PECULIAR BANKRUPTCY.

Otaki Mail, 22 March 1922, Page 4

PECULIAR BANKRUPTCY.

£_; FILES AGAINST ADVICE OF SOLI- , CITOK AND BANKER. VALUER-GENERAL CRITICISED. Auckland, March 17. . The alleged action of the ValuerGeneral in counselling a local farmer to file a petition in bankruptcy against the advice of his creditors, banker and solicitor, was eritlsed at. a meeting of creditors in the estate of James Smith, farmer, of Ngaroto, held before the Deputy-Official Assignee, Mr H. W. Sanson. In reading the bankrupt'* statement Mr Sanson mentioned that the case was quite unique in that the sum due to unsecured creditors amounted to £l3l, and the amount bankrupt was due to i receive from the dairy company this i month was in the region of £260. Cor-1 tainly the farm was subject to heavy mortgages, but the mortgages had stated definitely that they were quite' adverse to Smith filing, and stated, , moreover, 'that they would have been •jperfectly willing to confer with him on the matter. Against Advice of Banker and : Solicitor. \ The bankrupt was questioned by the j various creditors, and it was found that j he had filed entirely againstjhc advice of his solicitor and or his banker. In further examination the bankrupt asserted that, in view or the recent notices in the Press, lie had interviewed the Valuer-General, and that official. aftertgoing into submitted, and; Softer having obtained information as' to the present valuation of the farm, had advised him to file so' as to bring j things to a head. \ Bankrupt's assert corroborated by Sydney Smith, who was also present at the interview, i The creditors condemned in very i strong terms the action alleged to have been taken by the Valuer-General. ' Bankrupt's Statement, ' ■ . Bankrupt, in his statement, afelribut•j ed the cause of his.Xaiiuiu to the big drop in butter-fat and stock prices, lie purchased the Ngaroto property of over 60U acres in 1919 at £32 per acre. As a depesit he had- conveyed to the vendor at ai: estimated price of £2200 the property he (bankrupt) owned at Te Kapa. The Ngaroto property was mortgaged at the time for £12,000, which liability bankrupt had taken over. The balance of the purchase money had been made through the National Bank of New Zealand. Bankrupt, in order to stock the farm and carry on, borrowed £IB7O, transferring in return ;la mortgage for that amount, which he held over a certain property. He had also given a mortgage over all his stock and farm implements. Continuing, i bankrupt stated that he had been milkling 100 cows and that while butler-fat and stock were high in price, everything went well. Bankrupt was nowpaying £lliio a year in interest on I mortgages, and when this was deducted from the receipts received from butterfat and stock sold, little was left. { Strn;i'/iy-Worded Resolution. I T u civdilor;- unanimously passed a e re olutieu strongly disapproving of the I Y a lm_.i-Ge!icral t:.k ; ng upon himself j ne responsibility of advising the bank- | aipi in file his petition in view of the I fact that there was available over 30s in the £ to pay the unsecured creditor.-*; and furthermore that, they understood from the public statement of the -i'rime Minister (hat the purpose of the Valuer-General's visit was to assist- the rainier by bringing together the parties' interested, thus helping distressed ag- | rieulturist,- Through the slump. They (were satisfied that this year's results | from the farm would shew a surplus of { 6350 after payment of interest. ! It was also decided that the Deputy- { Official i'.'.dgiioc ne. asked to send a copv of me resolution to the depart--1 meat concerned. The meeting agitt-il that the only practicable tiling to do was for the secured creditcrs te confer .in i »■!,».r ! to the future carrying on of the farm. The meeting was then adjourned. «££»-%**» .-.*.—--'-' *-*- ■ rawy After tht harvest was gathered, Capital and Labour fell to disputing. •'You would not have been able. '0 teap' without rue," said Labour, '"so I i think i should have all the harj vest." There would have been no !* harvest te* reap without my foresight, 'my land, and my machinery," rei [died Capital. "1 tuck the. risk, and J when I have paid you Tor your work i 1 am ihrotigh." ■ Being unable to j agree, they consulted a Lawyer. "Lti hour has'the mast votes," remarked { this worthy, -'and so deserves She harvest; but Labour cannot be trusted with the seed corn in these days of silk shirts'." Accordingly he. divided the grain into three piles. ••There," said he, pointing to the smallest pile is Capital's share. ■•This," indicating the middle-sized pile, "is Labour's wages." ••What is • the big piie.'" asked Cardial and l.a- ---| hour together. "That," replied the • learned man, "is economic loss due to .'friction in the relations of men." And he began to shovel- the large pile I into his waggon.—George Martin m Life. _"