BANKRUPT DEALER

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19802, 18 May 1934, Page 3

BANKRUPT DEALER

SLUMP IN WOOL BLAMED LARGE DEFICIENCY DISCLOSED Attributing his bankruptcy to the heavy fall in wool prices in 1928 after he had bought a large quantity and the steady decline of the commodity in the two subsequent years before he [ceased business, Samuel Frederick Hanson, of Timaru, a dealer, met his creditors yesterday afternoon. Mr vV. Harte, official assignee presided. The financial statement showed that £1,991/4/11 was owing to unsecured creditors and £1,677/3/1 to secured creditors. The estimated value of securities was £983 15/10, leaving a (deficiency on secured debts of £695/7/3. The total debts amounted to £2,686/12/2, and the only assets were plant valued at £lO, leaving a deficiency of £2,676/12/2. Statement of Posiiion. Bankrupt, in his sworn statement , said that on his return with the New ! Zealand Expeditionary Force in 1919. Ihe commenced business as a wool i dealer and fellmonger at Pareora in | premises leased from his father. 'He ■ then had about £l3O in cash and a :f- rther £IOO was made available for j 1 him on his father’s guarantee. After j i his father’s death in 1923 he purchased 1 j the property which comprised 6 acres, i j 16 perches with a small dwelling and a j I wool scouring shed and plant thereon. 1 j from his father’s estate for £7OO. | I satisfied by a payment of £350 in ; ■ cash and by his taking the property subject to the still existing first . mortgage to Mr F. N. Lobb. The j house on the property when ne j purchased it was only a 2-roomed one j and he had it enlarged at a cost of | £350 which he paid in cash. A little later he added a crushing machine at I a cost of £IOO. Up to 1927 he carried j on business successfully and con- j sidered himself then to be worth about i j £1,500. In 1928 he bought and shipped ! i wool, but between the purchase and j 1 resale of the wool in England prices fell and he lost heavily, so that he was unable to pay the firms which had been financing him. Between that time and March 1931 he was unable tb recover his position as wool prices were becoming steadily worse. In March, 1931, he saw that it was hopeless to , carry on and so he ceased business. Shortly afterwards his creditors, some of whom were pressing him. wire advised of his position. With the exception of about £l7 since incurred for necessaries for his family, all his debts were incurred before March. 1931. With the returns from a few cows of his wife’s and casual employment obtained by himself, it had been possible to provide for his family until i he obtained his present employment ; with S. F. Hanson and Co. Ltd., wooldealers. He received a wage of ! £4/10/- a week but had no other in- j j come. His wife, who had some cows, | carried on a business in a small way on his property upon a guaranteed j overdraft of approximately £2OO with j the National Bank of New Zealand. He was one of the guarantors of that account, but his guarantee was supported by assets (life insurance policies) which would not in any case have passed to the assignee in bankruptcy. He had not been concerned in any way in his wife’s business. His only free assets were a woolpress and a set of scales and a few personal effects. The remainder of his plant consisted of fixed machinery. The furniture in his house was his wife’s He was a married man with three ; children who were all at school. . ! Unable to Make Offer. lie realised that he could not hope 1 in the circumstances to recover his j former satisfactor}' financial position j and pay his debts. He ascribed his bankruptcy to the heavy fall in i price of wool in 1928 after he had ; purchased a large quantity and to the • steady decline of that commodity in \ the two subsequent years before he | ceased business. In examination bankrupt stated that as his present income was only | £4/10/0 a week, the amount he re- j ceived in wages, he could make no ! offer to his creditors. He had no j share in the company by which he was i employed. It was decided to allow bankrupt to j retain a wool press, a set of scales, j and other tools pertaining to his trade, j