BRICKLAYER’S BANKRUPTCY

Taranaki Daily News, 12 June 1930, Page 8

BRICKLAYER’S BANKRUPTCY

RASH DEALS IN PROPERTY. “HAD 1 KEPT TO MY BRICKS!” “Had 1 kept to my bricks 1 would not be where 1 am to-day,” stated Hugh Chevalier Fake, a bricklayer of Hawera, at a bankruptcy meeting yesterday, when he attributed his deficit to his dealings in property. The D.0.A., Mr. R. S. Sage, J.P., presided, there being present besides bankrupt and his solicitor, Mr. L. A. Taylor, the principal creditor, Mr. A. C. Pease, and his solicitor, Mr. E. M. Becchey. Owing to the absence of a quorum the meeting was adjourned for a week. The only proofs of debt were those of A. C- Pease for £312 IBs and L. A. Taylor for £25. Bankrupt remarked that several creditors had told him they did not intend prove debts. The list of creditors supplied by bankrupt’s solicitor is as follows: Bennett and Sutton .£35, H. R. Kemp £lB, Wanganui Woollen Company £l4, J. H. Fake £25, Egmont Box Company £6, A. H. Shaw £6, H. L. Spratt £5 15s, L. A. Taylor £25; total £135 15s. “There are no assets,” said Mr. Taylor to the D.O.A* In asking that the meeting be adjourned Mr. Beeehey ,said he would make it his business to see that there was a quorum at the next meeting. He wished to examine bankrupt and a resolution would probably be passed. He also required at that meeting all bankrupt’s books. “You don’t need books for a cash business,” bankrupt interjected. rt l have lived in this' district for forty years and have been in business as a bricklayer at Hawera and Eltham for thirty years,” said bankrupt in his written statement. “About 12 years ago I was worth about £4OOO. I then bought and sold a fai*m at Tawhiti and then one at Meremere, and the claims against .me by the mortgagee of the Meremere place, after the slump, cost me a large sum of money. To secure cash to meet my obligations I had to sacrifice some property I owned at New Plymouth. After getting clear of the Meremere property I bought a house property in Hawera, and after spending £2OO on it I sold it for £250 less than I gave for it. I found that the dealing in land and the consequent looking after it took me too much away from my work, and, had I kept to my bricks I would not be where I am to-day.” The cash he had got out of the house in Hawera, bankrupt said, he had put into the South Road property, and by giving a mortgage to Mr. Pease had become indebted to him. He could not, with- his other work, make enough out of the property to keep down the charges on it, and so his position became gradually worse until finally he was the property. The judgment upon which he had been made a bankrupt represented a balance of the mortgage debt. He now had no property save a few tools of trade. His* wife had always received a house allowance, and out of that had kept ah account in the post office. Out of her own monies and out of monies lent to her by members, of his family she had lately paid a deposit on a section in Argyle Street. His father had died in Auckland last year. At the time he (bankrupt) was hard up and had been called to Auckland three times prior to his father’s death and several times since. He was a beneficiary with his brothers and sisters, subject to a life interest to his mother, who was 73 years of age. Before the final balance of the estate hiid been arrived at he had asked his two brothers, who were executors, to buy his share at £lOO. They had preferred not to do so, but his uncle had done so. The assets in the estate consisted largely of real property. His .father’s house could not be sold or .let. As the result of an application his uncle had given him £lOO for his share in the estate, and he had received about £B5 net. Out of this amount he had made an offer of £5O to Mr. Pease, but it had not been accepted, and he had since spent the money in living and travelling expenses. . THE RACE FOR YIELD. A DAIRY FARMER’S VIEWS. The opinion that a large number of farmers were racing for yield to the detriment of quality was expressed by Mr. G. H. Bell, Oakura, at the Hawera Jersey Cattle Club’s smoke concert on Tuesday night. "It is no use producing quantity if we have not the quality,” said Mr. Bell. "Some of us are probably aiming too much for yields. Prices have not been so low for a number of years, and if we are to compete on the world’s markets the quality of our produce must not be less than that of our competitors. We must be prepared to come down to a lower price level, and I see no reason why we should not be prosperous even if we receive Is 3d or Is 4d a lb. for butter-fat. ■ If we can’t make our farms pay at that price then the price of land is too dear.” Mr. Bell advocated the top-dressing of pastures, a practice which, he said, had just been touched on lightly during the past few years. The use of fertilisers most grow, and he felt sure that in the next ten years the resulting increase in production would prove surprising. At the present time the price of fertilisers was too dear and it was up to the industry to make’every en-. deavour to secure manures at cheaper rates. There was no justification for the present price of £6 a ton for slag, and if the cost were reduced the farmer could produce more at a lower rate. Mr. Bell also stressed the value of herd-testing, stating that the returns showed many fine performances and considerable increases in the production per head. In New Zealand some herds were averaging over 2621 b. butter-fat per cow, and so long as it continued on such lines the industry would advance and prosperity would be increased.