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A LAND BOOM EPISODE.

" A mean spirited scheme " (to use the language of the Ohief Justice of Victoria) to pawn off landed property on workmen at ft liigU price has been In'ought to light. Action was taken by the liquidator of tho Caledonian Land Bank Limited to place tho name of Albert G. Goodman upon tho Hat of contributories in respecb of 50 shares, tnd the summons was opposod on the ground thab tho respondent had been induced (o tako up the shares by a fradulcnt misrepresentation contained in tho p'ospoctus, and thab tho company had subsequently ngrcod to reI'j.iso him from liability. Thero wero •JO other similar cases, nnd this was a test one. Chiof Justico Maddon, in oivint? judgment), said ib appeared from the evidence that the jompany wai initiated in 1888 by David Munro and John Lewis, who was apparently acting with him, with tho avowed object of enabling the employees in Muuro's engineering works to share in the prolits which were said to bo derived fiom land transactions The whole thing, however, was really a mean' spirited scheme to enable Munro to sell his own property to tho company at a very largo prico, and to throw the burden of ib upon a number of simpleminded woiking men. Though it was speedily rushed with oflbrs to sell land, tho compauy dea't with nobody bub Munro, and his property was purchased for L 25,000, Goodwin was one of a number of foundrymen who wore addressed by Munro and exhorted to join the company as a certain means of making their fortunes, and he a'so rolied upon a statement iv tho prospectus tint at the time of its publication 25,000 shares had ahvady been applied for. When the sharoholdors became aware thab Munro was selling his own property to the company they bocame suspicious, and ab tho nexb general meeting very marked opposition was shown to the adoption of the report and balance sheet, and then a wrib was i-surd on behalf of a number of share holders against the company claiming nu injunction to restrain tho purchase f'Om Munro, who was chairman of directors, and also to have their names removed from the share register. Negotiations wero th°n begun which resulted iv the adoption of a deed of arraugemenb, which provided that Muoro himself should purchase tho shares of thediscontented shareholders, that they should transfer their shares to him, and that tho company should pay the costs of the action, which w( ro stated LI OO. Except as to tho3e costs, tho company was nob a party to tho deed, and there was no covenant by tho company that the n^mes of these shareholders would bo removed from tho registor. If Goodwin depended on tho deed alone he would have no case, bub ho alleged that tho deed did nob represent the real transaction, ilo said thab tho company agieed to release him from all liability and to remove his name from the registor, as he had claimed iv the wrib, and thab the deed executed by Muuro was a more device to enable tbo company to do this Upon a consideration of all the circuraatancos, His Honor believed thab this view of tho transaction was a correct 000. Tho evidence showed that when the prospectus was issued, instead of 25,000 shares having been applied for, no shares whatever had been applied for. On July 31 some time later, 3075 shares were applied for. By August 31, 10,284 shares in addition were applied for, and on thab date 10,000 shares were applied for by Munro and his family. Munro announced at tho same time that ho would take tho balance — 19,7-11 — of the 00.000 shares which cons 1 ituted tho firsb issue, and also a few more than the issue ; and it was then directed that an advertisement should bo inserted in all the papers, stating thab tho issue of 50,000 shares had been over applied for. Well that was a funny way of over-applying for the shares, when tho man who wanted to sell his lanJ to tho company took up in tlio first place coti siderably more than half tho number, and then afterwards the whole balanco and a few more, for the express purpose of announcing that tho issue was over.applied for, and to indicate thab there was a rush for tho shares By tho minutes of October 18 it oppeared Out although Munro hid so liberally subscribed for these t hares, he had not up to that time paid anything for them. Tho charge of misrepresentation was therefore made out. Apart from tho question of fraud, however, ho would have held that Goodwin had been released by tho company itself as tho result of tho compromise of the previ ous action, and the company could nob now turn round and say that because through its own default Goodwin'h name at 11 appoared on tho rogiater he was liablo for the shares. The application would therefore bo dismissod.

Explorations of Northern Siboii.i demonstrate that tint region was in I) ibitod by tigeid until witlria a comparatively recent data Baron Hirscli's land of promise, in llio Argontino Republic, for the persecuted Jews, now extends to 441,780 acres, and hundreds of families have been conveyed thither. Already tho Uaron has expended L3G7.3G9. Cycling iti Turkey, according to an Austrian wheelman, ig nob all "beer and skittles." He routes : " Sleeping at a village iun one night! was foolish enough to leave downstairs my bicycle, which became an object) of speculation to the members of thg entire population of the village, who had novor -cen such a thing before. Tn thoir perplovty they fotched the villago ;rie>t, who instantly pronounced tho bicycle to be an instrument of a horcerer, como to wreak ruin and destruction upon that village ia particular. That was enough for tho villagers ; seizing their axes they chopped the bicycle into little bits, mounted the staircase and smashed ia the door of the room where I was sleeping, and I would have had rather a bid time if I had nob esoaped through the window and made off."

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NOT18950417.2.23

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

North Otago Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8162, 17 April 1895, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,023

A LAND BOOM EPISODE. North Otago Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8162, 17 April 1895, Page 4

A LAND BOOM EPISODE. North Otago Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8162, 17 April 1895, Page 4

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