A BUILDERS' BANKRUPTCY

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 161, 31 March 1916, Page 4

A BUILDERS' BANKRUPTCY

Six Weeks' Imprisonment. A Eeries of four charges under the Bankruptcy Act were heard in the ; Auckland Magistrate's Court on i Tuesday against William Massey, builder, of Pukckohe, who was adjudged a bankrupt on January 31st last, lho accusations were that prior to his bankruptcy he contracted four debts when he had no reasonable or probable expectation of paying either those debts or others previously contracted. The debts were as follows llardie Bros., £l2 4s 6d ; H. aud C. Lamb, £7 los ; Henderson and Pollard, £ll lis 8d ; Carrara Ceiling Co., £8 18s. All wero contracted in August last. Mr W. A. Styak, for Massey, entered a plea of guilty, but asked that sentence bo deferred for six weeks, on account of the very grave condition of the accused s wife. Mr Selwyn Mays, who prosecuted, said that the bankruptcy was ono of the worst in his experience of such matters, which extended over about fourteen years. Massey came out from Belfast several years ago, and soon started in business as a contractor. Before very long he had obtained a sum of about £350 from a workman named Rea, by a pretence of taking him into partnership. This sum represented practically all Rea's savings, and the whole of it had gone. Rea obtained judgment in the Supreme Court, and the liability now stood at £420. It was with this debt on his shoulders that Massey went in for a numbor of new contracts, apparently relying on making a grab out of each. He also obtained a sum of £246 from a workman named Leatham, to whom he had repaid only £25. After contracting the debt to Rea, he had accumulated liabilities to the extent of £9OO, and had not a penny of assets. Where the money had gone to no one knew. At the eleventh hour he had given out a large number of orders for payment on his last employer, and these had produced a whole raft of interpleaders in the Civil Court. Mr Styak submitted that Massey had had very hard luck in nearly all his contracts, owing to rapid increases in the cost of all materials, the failure of a sub-contractor, the departure of an architect for the war, and the adverse interpretation of some very loosely-worded specifications. These had accounted for V. Frazer, S.M., said_ that the accused had been indulging in very rath speculation with other people's money, trusting to luck. He had contracted debts without explaining his position to his creditors, and his whole history showed the uselessness of taking up contracting without sufficient money to see the w r ork through. With regard to his wife's health, no medical evidence had been produced, and sentence could not be deferred. He would be sentenced to six weeks' hard labour.