FAILURE OF OKOKE FARMER

Taranaki Daily News, 8 July 1930, Page 13

FAILURE OF OKOKE FARMER

£9l DEFICIENCY ESTIMATED. COMPETITION IN CARRIER TRADE. A meeting of creditors in the estate of Tom Hoskin, farmer of Urenui, was held in the office of the D.O.A. (Mr. J. S. S. Medley) in New Plymouth yesterday. Bankrupt showed , a deficiency of £94. The creditors represented were the Traders’ Finance Corporation, Auckland, and Henry Brown and Co., New Plymouth. Mr. Prichard, Waitara, represented bankrupt. As there was no quorum the meeting vyas adjourned sine die. The chief unsecured creditor© were Purchas and Son, Urenui, £l4; Farmers’ Co-op., Ltd., Hawera, £23; C. Smith, Urenui, £11; Hodder and Tolley, Ltd., Hawera, £18; R. B. M. Fitzgerald, Urenui, £l3; Traders’ Finance Corporation, Auckland, £27. The secured creditor was Collett and Co., New Plymouth. £l5l. Unsecured debts amounted to £124 6s Bd, but against these were assets, in the form of book debts, estimated to produce £3O. Bankrupt said in his statement that he was 'a single man 23 years’ old. Three years ago he had been working on his father’s farm and had ovei* £lOO in savings. Deciding to set up in business as a carrier, he bought a lorry from L. H. Johnson for £llO cash. He found that the lorry would not stand up to the work he gave it, and accordingly traded it in to Mr. Les. Berg, who sold him a lorry chassis for £505. Bankrupt built the body on it. This lorry was held under hire purchase agreement under which bankrupt paid £l7 a month. Berg’s rights in the lony were taken over by Collett and Co. and a new hire purchase agreement between bankrupt and Collett and Co. was signed. Latterly bankrupt had found competition so keen that to obtain business he had to carry for prices which did not really pay him, and his position had been made more difficult by the fact that he had as opposition (among others) a lorry which had the cream contract. He had been drifting back financially, and six weeks ago he saw his solicitors and handed them all his book debts for collection, his intention being that the book debts would he sufficient to> pay his merchants’ accounts and that if Collett and Co., Ltd., would take the lorry back he would go out of the carrying business and pay 20s in the £ or something approaching that figure. Two of his creditors had refused to wait until the debts were collected and one of them had issued a judgment summons against him. Bankrupt understood from Collett and Co. that they would take the lorry back but they had not done so. He had received a summons for the two payments now in arrear and in view of that and of the judgment summons he was left with no alternative but to file. 1 Examined, bankrupt said he had disclosed all his assets. In his schedule he had a life insurance policy for £2OO with the Government. It had been going five years. He had no shares in any company. When he started business he had £lOO. At first he made £9O profit and paid about £2OO down on the lorry to Berg. This debt was taken over by the Traders’ Finance Corporation. For personal accounts he had taken about 30s a week out of the business.