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DISTRICT COURT, REEFTON.

Monday, Ootoheii 21, 1878. (Before His Honor .Tudßo W«t«n.) In the mattor of tlio Rainy Cjirkk Quabtz Mining Company (in Liquidation.) Mr Roid, on bohttU oif the liquidator (Mr W. M'Lenn), movo(!, undor Section 102 of tho Mining Complies Act, for an order to sottlo a further list of oontribu* tories in tho above mattor. Ho rond tho nfflrlnvit of tho liquidator sotting forth tho nmounts roooivod and remaining unpnid upon tho formor list. 1:1 is Honor said thnt tbo affidavits was not miflliMsntly explnnntory. Mr Reid snld it hnd been prefnrod hurriedly, nnd askod that tlio liquidator might bo hoard to rond or whntoror ex« plnnntion might bo required by the Court. His Honor said it was inconvoniont to havo pnrt of tho ovidonco upon nflldnvils and roooivo tho balnnco orally, bowovor, ho would not put tho proceedings bnck through tho ominsion, but rcquostad in future that everything should bo snt out upon nffidnvitu. William M'Leau— l am liquidator of tbo Rniny Creole Company, nnd bayo takon nil tbo stops required by law tc reoovor contributions struck undor tho formor ordor. Mnny of tho contributors, linvo, however, boenmo dcoenscd in the menntimo or loft tho Colony, nnd a lar^c number of warrants issued linvo boon re« turnod nulla bona, Of tho totnl capital of tlio company, 2s 7 A por share romnin unpnid, nnd tbo wbolo of that sum will be required to pny the croditors of the com* pnny 18* in tbo £. Mr Mnstors is n Inrgo contributory, having paid £127 10n undor tbo last ordor, nnd is liublo for n furtlior^sum of '£164 13s OJ. Hia Honor— lt r«ally passes under* standing bow in tbo fuoo of tho rceoni ruling of tbo Supreme Court in the H'uloyono case, that nnybody of moans if bold enough to hold shares in miuinf compnmos. So long as the claim is good nnd likely to bo pnyablo, tbi.igs fliai along flmoolblv uiougli, but directly the prospect obnngof) and thoro is a likeliliooc of didlcalty nil thoso who nro dishonostlj inclined proceed to roliovo tbomsolvos of tbo liability, and cast tbo ontiro bur lor upon tho few who deulino to stoop to the samo dishonost oourso. It nppoirs that n: the law now stands it in ronlity o/Tors n premium to dishonesty and rascnlity o tbo meanest kind, A numbor of person i ombnrk ii^ a speculation, tho oncirc mnnngomorit it left to a fovv directors they instruot tho workmen to put ii drives in directions leant likely to striki tbo roof, cnll aftor cull is mndo, nnd wher tho burden is nt the henviost tbo director* Iny tUoir bends toßotbor nnd sny " we must tiro out a oortnin numbor of the almrolioldors nnd jiohsohs their intorosts.' So tho sbnros or tho mino is put up tc auction nnd purohasod for a mcro sang, and those who remain in tho secret reap tbo advantage of tbo mino. With suoh c possibility as lhiH,4tew enn capitalists be expootod to ombnfk thoir capital •— • it would be littlo short of imprudoiico for thorn to do so. Groat orodit whs duo tc tho mombors of tho profession in Reef* ton as well ns tho fyuNcuritu Timbs, for the efforts mndo to bring about an nraendmont of tho Act, but he folt somo doubt as to whether tbo nmoiidmoats suggest oJ wont fur onougb. It wns n great publio misfortune thnt tho law on tho subject should bo so uncertain, nnd how men of honosty nnd capital can rusli into speculations ii, is hard to oonceivo. Business mon, an ?» rule, do not cntoi into orvlinnry mofcrtntilo ontorpriaon unless thoy can sco tiioir way out of th«m, but in rolntion to mining compnnies thoy ventura their onpjtnl knowing porfootly well that thoy lay thomsolvoa out for the wornt. Tho Inw wns bnd enough before tbo ruling reforrod to, but it wns infinitely worse now. Thofo wns no nltornatiro but to mako tbo ordor prayorJ for. In Iho mnttorjof tho Siu Julius Vooel Company (jn liquidation.) Mr Reid, otV^«''ii(V of tho liquidator, moved |for nn ° r iJjT r levying n furthci oon'ribution of Od por share. His Honor— Will that sum bo sufllciont to clea.r off tbo wholo of the compuny'a clcbtH, if not, orlc »t onoo for nn increase, and so Hparo tho cost of a further application P Mr Roid said thnt assuming nil the oontributorics paid up, tho liquidator wns of opinion that tho amount would bo sufficient, His llonor~-Thoro is ono romnrk I wish tto mako to tho Tquidntcr, ho is not to throw nwny money in obtaining Judgments ogninst. persons who har<j no moans of paying, nnd if any creditor of tbo company should ondcavour to forco the liquidator to Uke proceedings njjainst

