ALLAN HOPKINS’ AFFAIRS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16365, 2 March 1921, Page 6

ALLAN HOPKINS’ AFFAIRS.

ANOTHER MEETING OF CREDITORS. i i PROCEDURE DISCUSSED. j A further meeting of creditors in the estate of William Allan Hopkins, of Christchurch, land ami estate agent, was held last- evenitig. After over an hour’s discussion, it was decided by a narrow majority to rescind th© resolution carried on February 10— •• That Mr W. A. Hopkins be asked to file a petition in bankruptcy, and in default of him doing so within seven days it : is the wish of the meeting that creditors’ petitions he lodged against the estate. ' As the voting was not unani- : mous, the fact that this motion was re- ; seinded means very little. Indeed, it j was announced that, whatever decision i was come to. the creditors represented by one solicitor were determined that 3. bankruptcy petition should be lodged. ! There were between, eighty and ninety/ people present at the meeting. Mr O. T. J. Alpers occupied tile, chair. He said that Messrs M. J- Gre sson, A. F. Wright and himself hi id been appointed at the first meeting to act in the event of Mr Allan Hopkins not filing a petition in bankruptcy within seven days. That date eccpired on February 17. Before that day the trustees. Messrs W. J. Hopkins and G. 7’. Booth, represented to him tha t a number of ladies and gentlemen vivo attended tile first meeting had! e/jther changed their minds or did not. fully appreciate the effect of the renoluition. Those creditors, it was stated. d<‘sired that a further meeting should be -called to give them an opportnnitv erf -reconsidering the question. He point© d out that the resolution that Mi' TV. A. Hopkins should be asked to file had been passed unanimously. However, tho same creditors still wished for a further meeting. Messrs Booth ;and W. J. Hopkins were told that of/ course, if a number of creditors wishe-fl t’iie committee to stay their hand, then a requisition to that effect- should he presented. Before the seven days expired there was presented to the committee a requisition a&kinjg that a meeting of creditor. 4 s!l ould he called for the purpose of reconsidering the decision. 1 nade on February 10. That was signori by some forty creditors. represontir g divers amounts. That demand was a eroded to. and hence the present inee ting. ft was for those present to reconsider the resolution, and either re-affirm or rescind it. The legal position was that, if any majority of the me< ting, say a 95 per cent majority, resolved on a private assignment of the estate, that would be a valuable indie ation as to the wishes of the creditorrs. At the same time, any creditor fVith a proved claim tor £3O or over r/ga inst the estate had a free hand to d'.> what he liked. Tho extent to which .any resolutions were unanimously ci'frrl/ed would be an important factor. “ WILL PAY T'WKNTY SHILLINGS.” Mr G. T. Booth flnade a statement in regard to the mental condition of Mr Allan Hopkins, is unable to see any visitors. Thu» books had been written up since the last meeting, and Mr Luther Hopkins bad come down front the North Islam 1 and rendered valuable assistance. Tbft result of the writing up of the book i did not very materially alter the position, though the liabilities were higher by about £SOOO than as disclosed in tho books up to September 1920. On tho assets side, Mr W. j! Hopkins had inspected some of the properties in -the immediate vicinity of Christchurch, and he would be prepared to tell the .'meeting that the balances set down 117 the books were not seriously overstated. With anything like good luck, tho properties would realise pretty nearly what they were put down in the bonks for. Many of them would not bo difficult to realise. The properties marie up the bulk of the assets. Nothing more could be told about mortgages Yh an was told at the first meeting. There had not been time to examine the securities, and no doubt some of them would have to bo discounted very considerably. Even with the extra liabilities, and allowing for other things, there still should be a reaso/iaWe hope of paying all the creditors 3 ®» 111 thc \ Po imd > besides paving the expenses ot liquidation, and, if possible Laving something left over. He asked •the creditors if they would not be justified in giving some assistance to Mr Hopkins’s dependants, for whom nothing had been set aside. He was of opinion that the best wav to conserve the assets would not h e bv gomg to the Official -Assignee. The Official Assignee was a busv man and he could not possibly give the personal attention to the realisation of the assets that could be given by private individuals. The assets were likely to realise more satisfactorilv if handled privately. As far as Mr W J Hopkins and himself were concerned j they were prepared to leave the matter entirely in the hands of creditors. It might be desirable to have a laro-er committee. Mr Booth then moved the following motion:— cc That, the instructions given hy the meeting ot creditors on February 10 to the committee then appointed be rescinded.” Mr (I. Bourne .seconded the motion. Cogent reason# had been given, he said,

