N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd.

Manawatu Herald, 1 May 1894, Page 2

N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd.

The examination in conpeotjan with the New Zealand lioan anfl Mercantile Agency Gompany was continued before Judge Sir Roland Vaughan Williams. . ■■;■; ? ;, q/>t -^ Mr Moore, Auditor to the 'dote* y pany, stated thaf he objected to the Waikato shaves appearing in the balance-sheet under the heading of wool and produce advances, asthe - J item required a separate heading. Mr Paul, however, stated that it Wis v - in accorddnce with the directbrt' ; wishes, and witaeaa made no protest to the Board. _He had \yjten aiked for information regarding the interest earned, but had always been refused. He said it would have been ; impossible to have sanctioned the eaarlier balance-sheets had he been in possession of full information as^^ obtained in 1893. The unproductife^s, capital iJ 1891 stood at a million sterling, and he admitted that tbt

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balance-eheet of 1892 was not a fair statement. Mr Paul stated that the increased losses on Australian property were due to rabbit-fencing and other improvements, and not to the non~ payment of interest. Mr Moore, he * said, was not aware of deficits. Mr Moore, auditor to the Loan aad Mercantile Agency Company, in his evidence before Judge Williams, he asked for the resolution of ■she directors permitting the transfer £21,000 from the Suspense to the Profit and Loss Account. Mr Paul did not obtain this resolution, bat assured the auditors that the direct" orj assented to the proposal, and witness therefore passed the item. He was now surprised to learn that the. London Board had withheld a t portion of the documents regarding tfra colonial deficits. •J Mr Peat, another auditor, said he asked for the returns in connection with the working of stations, but Mr Paul did not produce them. Mr Paul, when re-called, admitted that he had excised the references to the deficits in the report of Sir James Ferguson's speech in February, 1890, but maintained that he did not do so with any idea of congealing the true state of affairs. His desire was to oondense the report. His Honor remarked that the gnawers of this witness were of little use, owing to the great caution he djfplayed in giving his evidence. ,1-Mr Paul denied many of Mr Moore's statements, but admitted that he had deceived the auditors respecting the directors' approval of the form of balance-sheet. Mr Peat, in the course of his examination, admitted that the balancesheets issued in 1891 and 1892 were incorrect, and said the system regarding many of the accounts was not right and proper. Mr Justice Williams has postponed leave to register the new Loan and Mercantile Agency Company,, in order that the trustees for the prior lien may approve of the articles of association. Continuing his examination Mr Paul admitted garbling Sir J. Fergusson's speech, but said his intentions in the matter were quite honourable. He stated absolutely that he was ignorant that the report of Mr D. Elder, the Australian manager of the Company, referred to the Company's accounts until it was opened in June. Judge Williams said he was shocked at the statement, which appeared to him to be incredible, and he declared Mr Paul to be inoorrigible. The Judge delivers hie statement on Thursday,