THE ESTATE OF WILLIAMS, CAMERON, AND COMPANY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 115, 22 March 1879, Page 2

THE ESTATE OF WILLIAMS, CAMERON, AND COMPANY.

[FROM THE NEW ZEAIAND TIMES,]

A meeting of creditors in this estate was hold yesterday afternoon at the offices of Messrs Motirhoiise, Edwards, and Cutten. About twenty creditors were present ; as were also Mr Williams and Mr D, Cameron, A statement was submitted which showed liabilities of £9llO 4s 9d, .and assets £7538 14s 7d. The principal creditors were Messrs Jacob Joseph and Co., to whom Messrs Williams, Cameron, and Co. were indebted £6333 2s 9d for advances, guaranteed bank overdraft, &c. To cover this debt Messrs Joseph had a bill of sale over all theßtuckand book debts of the firm. j Mr Williams informed theiereditors that Messrs Joseph , had, further, a mortgage of £IOOO on his private property, and £600: guaranteed by Messrs Lowes and' Jackson, Were .these two latter amounts included in the assets it would be seen that the estate would show 20s in the £.

These amounts of £IOOO arid; f COO were werempt to. be realised by Messrs/Joseph unless'their claim could not be met out of the estate. He (Mr Williams)' would state that the firm had lost £3ooo'during the last 21 months, and he was prepared to give up everything. The best suggestion he could offer was to make over the C3tato to Messrs Jacob Joseph and Co. This course was objected to by several creditors, and it was pointed out that the bill of sale to Messrs Joseph''Co. had only been given on the:: lltli of this month, and registered on the 14th! Mr Williams; The bill of sale had been offered to" Messrs Joseph aiid Co, some time ago, :

Mr Izard : I have something to say •about that bill of. sale, What does the bill of sale cover Stock-in-trade and book debts. ' When was that executed ?—On the 11th March. Was there any further amount advanced then?—£2so.

■ Have Jocob Joseph taken.-., possession under the bill of sale I—Yes..; When ?—When I came. down, from the Wairarapa to-day I found a. inan in possession. .V

"'A' Creditor Have they taken .possession up-oountry?—When I left, possession had not yet been taken in Carterton or Masterton. , .

Mr lziii'd';] .(/Utile time you gave that bill your'position was about the same'-'as. it is now I—Rathk better than worse, if there is any difference. Imay say; however, that although senior partner I had very littlo to do with the business in Wellington.

, The stuck is set down«il£Sljii)oo. in the different shops,—about ? —Yes.

That is a fair, value ?—That is the ; very lowest value. ' j

With regard to the book debts I—l .consider them very good. ■' They are included in the bill of sale to Joseph & CoYes. In fact, what it comes to is this, that if that if the bill of sale is good it sweeps up everything you possess as traders I—Yes,, Mr Joseph, in reply to a question, said ' that six months ago the debisrs came to him, and lie assisted them to a certain extent. At that time the firm appeared to be £2OOO to the good. A bill of sale had some time ago been offered to his firm but he declined it, as it would militate against the debtors' business, About a month ago the estate showed a deficiency of £2ooo—a loss of £4OOO in six months. Then, of course, he took the best steps lie could to protoct himself. ' Mr Izard: Without desiring to throw any blame on Mr Williams or his partners I cannot allow this bill of sale to stand, if I can prevent it. It is giving .the preference to ono firm, the other creditors being left to what they can get. Mr Williams: If the estate is carefully realised I have no doubt it will pay 20s in the £; but if placed in the hands of people who do not understand the business it may not realise more than' 10s. Mr lard desired to move a resolution, The estate showed a deficiency of £I6OO or thereabouts. It appeared that all the assets of the firm wore made ovor to ono firm—Jacob Joseph and Co. It appeared, moreover, that this was done by a deed executed so late as the lltli March, and I Hied within three or four days after,—in fact, all within ten days of the present time. It was for the creditors now to consider whether they were willing to allow Messrs Jacob Joseph to get the whole benefit of their bill of sale, realise, and be paid in full, leaving the other creditors to get what they could out of the balance, that balance being made up to a large extent of book debts, which, when they came to be realised, would show nothing like the assets set down on paper; so that, in effect, what they were asked to do was to agree that Jacob Joseph and Co. should be paid in full, and the rest of the creditors get nothing. If Messrs Joseph could enforce the position, why they must submit; but if not, he should oppose it. He took it that a bill of sale given on the eve of bankruptcy would not bo allowed to stand in a Court of Justice; but the only way to test that would be by a declaration of insolvency. He was loath, and so he thought would be ill the creditors who knew Messrs Wiliams, Cameron, and Co, to ask thorn to file. He should be sorry to force them into the Bankruptcy Court; they were men of high standing, and had carried on business in a perfectly fair and honorable -.vay; but if such were the only means of testing the validity of the bill of sale he could see no other course open. He would propose that a small committee of creditors should be chosen to examine and report as to what the estate would probuce. Looking at the statement before them, ho was of opinion that unless Messrs •Jacob Joseph and Co, were willing to come iii without any preference over the other creditors, either there should be a declaration of insolvency or an assignment, and only the latter on the distinct written understanding of Messrs Jacob Joseph that they would not claim priority. He was afraid Messrs Joseph would not agree to that, and that therefore the creditors would bo drivon to the unpalatable course lie had suggested. Mr Izard concluded by moving that a committee he appointed to consider the bill of sale, and also, gone-. rally, the state of affairs. To report in a week.

. Mr Forwood seconded the resolution, and it was agreed to, Messrs Forwood, Berry, and Carroll were appointed the committee, and the debtors were authorised to carry on in the interval.

The meeting then adjourned for a week.