why the creditors should vote for private realisation. AMENDED BALANCE-SHEET. 'The amended balance-sheet was read as follows: LIABILITIES. £ Bank of New Zealand . 3,954 Mortgages on properties 32,730 Sundry creditors . . 34.890 Rent and interest accrued 1,250 Total ... £72,830 Rent and interest amounts, said Mr . Vinger, had been made up after looking over the books for the past few ASSETS. £ Properties . . 67.030 Shares .... 7,713 Sundry debtors . . 28,589 Office furniture . . . 38-1 Total . . £103,716 Ft was stated that trade and professional accounts, rates and taxes, had increased the liabilities by about £SOOO over those shown on February 10. The surplus was about £31.000. Mr F. D. Sargent : Can you vouch for the accuracy of the liabilities and Mr Ainger: I can answer for nothing. The books are well written up and balance all right. Some of the property values were put on seven or eight years ago. Mr Sargent: What about the shares? Mr Ainger: The shares item represents the money actually paid on them. A creditor: Is there any cash in the bank ? The chairman: I am afraid not. '(Laughter). PROPERTIES AND EQUITY. Mr W. J. Hopkins said that the Bank of New Zealand and. Mr Izard would agree to a private realisation of the estate. Those tA'o with the fortj'seven creditors avlio signed the petition represented fully two-thirds of the claims. With regard to 1 properties he had looked at the homestead. He was quite certain that it would realise anything between £6OOO and £7OOO. The block, known as the model farm, and including forty sections, would realise probably £ISOO less than the book entry. Another block past the New Brighton racecourse and near the Bower Hotel would realise within £IOOO or £ISOO of tho book entry. Including the Mataura farm, he believed there would be an equity of £16,000 from the properties mentioned over and above the mortgages. There was another farm at Mataura he knew nothing about, as well as ju'operty j n New Brighton. Air Sargent said that he had the highest respect for Mr Booth and Air \\. J. Hopkins. Still ho felt that the meeting had no reason whatever to change its mind and that it should affirm what was decided on February 10. From the questions asked then, it was indicated that the affairs of the estate were in a very unsatisfactory condition. It was shown that a number of assets did not exist at all. The shares would probably bo a liability instead of an asset. r fhere was no trust account such as was supposed to be kept by an agent. Air W- J. Hopkins: It does exist, ! but it is oven-drawn. | Air Sargent said that that showed a i worse state of affairs. The meeting I should certainly re-affirm the resolu--1 tion carried unanimously on February 10. It would be more expeditious, more economical, and much more/satisfactory, specially to the smaller creditors if a petition were filed. One important feature was that. they might have to consider whether there lia<l been any transactions within the past three or four months which might be liable to impeachment. The Official Assignee had power to cause fuller disclosures than a private assignee. Another point was that if Allan Hopkins was mentally incapable of carrying out business, the deed of assignment might be upset. Air Alyers (Marshland) said that two others should be added to the present trustees, and the resolution rescinded. If there was a private realisation, the creditors would get 20s in the £l. B3' taking the other course, they would not get nearly as much. He had had dealings with Air Allan Hopkins for many years and always found him honourable and generous. Once Afr Alyers was called to order by the chairman, -who said that the meeting did not wish to listen to any anecdotage. Airs Gunnell asked whether the whole of the people at the last meeting were entitled to vote 7’he chairman: There was no rote taken except on the question to admit the Press. The other resolution was carried unanimously. Mr M. Gunnell said that the meeting should ascertain who were entitled to vote- He was sure that at the last meeting people were present who attended out of curiosity. The chairman said that, it seemed impossible to check those who might vote at the present meeting, because debts had not been proved. AN ASSURANCE ASKED. Air F. AY. Johnston said that the matter should be approached without heat, bo that the creditors could get as much as possible out of the estate. He was in favour of private realisation. If any great wrong had been done, a private realisation would not interfere- He would like to know if there had been any “covering up” in the last three months, any “fiddling” with the assets. If lie could get an assurance that nothing of that kind had taken place, he

was absolutely certain that v private realisation would bo best. Mr J. A. Flesher said that, so far as he knew, there had been no “ planting away of assets or giving anyone securities improperly. Mad Mr Allan Hopkins been committed in the ordinary way, the estate would have gone through the Official Assignee. The best way to follow for the realisation of the estate was to make sure of careful administration. In the interest of the small creditor, the meeting would be well advised to authorise private realisation. Mr A F. Wright said that one important point was : How were privareassignees to renounce owners contracts and unprofitable properties? There were shares to the value of £7OOO. Those shares were not an asset : they were a liability. It Mr Allan Hopkins were adjudged a bankrupt, the lease of IChOOO acres of unsaleable land at Te Kniti would he renounced- Under the Bankruptcy Act. the Official Assignee had power to appoint two business men to assist him as supervisors in the disposal of property. _ Mr K. Neave said that a lot ot information would never be disclosed ix there was a private assignment. The Official Assignee would have lull power in that direction. Mr F. George said that the creditors represented by Mr C. S. r l homas had decided to make Allan Hopkins a ruptThe motion was put after an hour's discussion. The voting was:—For, , against, 20. Mr Alpers, in announcing the result, said that it was not very important what the. exact’ figures were. In his opinion it would be quite impossible lor Mr Allan Hopkins to resist the petition of a creditor for the requisite amount who applied to have him adjudicated bankrupt. Personally he had no doubt the Court would adjudicate him a bankrupt. Mr F. T>. Sargent said that the creditors he represented, if they took his advice, would support the application that Mr Allan Hopkins should be declared a bankrupt. On the motion of Mr F. D Sargent, the meeting was adjourned sine die. Mr Alpers said that no good purpose could be served by continuing the discussion.