MESSRS HAYWOOD’S MEETING.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1129, 24 December 1883, Page 2

MESSRS HAYWOOD’S MEETING.

TO THIS EDITOR. Sir, —As the report of the meeting of T. and A. Hay wood’s creditors, which appeared in your issue of the 19 tli instant, is somewhat misleading. I think it only just to the creditors that a fair resume of the proceedings based upon the minutes should be laid before your readers. In the first place (ho Bank of N. Z. was not represented by Mr Barton as stated by you. In (he next the minutes show that on sth October last Mr Thomas Haywood, on behalf of the firm, laid before Mr Christie a statement of T. and A. Haywood’s assets and liabilities shewing their estate to bo worth 30s in the £. The first of the proposals referred (o as made by Mr Christie was that the J3ank should advance a snflicient snm to pay all the creditors 10s in the £ in cash, the remaining 10s to be paid by the firm at intervals extending over 12 months. The. last was that he would accept 10s in the £ cash in full payment of the Bank’s and his own claim. All the proposals were declined, the reason assigned being that it would be unfair to the creditors to accept them. Now, it appears to me that the statement of sth October was either correct or incorrect. If the former, I fail to see thatany injustice could have been done to the creditors by raising on their property a snm sufficient to pay the creditors 10s in the £. And if on the oilier hand the statement was incorrect then it was apparently an attempt to obtain money under false representations. Assuming that Mr Christie’s proposals were unfair to the creditors, surely (with sm hj a good estate as the debtors represented it) there could have been no great difficulty in arranging with some other one to give more satisfactory terms. With regard to the cases, Mr Thomas Haywood wished the meeting at first to understand that only two small cases had been sent away containing a few “ niebnneks ” belonging to Mrs Haywood and her child. It is rumoured that the “ nicknacks,” as sworn to subsequently by certain witnesses, filled 20 cases and packages weighing nearly one ton. and contained some of the most valuable articles in the hotel. Where was the morality of the debtors, who professed to act not unfairly to their creditors when the goods were shipped ?) The ignorance of the debtors, as evinced at the meeting, respecting the contents of .these cases, was somewhat astonishing ; perhaps it could be dispelled wore the trustees to examine Mrs Haywood on the subject, and I hope the matter will be thoroughly sifted by them in justice to all concerned. I am informed that Mr Christie did not take out execution until he heard that the goods had been shipped. In acting ns he did I think he studied the best interests of the creditors by putting a stop to further consignments.

I trust you will extend your sympathy by inserting this to one who is not yetA Bankrupt.