A Jeremy Diddler.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XVIII, Issue 1663, 21 January 1885, Page 2

A Jeremy Diddler.

It ia astounding how men of capital can contrive to speculate, and carry on extensive transactions for years with little or no basis fur their opera tiona. A notable instance of this has just occurred in Wellington Some veara ago a man named 0. W. Clayton arrived in Wellington—a common sort of being, who was so illiterate as to be scarcely able to read or write, and who possessed vorv little money. Ffiavton, however, picked up a few building sections and built one or two cheap cottages. He mortgaged these for all he could get, and then built more cheap cottages, mortgaging them in turn. Bv and bye, he had some forty cottages built and let, nominally his own property. This game was carried on for wears, hut about eighteen months ago things came to a crisis, and Clayton made a private assignment of his nominal property to certain of his creditors, giving the equity of redemption. The other day he was sued for £2300 and filed his schedule. On Wednesday Clayton attended a meeting of his creditors, at which his liabilities were stated at £7963 16s ; £0836 8s 7d as secured and £1127 7s 8d insecured. The assets were stated to be £13,449 16s 9cl. The Official Assignee said he could not make head or tail of the statement of liabilities and assets. Mr Clayton had not come near him nor had he produced his books. Mr Clayton thereupon declared “ that ha had never kept any books.” According to the statement put in by Mr Clayton, there should have been a surplus of £5486, but no trace could be found of the money. It was elicited from Clayton that his wife had plenty of property settled upon her and was fairly well off. “ Indeed," quoth Clayton in a general way, “I’ve just been living upon the old woman for the last year." Somebody then pro. posed that Clayton should receive an allowance of £4 a week from the estate, but the creditors didn’t sea in, and suggested ” that he (Clayton) had ■better go and live upon the old woman for a little longer." The creditors apnea red to think that the surplus of £5486 was all moonshine, and that the “ estate ” was in a position likely to realise nothing outside of the mortgages and double mortgages with which it was saddled. The meeting was then adjourned, so that affairs might be investigated, aud search made after the £5486 “ surplus.” This Clayton is “a smart man.”