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Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3158, 11 August 1881, Page 2

Mr. Justice Richmond delivered judgment yesterday upon an appeal against the decision of the Resident Magistrate of Wellington brought by Mr W. E. Greatrex. It will be remembered that some little time back Mr Greatrex was charged by the Deputy Property Tax Commissioner with having failed to furnish a statement of his property within the prescribed time. It was admitted that the defendant aud another carried on business as wholesale manufacturers of saddlery, and also carried on a general wholesale saddlery business at Walsall, in England, under the style of Charles Greatrex and Sons, and that the same partners, under tbe same style carried on business at Wellington, and that the Walsall bouse consigned goods to the branch in Wellington lor sale there. It appeared that the firm had a large amount of property in the colony. The defendant claimed to deduct from the value of this property—firstly, debts due by the firm within the colony, and secondly, a sum which upon the books kept by the Wellington branch appeared to the debit of the New Zealand branch and to the credit of the English branch as payable to the English branch for goods consigned to the New Zealand branch. It did not appear that the shares of the partners in the English and the New Zealand business were different. The whole question was whether the sum debited to the New Zealand branch and credited to the English branch in tbe books in Wellington could bo deducted as a debt due by tbe firm. In giving judgment Judge Richmond considered that it was impossible to treat this debit as a debt due by the firm. In his opinion it was simply a device of book-keeping. No action could be brought by the English branch against the New Zealand branch, and it could not be said, except as a matter of bookkeeping, tbat any sum was due by the New Zealand branch. The decision of the Court below was held to be right, j and the appeal was dismissed with costs. |