The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1916. A TAIHAPE BANKRUPTCY.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 40, 17 February 1916, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1916. A TAIHAPE BANKRUPTCY.

(With which is incorporated The Tai bape Post and Waimarino News.)

A few days ago we called attention to what had every appearance of being an utter disregard of public convenience in calling a statutory meeting in a Taihape bankrupt estate, at Wanganui, and it is satisfactory to note that our complaint has been noted and replied to by the Officer in Charge of the Deputy Official Assignee's Office, who' says:— "I take it that the particular estate referred to is that of H. B. Duncan. If such is the case, I would draw your attention to sub-section I. of section 94 of 'The Bankruptcy Act, 1908' which provides that the Assignee shall summon the first meeting of creditors at his own office or at some convenient place. I would explain that the object in calling the meeting at Wanganui was prompted by a sworn statement made by the bankrupt to the effect that he had only one creditor in Taihape. Under these circumstances it was thought that a meeting at Wanganui was in the best interests of the estate, and it was called accordingly. With this explanation I trust that you will agree that your attack was unwarranted. Moreover, the article is erroneous inasmuch as you lead the public to believe that there were numerous creditors in this particular estate, whereas the sworn statement of the bankrupt, made under Section 58 of the Act above referred to discloses only one creditor residing in or near Taihape. Under these circumstances, I trust you will again refer to the matter in your columns and do the Officer concerned the justice of this explanation."

We are glad to concede what the Assignee asks but whether he will be pleased with our view of the case, which now includes his letter, we cannot say. He i s quite right in assum- : ing that the estate referred to was that of H. B. Duncan, and we may say that, from long experience, we are not unacquainted with the, provision of the Act with reference to the holding of meetings. We are quite aware that the first meeting should be c'alled at the Assignee's office or at some convenient place, and we would specially direct the. Assignee's attention to the words "Or at some convenient place," because we claim to the fullest extent the correctness of all we stated in this respect in the editorial complained of. Whose convenience does the Act refer to—is it the Assignee's on the creditors'? There can only be one reasonable answer, therefore we still maintain that Taihape was the "convenient place." We certainly sympathise with the Assignee in the reason he gives for calling the meeting in Wanganui, because he was evidently the victim of a story that is opposed to fact, but to put it as mildly a s possible, we cannot understand 'his want of perspicacity and judgment in telling us our article Was untrue, and that we were misleading the public because H. B. Duncan said so. The Assignee had our statement alongside Duncan's before him and still he persists in saying that there is only one creditor in Taihape. Under the circumstances, we think, the Assignee should at least have exercised some caution. Our object has been consideration for the public convenience, what Duncan's object was in stating he only had one creditor in or near Taihape we know not, and however much the Assignee was misled by the sworn statement, we have made good every word we wrote, and we trust that the Deputy Official Assignee at Wanganui will, no matter where the bankruptcy is, give due attention to the words of the Bankruptcy Act he quotes when deciding the of meeting—"or at some ccnvenufct place" —in all future bankruptcies ™ a M got & matter, ad : .

mitting cf carping or c'aptiousness, it ■ is purely a question of public convenience and right, and it is solely

in the public's interests the case in question has been brought .under no-

tice. This community is now so numerous and its business interests so great and far-reaching that it cannot allow any interference with its privileges or rights to go by the board.