' estate of Thos. Robertson, £50 ; C. Fisher, ' '£9 4s ; E. J. Bryant, £1 10s ; A. R. Barclay, J . £9 ; and Mackerras and Hazlett, £2 10s. \ A written statement deposited by debtor . set forth that he had been living at Ander- ) eon's Bay for about 24 years. For the first ! two years he was with Mr H. M'Lean, as ' - groom and gardener. After that he rented j about four acres from Mr M'Lean, upon | which he made a living by keeping pigs nijd - going out as a labourer. About 11 years »go ! - he bought a small Government reserve of be- j tween two and three acres, and transferred it to hie wife. They had been living there ever since. Hie wife had since bought some nine i acres adjoining with money borrowed from ; Mr Burton (of Burton and Patterson). About nine years ago bankrupt bought the lease t>f the Macrahanish .estate for £50, there being at the time about eight years to run. The ' estate - consisted of 31 acres at Anderson's • Bay, belonging to Robertson's estate, and was leased at £75 per year. It was a continual loss to him, and had been his ruin. The immediate cause of his filing was his being sued by Charles Fisher on a judgment j summons, over a bill of Mrs Reid's, which he (• endorsed. He had no property whatever. ' He went bankrupt about 20 years ago, and his estate wife not realised, and no dividend paid. Bankrupt, sworn, said the consideration for the endorsement of the bill for Mrs Reid was that he was to receive £2. He did not do any work for Mrs Reid, and did not endorse the bill so that Mrs Reid might pay him for i work done. He received 30s out of a bill fdr ! £5 before the other for £8. He waß keeping a butcher's shop at the time, and the money was paid for meat Mrs Reid got. He received nothing out of the other bill for £8, i and £5 10s went to pay for the previous bill. Mrs Reid got £1 14s, and the balance went for charges on the bill. The Assignee said they would have to get Mrs Reid to attend. Bankrupt, continuing, said the £50 appearing in the schedule was for rent on the estate. The Bank of New Zealand had taken the estate over, and he had no interest whatever in • it now. He was now working for his wifu. They were living together as man and v, ife. • ■ He had 10 of a family living, and of these six . were dependent upon him and his wife, two were working for them, and two were away. He had stood for the House of Representatives. - Mr Fisher: Yes, and you advertised, hired halls, and made very impressive speeches. — Bankrupt : I didn't. It never cost me six- ■ pence. I got 10s a-night for speaking. You are an athlete? — Yes. I tried hard to ' win a race, so that you might collar the .money. I did my level best bo that you . might get it. With regard to the bicycles you bought, who paid for them? — My wife bought it for the farm. That bicycle saved 'bus fares. Have you not got two bicycles?— My son bought the other himself. And with regard to the matter of rendering fat? — It is my wife's business. I want a statement of what fat was rendered and what- profit was made. (To the assignee : ) When he was cornered in the court he said his income was from thig fat. Now I want to see what he lias made since that court day from this fat? — I have nothing to do with the place now. The Assignee: Everything seems to be his .wife's. Mr Barclay said this was one of those cases that were becoming so common. This man had for years been at a business at Anderson's Bay. This business was nominally carried on in his wife's name, but, as a matter of fact, he took the proceeds or profits of it. He incurred debts, as he had done here, and when it came to paying, everything, of course, belonged to the wife. He seemed to be unable to tell what remuneration he got for his work. He came to town, bought stuff, and practically -conducted the works and the whole thing, and ' then filed his schedule to get out of paying his debts. Thia thing had been carried on for a number of years. He (Mr Barclay) would ask him a few questions, and would then move that he be publicly examined. The Assignee pointed out that in the absence ' of a quorum this could not be done. Bankrupt: I have not seen Mr Barclay's ■bill, and I don't owe him the money. It is down in the schedule, but it was put down because he said I owed it him. The Assignee: It is rather late in the day to upset that now. In reply to Mr Barclay, Bankrupt said he Jiad started the business of rendering fat about | 12 years ago, but had knocked it off at times because he was losing money over it, and Btarted again. Ho had started again because he could, not get anything else to do.

-Mr Fisher: What- about -Parliament?

Mr Barclay: Are there no books kept in connection with this business ? — Bankrupt : Certainly; my wife's. They are kept by me and my wife.

Who makes the entries? — I make the entries — and my wife. It is sometimes herself. Who goes round for tallow? — Myself, my 1 son, and sometimes my wife. Who do you sell this fat to? — It goes to Melbourne. We put it through the New Zealand Loan Company, Dalgety and Co., and Murray, Roberts, and Co. and lost money. I shipped the stuff direct to Melbourne by the Union Company's boats. The average per month was two or three tons, as we got it. The price varied. What remuneration did you get for your labour? — I didn't get any. I let my wife take the lot. If I wanted to go out she gave me a shilling now and then. That has been going on about eight years. During the whole of that eight years have you incurred any debts at all? — No. I have never bought anything.

What property did you transfer to your wife? — The two acres I got off the Government for £10. I didn't owe anyone sixpence at the time it was done. That will be about 9 or 10 years ago.

What- was paid for these nine acres? — £150, and £140 was borrowed.

Mr Fisher : You did not tell us who paid for the advertising and those halls in which you orated ?

Bankrupt: Mr Smithson, of th& Shiel Hill Hotel; and I am going to stand this year again.

Mr Barclay asked on what terms the bank took the estate over, to which bankrupt replied that there was no agreement. The bank did not get any money from him or his wife. Mr Barclay: As a matter of faot, has it^ ever been taken over?

Bankrupt: Well, I don't know, but they have sold it again.

In reply to the assignee, Bankrupt said he had no estate and was not in a position to maka any offer to his creditors. He did offer 2s 6d in the pound, but the money was to have been boriowed. His wife would have done it.

The Aesign_ee : Tvom your own evidence the estate is nominally your wife's, but it is practically yours. It seams an -unfair thing that for £70 you or your wife do not make an offer. I think if you are an honest man and your wife an honest woman you should offer a dividend on these debts.

In answer to further questions, bankrupt eaid he borrowed £6 from Mr Burton to file, and Mr Burton had got his wife's security. The Assignee, referring to the mortgages on the property, said that in the face of them the estate could not be in a very flourishing condition, or something would have been done towards paying them off. There was no use continuing further, and, in the absence of a quorum, no resolution could be passed. The meeting would be adjourned, and if the creditors wished for- another meetirg they could let him know.