DISTRICT COURT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 156, 29 June 1878, Page 2

DISTRICT COURT.

IN BANKRUPTBY. [Before His Honor Judge Broad.] Re J. J. Taylor. Certificate Suspended His Honor delivered the following judgment this morning :— -The bankrupt appears to have commenced business a3 a chemist and druggist and photographer, in June, 1876. His assetß then apparently consisted of a horse, some photographic apparatus, and £30 cash. His sales, both for cash and upon credit, appear to have averaged abont £10 per month. In November and December last he assigned his estate for the benefit of his creditors to Dr. Farrelle and Mr Stanton, hia liabilities, according to his then statement, being £370 12s 6d, and his assets £292. In thia statement no mention was made of any debt being due to his brother. The trustees took possession of his goods. In the month of March the brother came upon the scene for the first time, and filed a petition for adjudication, the act of bankruptcy

relied upon being the execution of the deed of assignment. These proceedings were ix part ■. No notice was given to the creditors, but the bankrupt appeared and admitted all the allegations in his brother's petition, and the order was accordingly made. He now Says that ne had applied to his brother for ' money, but he was recommended to go through the Court before any help could advantageously be given him. He says he agreed to do this, but he did not file his own schedule. He arranged with his brother that he should petition the Court. He did not tell the creditors, for whose benefit he had assigned all his estate; of what was going on, and they apfcar tb have been ignorant until the oiMer ot adjudication was made that he even had a brother. There appear to hare been disputes with the Trustees under the deed as to the photographic apparatus which he wanted) and th'ey would not $ve hitn. And what is the effect of the arrangement with his brother to petition the Court instead of filing his own schedule"? Why, that the title of the Trustees under the bankruptcy relates back to the execution of the deed, aud so all the goods taken by the Trustees under the deed become part of the estate under the bankruptcy, and whereas under tbe deed the bankrupt {could get nothing except by leave of his creditors, under the bankruptcy he can claim £25 worth of tools, furniture and wearing apparel, so that the bankruptcy proceedings taken by the brother with the approval arid cducurrencej and, I believe; at the instigation, of the bankrupt are a positive injury uuder the circumstances, instead of a benefit, to the genera! body of the creditors. Prom the accounts filed undor the bankruptcy it appears that his liabilities were £463 15s 2d, and his assets £121, but the Trustee reports that the latter available will uot exceed £50. It appears from the accounts and documents before the Court that the bankrupt incurred debts that he had uo pi ; 03pect of being able to pay looking at the very small business he was doing. He had in fact been living uot upon his owu profits but upon other people's capital. His conduct to his creditors has not been straightforward and in some respects very disingenuous. I wish to say one word, with regard to the Triistee^s report. I hope in future Trustees will recollect that the Court requires only a clear and explicit statement of the bankrupt's affairs, and that it is not necessary to embellish that statement with entirely irrelevant tattle. With regard to the application of the Trustee for a special direction as to the disposal of the photographic goods, he must apply to the Court upou a statement in writing verified by affidavit, as required by section 3 of the Act, of which due notice must be served upon the persona interested. I agree with Mr Pell that this is uot a Court of sentimental sympathy, but that justice must be done according to the merits of the case. And to mark my sense of the manner in which the bankrupt carried on business, and the way in which ho has treated his creditors generally, his discharge will be suspended for six months. In reply to an application from Mr Acton Adams that the petitioning Creditor be allowed costs out of the estate,His Honor said that the principle upon which the Courts allow costs to a petitioning creditor ia thafc he is supposed to have acted m the interests of the general body of creditors. Here it is clear the creditors had already possession of all thc debtor's property under the Deed, and these proceedings could in no way benefit them, but the contrary. It was admitted by the bankrupt that his brother never intended to prove on the estate, and that it was at his, the baukrupt's, instigation that the brother brought forward his hitherto unknown claim, and petitioned the Court. The proceedings were clearly undertaken for the benefit of the bankrupt alone and it was not a case in which the Court could allow the petitioning creditor COBtS. Probate, On the application of Mr Bunny probate was granted of the will of Thomas Scott, deceased, late of Takaka, carpenter.