THE WARD COMPANY'S OATS.

Waikato Argus, Volume III, Issue 224, 18 December 1897, Page 2

THE WARD COMPANY'S OATS.

ACTION BY R. BROOKS AND CO. DrjKEDiN, Wednesday. At the Supreme Court a case was commenced in which R. Brooks and Co., London, su-d the liquidators of the Colonial Bank, claiming £6500, and an order of the Court for an account of sales of oats held by the J. G. Ward Farmers' Association, and covered by certain warrants. Messrs F. K. Chapmau and J. A. Cook appeared for the plaintiffs, and Sir R. Stout and Messrs Hagpett and Hosking for the defendants. In 1894 R. Brooks aud Co. agree! to allow the J. G. Ward Farmers' Association to draw upon them and to accept drafts in terms stated in a letter dated the 6th of Aoril as follows :—*' We are also willing to'accept your drafts at 90 days' sight against bond warrants (which wc und*rstand to be certificates that goods ore in store) to the extent of £20,000, on your undertaking that shipp : ng documents to the amount of such drafts shall be sent forward within two mouths of so drawina, you also undertaking that the goods arc fully covered by insurance until shipped. This letter was exhibited to the Bank. The Association drew upon the plaintiQ a drafts for £4250 and £2230. With tttf first was the memorandum, " Inrtr car gjt branch holds warrants for 16 00() eac ks of oats for shipment to Loud (n and insurance cover for £4750." To the second bill was attached a memorandum that the Bank held warrants for 8000 packs of oats and £2500 insurance cover. R-lying on these representations Brooks and Company paid tho amounts. The statement of claim alleged that the Association had since become insolvent and gone into liquidation, aud was found to have no oats in its possession which the Bank or plaintiffs were entitled to claim as forming speo : fic security for bills of exchange. Uy reason of failure to take from the Association the warrant for the oats the plaintiffs had lost the value of the oats or the anicuut of the bill of exchange. Mr Chapman opened the case. Referring to the warrants held by the Bank, he said the only thing that could be said of these documents was that they were a kind of undertaking to hold so much oats of such a quality as were shipped from New Zealand, but beyond that there was no description whatever of the quality or of the marks. His Honor : It is more than an undertaking. It is a certificate that the grail is there, but not what the grain isdPPr amounts to a representation that the amount of grain is there, and there is an undertaking to hold grain to that amount. Mr G. A. B'rch, late manager of tho Colonial Bank at Inverca<-gill, and Mr John Fisher, late manager of the Ward Association, were examined.