contributorioii, whom he (»h« liquidator should think to ht worthier, the Court should bo appliod to for instructions. Order nmdo as prnyad. In tho Mntloroftho Noiitu Stah Company (in liquidation.) Hia ilonor inquired what stops bad born takon towards closing tho liquidation, j Mr Mosi laid tho liquidator;^. Davis) was abstnt from Reofton having boon datained at tho Supronio Court sitting* nt Hokitika, Ho (Mr Moss^ understood that the liquidator would havo boon pro* pent to explain to tho Court as do»irod by hia Ilonor at tho last silting, but ho was not hero. . His Honor said hie rooollootion was that tho l«Ht time tho matter was mentionod in Court, now a considerable timo ago, tho liquidator stated ho had collected moro than enough to pay off all the debts of tho Company, but dosircd that the liquidation should be kept opon to onnblo him to recover from contributories who woro evading payment. That ox lanation was qtiito satisfactory at iho time, but tho Court would bo glad to know wlmt had boon dono, and how th« matter stood. Mr Moss undortook to havo tho matter rondy for presentation at tho noxt sitting of tho Court. In Bankruptcy. 110 John Howoll— Vlr Moss applied for a final order of divoharge. His Honor oxprossod a wish to oxamine tho bankrupt. John Howell— lam tho applicant for . an ordor of di^chnnj*. My dobU aro 1 1283, £215 of which was incurred at Rosa. i Wo started to sink a deep shaft thero, i and it proved a failure. Wo got Bwampcd : out. Our party was culled tho Young Australian Uompany. Tho Roefton dobts ; were contracted by my wife whilo I was in Uontmnn's. I commonced to earn wages about eight months auo. I was in a spoo i bolors that, and it was during that timo ) that tho dobts were contracted. I havo i been in rooei,.t of £3 10i por week. My , wife got an order against mo for 25* per > weok, I did not know what dobts my ) wifo was contracting. < His Honor said it npponrcd tlint bankI rupt had t«jn very careless in allowing i his wifo to got so much crodit. It whs his ? duty to control her oxpondituro. Kow-« ovor, nono of tho creditors opposed, and i tho Court hud dono all it could in the i oase, and the ordor would thorcfore bo , granted. Kb John Cooper Cockburn, (a Bank- * rupt.) t Mr Reid moved for a final ordor of dis* > chuvgo, i Tho trustee rend his report which r showed that debtor had no available es> 1 sots. t His Honor cxumined tho bankrupt. 3 John C. Cook burn— l am tho dobtor in \ tho mrttlor bofi>ro Iho Court. I rceolloot l» pmng a bill of salo to Finlny. It was F given for an advnnco. I got tho mor.ey ) partly ; I got £00 or £70 from Finlay. I 3 ennnot rend or writo. I owed monoy wh« n i I gnvo that bill of salo ; I owed £25 or i £30. Tt was oanh I had boon potting. I f think I got £10 at iho timo of signing tho s bill of sale, and some timo after I got tho 5 balance. \t tho liroo I gave tho bill of , snlo to Finlay I owod other debts, and j gavo tho bill of sale to pay off those 0 dobts. Tho monoy I received from Fin--1 lay did not enable mo to pny off thoso , dobts. I owed Dawson £32. Reany's ) dobt, £80, was coutraotod two yours ago. 5 When I gnvo tho bill of salo my sfook* ' in-trndo was worth £100 or £150. I was ) sold off nt tho suit of Mr G-nrth of Ahnurn, the amount was £10 or £20 ; tho stock , was all sold, and tho bailiff would hnvo i sold moro if ho could get it j tho things > woro given away. Finlay bought some of them ; tho goods supplied to mo by ' Roany wtro sold by tho bailiff. Flom. > ing's, £10, was for clothing. I am still < oarrylng on businoss Iho sumo as boforo I < filed. I don't supposo my stock would i fetch a £5 note. ) His Ilonor snid this was not a case in i which ho felt justified in grafting an iml modiato discharge. It was evident that i tho bankrupt was in debt to Dawson and othors at tho timo ho gnvo the bill of sale i to Finlay. Mr Reid was of opinion that as tho f creditors did not opposo tho Court could hardly stop in and do so. His Honor snid if tho Conrt did not , oxrrciso some discretion in tho mattor a promium would bo offered to bnnkruptoy. In nine ensos out of ton croditors did not » enro to throw good money after hnd, and > consequently for that reason nlono ahan* r doncd opposition; His Honor quite folt that o position should moro proporly ' nntno from the creditors, hut unless somo cheek was intorposod tho Court would no , doubt bo flooded with bankruptcy oases, Uofurring to tho presont oaso it was bad to sco a debtor giving a preforonco to one of his orodilors as against tho rest. Corr tificnto suspended for three months. Mr Moss said that the only reason why creditors hud not opposod in tho enso wns owing to tho dofeotivo machinery of tho Aot. . Tho Court thon adjourned nine die.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/IT18781023.2.5

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Inangahua Times, Volume 9, 23 October 1878, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,696

DISTRICT COURT, REEFTON. Inangahua Times, Volume 9, 23 October 1878, Page 2

DISTRICT COURT, REEFTON. Inangahua Times, Volume 9, 23 October 1878, Page 2

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