SHAREHOLDERS’ LOSS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 140, 3 September 1927, Page 13

SHAREHOLDERS’ LOSS

MOTOR-BUS COMPANY’S BIG CLAIM COMPENSATION SOUGHT (THE SUN'S Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Friday. A big claim against the Government j is made by the Wellington Suburban J Motor Bus Co., Ltd., which petitioned ! Parliament to-day for a grant of j £5,250 as compensation for loss of its j business, as a result of the passing of : the Motor Omnibus Traffic Act. The petition, which was introduced by Mr. T. Forsyth, Wellington Fast, to-day, states that the company was formed in 1925 with a capital of £5,000, the shareholders being William George McDonald, of Wellington, Campbell Motors, Limited, of Auckland, and Ernest Bedford, of Auckland. Fourteen motor omnibuses and two motor chassis were purchased at a cost of £10,385, and the business was carried on from June, 1925, until September, 1926, when the goodwill of the business was confiscated and the companv was compelled by legislation to cease operations. After protracted negotiations the Wellington City Council paid the company £ 9,000 for the buses which was just enough to enable the company to settle its liabilities to its creditors other than the shareholders, and the whole of the shareholders’ capital has been lost. The company, therefore, seeks a grant of £5,000 to enable the shareholders’ money to be refunded, £3,000 for goodwill, and £250 to compensate the managing director, Mr. McDonald, for the loss

of employment and for Ills services in effecting the settlement with the Wellington City Council.