COURTING THE COURT.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 204, 2 October 1914, Page 10

COURTING THE COURT.

] ONE WAY OUT OF DEBT. I .-. The Official Assignee (Mr Smyth) ' ' had some caustic remarks to make to- : day at a meeting of the creditors of * / T.'S. Robinson. There was only one «■'■- creditor in the estate, that creditor * Jbeing the estate of Huston Curlett. The liability amounted to £2684 2/11, ' aud the bankrupt returned his assets ;" at £1 ?>/-. The bankrupt was reprei sented by Mr H. J. Beswick. The bankrupt, in his sworn statement j" said that ho was-financial at the time (. of entering into occupation of a farm JJ at Island Bay, Akaroa". He approached r Mr Huston Curlett to supply him with }' the necessary money to purchase it. t Mr Curlett agreed, provided he got X payment of £1 per acre on 714 acres § as"his bonus for financing. Bankrupt 3f- ran the property for a short time as v a grazing farm. It was then agreed to ?• put up buildings and erect a milking !*lant, and'turn the property into a '■a dairy farm. The cost of this schemo |: -was'about £2OOO, more or less. He had practically two bad seasons, aud as a •&' result he got into financial difficulties. V He was pressed by Mr Curlett, and as *1 lie had no capital he lost the farm by ii '-foreclosure. It was sold through the f' Ket'isfrar o*fthe Supreme' Court, .at £lO *5 per* acre. As a result he became per- £■ sonaliv liable to Mr Curlett for £2500, £ tips being the difference between the »'' realised- price and the amount due to § * lrin. After he lost this farm he cons' -tinued his employment as a traveller !* for the Farmers'*Ctf-0p... His earnings, 9 £\r> to £l7 peT month, were absorbed j§, in his domestic and personal expenses, If' while his wife, as an invalid, required k special medical attention, lie had not. £ been pressed bv his creditor for- payE *nipnt, but his reason for filing, was to \fi relieve himself from a liability winch &- he sav/ no hope of paying. 'T The Official Assignee remarked that r ? i«- seemed to him that the bankrupt filed / to get rid of a just claim. He had not : h bf»en pressed for payment. Mr Keswick said that the bankrupt ' K - -courted the. fullest enquiry. He saw no :/ .possible hope of being able to liquidate - the claim. •• . t Mr Smyth: It may be only for the purpose of enabliug him to .start ,m seme other speculative venture. ? '. Mr Beswick replied .that the bankrupt r - -was in a situation now, and was not likelv to indulge in speculation. He C pointed out that the money had. been -. , spent on the farm, which had gone into (-' the creditor's estate. -\-t~- The Official Assignee said that money •' --had been wastefulLv spent, and the farm '■- mismanaged. The/expenditure had been \ out of all proportion to the requirements of su'ch a property. Mr Beswick said that the position ~ ' was different to that in a case, where -, w?,s a number of small creditors. -' Tiie bankrupt could not possibly pay. -•• The bankrupt iuterpolatVl that he -'". could-not even pay the interest on a sam like £2(500. Mr Berwick added tha+ the bankrupt .. had an,invalid wife, and his nose was , * kept very close to the grindstone. Tile meeting was adjourned sine die, -the Official Assignee remarking that '." nothing could be done in the meant!lire. * ■