MAJOR WILSON'S BANKRUPTCY. RESULT OF LAND SPECULATION.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2751, 1 March 1890, Page 2

MAJOR WILSON'S BANKRUPTCY. RESULT OF LAND SPECULATION.

Thk following sworn statement has been made before the Oiticial Assignee by Mr John Wilson, of Cambridge lor several years past I have been dealing in native lands. My difficulties commenced about four years ago, owing to the fall in the prices of land, the shrinkage of securities, and inability to effect sales. The immediate cause of my filing is a. judgment obtained by a principal creditor for £2500, for which a charging order has beeu issued on the Rangitatau and Mangapapa lands in the Wanganui district, and on account of which action other creditors have taken legal proceedings to recover their debts. The foundation for this judgement was the purchase by the creditor referred to, at the Nominal price of 10s, of a mortgage due by me for £250(5, money advanced and interest iu the purchase of the Mmguwhara block of 1364 acres, valued by Messrs Grant and Foster as worth £3 per acre, hut which is now unsaleable at any price. My financial position some years ago was unassailable. In 1887 I sold to Messrs Rich, Williams, and Strode 17,000 acres of land forming the Richmond Estate, near Matamata, for 30s per acre, or £25,500, my debts being then under £4000; but eugagin# largely in the purchase of native lands, and not being able to get the titles quickly, and land being unsaleable at any price I have lost all my means. There were considerable losses in this way in the Wanganui district, but the heaviest were in the Waikato—not so much in the purchase of land as in the great losses connected with the sale of the Patetere lands, some 209,000 acres ; and to the Thames Valley Land Company in England, in which I had about one-seventh interest. Some £32,000 was paid by us in connection with the Patetere property as commission for ostensibly selling this land, namely, forming it iuto a company of 50,000 shares, of which we, the vendors of the laud, had to take 32,000 shares, the people in England only taking 17.500. The calls on the shares I had to take, came to more than the money paid to mo, and, to crown nil, the balance of money due to us (£174,000) was not paid, but, instead, 100,000 acres of land were returned to the vendors without any rebate in the commission, and we had to pay, on reconveyance, some £800 for stamp duty, etc. This 100,000 acres was afterwards formed into a company, with the result that not an acre of it can be sold at even a third of the price at which it cost us. Out of these transactions in Waikato and Wanganni aroso the debt, originally £2441, now, with interest. £3009 lis 9d, due to Mr James Smith, who had 10-25 th interest, in my share 'in Patetere. Mr Smith advanced to me £*10,000, exclusive of interest, and mv disbursements on his behalf amounted t0"£42,000, also without interest, but owing to the payments in the Thames Valley Co. being less in amount than the calls and charges, I was unable to make the payments accruing to Mr Smith on the sale. Had I, as I should have done, in the interest of Mr Smith, made him a co-vendor in the sale to the Thames Valley Co., he would have been saved from this loss, and my estate would be so much the gainer. My unsecured debts amount to £9238 8s 3d, and secured £3250. The latter I believe to be fully covered by the securities held, as particularised in my schedule. The assets consist of my interest m the Rangitatau Block, of 3826 acres, sold in the early part I of this month at 12* per acre : £2295 12s, subject to a lien of £1020 to the Bank, the proceeds, £1725125, being payable as soon as the transfer is effected. My interest ill the Mangapapa Block, of 12,402 acre#, is valued at £1,555. The only lien on these two properties, outside the £1020 to the Bank, is a charging order unsatisfied to the amount of £1450, and which I am advised is made . invalid by bangruptcy. There is also a survey claim of £680 on the Mangaoike block. This is however contingent on the natives effecting a sale. Two leasehold properties at Cambridge are of very doubtful value, and the same may be said of book debts to the amount of £194. For some years past I have kept no books. All my transactions are, however, recorded in my note books, which shall be put in, along with the copy letter book, bank pass bo:.ks, and cheque books. The Patetere and other large transaction rooords are, of course, fully set forth in the respective companies' books in the hands of the liquidator. I have disclosed all my assets, and they are described in my schedule. I have a life interest in the furniture and other property under the provisions of a will made by my late wife, but the value of this interest is not included in my nupots."