MEETING OF MR. O'SHEA'S CREDITORS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5054, 5 June 1877, Page 2

MEETING OF MR. O'SHEA'S CREDITORS.

[ ~ A meeting in Bankruptcy of the creditors of ■-Mr. James O'Shea was hold at the Curt House yesterday at 2 o'clock. There was a full attendance of creditors, Mr. D. Anderson being elected to the chair. Mr. Barton appeared for the bankrupt; Mr. Quick on behalf of certain of the creditors. Mr. Quick is also a creditor iu the estate. The first business was to prove the accounts in order to give the creditors title to vote, and the following were passed:— £ s. d. Messrs. Krull and Co. 433 2 3 Plinimer, It. eves, and Co SS 19 3 Samuel, r.add, and Co 208 11 f) William l>a\vson 105 S 0 Mclntyre and Co 311 0 7 Captain Thomas IKS 4 i Bannatyne and Co I°2 'S 2 ' Jacob Joseph and Co 20S 19 2 ,1. Staples 357 10 0 W. and O. Turnunll and Co -135 -1 11 Mills and Co 159 17 ° llonry Green 127 0 0 Daniel lnwood IS7 0 0 It. J. Duncan J> Jj £ J. C. ltuddenklau 20., 19 0 l.yonand lilair 20 0 0 C. Whitehead 1(0 11 3 A. T. Stuart and Co 29 IS 10 W. J. Gandy 124 12 1 Heck and Tonks <<. ir> 3 1 It. Tort SoO 15 1 C.J.Johnston 18 10 6 Levin and Co 118 0 5 Joseph Nathan and Co. 32 15 6 The account of Mr. Tolhurst (acting for the Colonial Sugar Company), of £lll9 10s. was withdrawn owing to an informality. Mr. T. K. Macdonald's account (estate of Mayhew), £3O lis. Id., was also informal ; and Mr. ~D. Anderson had by a mistake neglected to bring

his account with him, having brought with him from his office the wrong paper. By a clause in the Act, therefore, he was debarred from voting, and vacated the chair.

Mr. W. M. Bannatyne was then elected chairman, and the meeting proceeded to the next business in order, namely, the election o£ a trustee. Mr. Turnbull proposed that Captain Thomas be trustee for the creditors, and that he be remunerated at the rate of 2i Per cent., estate being a large one. \ Captain Mclntyre seconded the motion, L IQ J expiessed the conviction that they could ifiShave made a more suitable selection, as he believed Captain Thomas would do his utmost in the interests of the creditors. Mr. Duncan said before the motion was put he should like to express the pleasure he felt at the propo.-al to elect Captain Thomas trustee. At the same time he thought it would be desirable that they shoald obtain from that gentleman a promise that he would summon a meeting of creditors when any questions of importance came befere him, so that no decision might be come to without the approval of the creditors. He thought the Act was defective in this direction. He had too frequently seen " ducks and drakes " made of the money of the creditors in consequence of too much power being placed in the hands of the trustee. He wished to he distinctly understood, however, as having every confidence in Captain Thomas ; but the present case was one of more than usual importance, and he felt convinced that creditors would discover before its termination that there was good reason for the remarks which he had made, and he earnestly hoped they would give them due consideration. Mr. Moeller wanted to know how Captain Thomas would deal with the estate ; how he proposed to realise ? Captain Thomas said he was much obliged to Mr. Duncan fur opening the question of ihe trustee's responsibilities, and in reply would say that he should never think of entering upon any transaction of moment without first consulting the creditors ; he should consider himself unjustified in doing so. Mr. Moeller : But how would you propose to realise ? Captain Thomas : I know of no other way than the ordinary one of selling by auction. Mr. Moeller : For cash, and within one week. I think we shoald insist upon that. Several creditors expressed dissent at this, and Mr. Dcncan said the adoption of such a course would be manifestly unfair to the other auctioneers in town. Mr. Moeller insisted, and added that there should also be two gentlemen associated with Captain Thomas as supervisors. The Chairman pointed out that no such appointment was provided for by the Act. Mr. Moeller : No, but we are not forbidden by the Act to appoi t supervisors if we desire to do so. Mr. Qcick said that the supervisors would have no legal standing. Mr. Tckxbull thought it might be desirable that the trustee should have the assistance of other gentlemen as suggested by Mr. Moeller. The Chairman saw no objection. Mr. Moeller said he was specially desirous of preventing the recurrence of the muddling and delay sometimes experienced in the past in connection with bankrupt estates. He knew of one case, for iustance, in which an estate had been in the hands of a gentleman for three years, and then creditors could obtain no satisfaction if they went to him for information. Such proceedings were common, and he with others strongly disapproved of them. He mentioned this because a meeting such as this was a proper place in which to express such sentiments. He proposed that Captain Mclntyre and Mr. Turnbull be supervisors to assist Mv. Thomas. Mr. Tuitxiicr.L thought -Mr. Moeller mightkave had the courtesy in the first place to ascertain whether the gentlemen he had named would be williug to accept the position to which he proposed to elect them. In this case he had been unfortunate in hitting upon him (Mr. Turnbull) as it was probable that he would shortly have to absent himself from Wellington for a time. JSr. Moeller: Very well, sir ; it rests with you whether you accept it or not. However, iu order to mend matters I will substitute Mr. Kruli's name. Mr. Duncan objected. He would rather be a supervisor himself, and reminded the meeting that his claim on the estate was almost as large as that of Mr. Krull and Captain Mclntyre put together. Mr. Krull said as Mr. Duncan appeared to smart at not being elected a supervisor he would resign in his favor. Mr. Duncan disclaimed any particular desire to to be a supervisor, but regarded the case as one of a peculiar character, and thought the creditors as a body should be consulted whtn it was being dealt with. It was suggested that Mr. Duncan's name should be added as a supervisor, but that gentleman declined. Finally Mr. Port's name was added, and the supervisors appointed to consult with Captain Thomas were—Messrs. Krull, Port, and Captain Mclntyre. Nothing further was heard of Mr. Moeller's suggestion that the goods should be sold by auction within a week, and for cash. Captain Thomas mentioned that he should act iu such a manner as he thought calculated to procure the best dividend for the creditors, and would not sacrifice property in order toobtain a cash transaction. By proper management ho was of opinion that the estate would realise 10s. iu the pound. This concluded the business, and the meeting then dispersed.