INTERESTING CASE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1169, 3 July 1911, Page 3

INTERESTING CASE.

BORROWING POWER OP A BOARD. t;™ ' iu °, f ""PTtanco in connec„f£i . l l? 0 >, r f 0 " in S Power of hospital and charitable aid boards was involved in a case heard by bis Honour Mr. Justice bim m the Supreme Court oft baturda>v morning. The motion' beforo the Court was for a declaratory judgment as o the validity of a.loan of .£70.000 applied for by the Auckland Hospital aud Charitable Aid Board and the Public Irus.ee over the security of certain of the board s reserves in the city and suburbs of Auckland. J .\, Macdonald represented the Public Irustee. Jlr. Martin Chapman. Iv.C., with luin Mr. E. J. Fitzgibbon, appeared for the board, and Mr. .1. W. Salmond, the Solicitor-General, for the At-torney-General. ■ ' . ■ ' In opening - the i. case, •. Mr. 1 Macdonaid said that the Public Trustee was anxious to lend tlio money if it were -legally possible to do so. The land was (by tho Auckland Hospital Reserves Act, 1S83) placed in the Public Trust -office,' and, down to 1905, thero had been continual amendments of the legislation affecting it. In 1905 tho board's loan had been reduced to the sum of .£7700, and then furtner legislation was passed giving tho Public Trustee fuller leasing powers, and authorising a loan of .£25,000 for the erection of new hospitals ami building. In 1901 the lroard was given (he management of the reserves, and the limited power of borrowing was raised to preserving the right, of the Public Trustee to advance the money. Recently the board, for the purpose of rebuilding and paying off an existing loan, had applied to_ the Public Trustee for a loan of w£70,000 over the security and the rents of the reserves, and proposed to enter into a covenant to levy annually on tho contributing bodies the deficiency of income, necessary to pay interest and sinking fund. On going info the title, the Public Jrustce raised certain questions, and the 'board asked that they be dealt with by the Court as its expense. The question's wore: — Are the general unlimited borrowing powers conferred upon the boards by the Hospital and Charitable Institutions .Act, 1909. controlled, affected, or abridged by the I!WS and 1907 local Acts, and, if so, to what extent? Can these powers, under the said Acts, be exercised concurrently? Is it ultra vires of the board to enter into the proposed covenant? Mr. Macdonold added that, if the first and third questions were answered against tho board, it would mean that that bedv would be .£20,000 short in its financial arrangements. His contention was that tho special local Acts overrode the general Act, and the. amount that could be borrowed was limited to ,£50,000. Decision was reserved. SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE. CASE UNFINISHED. The case between D. M. Oweus, builder, and \V. H. Stewart, and Beatrice A. Pinnocl:, a claim for specific performance and damages, was continued at the Supretio Court yesterday beforo his Honour Sir Joshua Williams. The case hedges round the alleged salo of the Forestere' Hall, Tory Street, Wellington, from plaintiff to defendants. Mr. A. Dunn appeared For tho plaintiff, and Mr. Oswald Beerc for the defendants.. The case was adjourned until to-dav at noon. APPEAL COURT. The Appeal Court will sit this morning, but will in all probability adjourn until to-morrow.