The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. TUESDAY, JULY 15, 1880.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1069, 15 July 1880, Page 2

The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. TUESDAY, JULY 15, 1880.

•.- .„.., While Ministers are legislating in r ' : ' '''Zffieyjpy of 'regulating Bills of Sale, „. « we. think they should also give the ■\ '_. ■' same attention to an equally irnpor- " tant question, that is of men making : -post-nuptial settlements on their wives with the object of ultimately r : defrauding their creditors. We notice in the Wellington Post a letter from ■ :-. , Mr. A. Dimant, a well-known \^ ; . accountant in Bankruptcy, which ,-. refers to this matter. Addressing : ; •. the' editor he writes :— • Your correspondent "Trader," in hil letter in this evening's issue of your ; paper,' calls the attention of the Chamber of Commerce, and others interested, to the reform necessary in the 8ank- ,.... ruptcy laws of this colony. I will pre- ; -•- sume, with, your permission, to state a case which very recently came under r. my- own observation, in my capacity as ... \. Pne of, the • " Accountants in Bank- '; ruptcy," and which strongly bears out your correspondent's plea. A bankrupt had handled over £6000 within 18 months from commencing business, and at no part was he doing business likely „ to pay his creditors 20s in the pound. Yet, although he was aware of this • fact, .and that he was carrying on a business which must prove an irretrievable loss, he (the hopeless bankrupt) . • pro,vided j ' J |or- his "unfortunate" wife ' v out of ' iV5 J>Ure love and affection," (so the 'deed of settlement says) by purchas- '■■'■'•' for her with his creditors' money, a •i, farm, . Horses, cows, conveyances, and •:-? all necessary appliances, in value some J -" hundreds of pounds, and so made things comfortable. When the happy fdayXto the bankrupt) arrived that he filed his schedule, I was appointed his trustee, and endeavored on behalf of :>f ' the creditors to seize the farm, &c. t as an available asset of the estate, but I ■" found ■a : .legally (as far as the present law is concerned) drawn deed of settle- ,; iment upon the bankrupt's wife, who ;'^'.defied me, and all the law I could pur•r rchasej to interfere, or even attempt to - upset the happy, and loving arrangement. v. . The ; wife therefore remained mistress hf^pf the situation and the stolen fortress. "'Sir,' it will not be necessary, ; I think, to state other similar and glaringly fraudulent cases, which I know exist, where considered a ,

lodeerjrf^what should be hi 3 own house, anA^is very properly snubbed by the <oman whom he has so dishonestly endowed (a just punishment to him) ; nor do I claim to be individually interested in the amendment of the law, as recommended by your able correspondent " Trader ;" but, as a citizen, Ido feel that any steps taken to bring about a speedy reform in . the matter indicated will prove an immense boon to the commercial community. We have long been of opinion that the law with regard to 'post-nuptial settlements should be quite as stringent as it is proposed to -make Bills of Sale. It is a cowardly thing for a man to shelter himself . behind a woman's petticoats in order to free himself from his monetary liabilities. The writer of this well remembers the circumstance of a lady in Victoria, whose father, before marriage, settled two thousand pounds upon her. In time she became the mother of two girls and a boy ; and in time also her husband became bankrupt. The creditors could not have touched one shilling of the. wife's money. But, noble woman as she was, she stepped forward and insisted upon her husband's creditors taking her two thousand pounds. "For the love I bear my husband, and for the honor of my children," said this lady, "it shall never be said of him or them that they have been protected by the reservation of my property on their behalf; nor on behalf of myself;" and this woman gave up the whole of her dowry, the creditors insisting upon her receiving back a small moiety, which she accepted with great reluctance. What is the duty of a woman on moral groimds should in bur opinion be made a legal enactment. Post-nuptial -settlements are in too many cases only so mairy -frauds.