The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published Daily. THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1895. THE BANKRUPTCY ACT.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 291, 13 June 1895, Page 2

The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published Daily. THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1895. THE BANKRUPTCY ACT.

Every day almost, cases are coming before the Bankruptcy Court of men who have been in business either as tradesmen or contractors who have not kept books in accordance with the requirements of "The Bankruptcy Act, 1892." It is distinctly laid down that the omission to " keep such books of account as are usual and proper in the business carried on by him, and as sufficiently set forth his business transactions and disclose his financial position " is, on the part of the bankrupt, a misdemeanour, whether the omission is proved to have been with intent to conceal the true state of his affairs or not. It is not necessary to show intent to defraud ; the mere neglect or omission to keep proper books of account is now constituted an offence, punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both. In Palmerston, at the District Court, the Judge, in referring to the case of a bankrupt who had failed chiefly for the reason that he was grossly ignorant of the state of his own affairs, said the legislature deemed this provision absolutely ne cessary in order to maintain a high standard of morality in a country where business is for the greater part transacted on credit. We are indebted to the Standard for the following quotation : — " In dealing with a case at Dunedin similar to the one heard here, Mr Justice Williams, as explanatory of what was required, quoted from a judgment of the Master of the Rolls in the case of a charge under the section of the Imperial Act, of which the section in the New Zealand Act is a transcript. Lord Esher said : 'It is not enough that there should have been books with entries in them which would require a prolonged examination by a skilled accountant iu order to ascertain the result of them. That is not proper books. The books should be properly kept ancl balanced from time to time, so that at any moment the real state of ji flairs may at once appear.' Of course, it is only the act of bankruptcy which consitutes the non-keeping of books a misdemeanour. So long as anyone steers clear of the Bankruptcy Court he may dispense with books without fear of being called to account, but the moment he is adjudged a bankrupt he is practically convicted of a breach of the Act. It is important that this alteration in the Act should become widely known, so as to prevent honest but unfortunate tradespeople being placed possibly in a humiliating position through ignorance of the lawY