The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-09-05 00:00:00

Y wax

anvils, stones, and other heavy materials, placed in such
)ossible, in his opinion, to force the
the messenger was ultimately
vening with his stick, and afterwards, by
of his men, making his way through, a
small window, in a different part of the premises. It ap-
pears, notwithstanding the verbal authority given by Mr.
Hassall, the-solicitor, it was thought necessary to obtain

a way that it was
doors. T 1

trance of

ffected b;

the aid

an authority.on this side of the Mersey for admitting the
messenger. The gentleman whose pe

mission it was
thought essential to obtain, previously to submitting to the
authority of this court, was Mr. Banner, who appears to
have been employed as accountant arid agent to the trus-
tees for the creditors of Edwin Maw. The defence which
has been urged by Mr. Bardswell, attorney for Thomas
Margetts, connected as it is with these trustees and their

acts, obliges me now to enter upon a history of the previous
part of this case. Mr. Edwin Maw, the bankrupt, had,
for months previously to any proceedings in this coart,

been. in considerable difficulties is regards money matters:
Meetings of creditors are stated to have been held, and to
have resulted in the execution of two deeds in the month

of June last. The deeds had not been produced in court,
but other deeds had been mentioned, and the nature of
them, namely, that they were trust-deeds for creditors, as
has been stated. The date of the latter of these deeds is
admitted to have been the 15th of last June, and the
files of the London Gazetteoven to all the world, show
that it was not executed by the trustees until the 28th of
June. On the 24th of June, four clays previously, it
having, I assume, been discovered that the deed could not
protect Mr. Maw from his creditors, a petition for an
arrangement, under the control of this court, was pre-

Lich it was stated . that his in-

sented by M. Maw
ability to meet his engagements with his creditors " arises
from his having invested a considerable sum of money
in land, and buildings, and machinery, at Seacombe, in
the county of Chester, and in. the island of Porto Rico,
whereby a large portion of his capital was locked up, and

from hiving Made large consigdments of goods to places
abroad, in respect to which returns had not been received ;
and from losses in trade and bad debts." The petition

was accompanied by the usual affidavit, which the Legis-
lature did not intend for use as a form merely, but as a
matter of substance, and as capable of being borne out by
facts to be afterwards proved, an affidavit that the peti-
tioner had assets .ready'to be produced to the court to the
amount of £2OO. Mr. Hassan, as I have before observed,

was attorney for the petitioner, and also solicitor for the
trustees. An application was made to my colleague (Mr.
Stevenson), to whom this case properly belongs, for pro-
tection ; and I feel sure that had he been so fully aware
of the circumstances of the case as it has been my misfor-
tune to be, (for I must call it so,) he would not have
granted the protection sought ; and it is probable in that
case that the estate of Mr. Maw.would have by this time
been in a train for distribution by this court, under the
protection of assignees who might long since have been
appointed under its authority'rby the creditors. In the
absence of that full information, uponsome representation,
made with respect to the assets abroad, protection for two
months was granted upon the faith that the petitioner
would proceed in due course to file an account of debts and
credits, and give the requisite notices through the mes-
senger of the court to his creditors, that they might attend
here, to assent to ordissent from his proposal, and state any
_ounds of objection on the score of conduct of big 1---
which they might think.proper to urg-

Nothing of this

kind was done. A p

ng was held on Saturday
the day on which Mr. Maw's
the deed was produced,
es, one of whom has been examined

protection expired. At that sittin

under which the trust

on this occasion, d
has caused the dis

to derive the authority which
le proceedings brought under
upon the present application.

notice of this court

That sitting was at
attorney for the

Hassall, then acting as
Mr. Harmood Walcott

court, ti

ddition to oth

carry any arrangement

and pro

The attention of the
vionsly decided, wh

as called to two, cases pre
showed the course to be

if possible, to

those authorities, anti to co
s, which Mr. Banner

municate with the

pressed a wish to do
Tuesday. when the m

be sitting was adjournE
er might be deliberate]'

It was

counsel,. and an adjudication

n bankrupt(

.esistanc

ight to answer 1

This history of the

which consis

was no delib

effectu:

istance of an expected process and execution of 801113-

,her directed a

it observed, which,
or any other, reflect
e parties concerned, and the
a breach of the peace, and,
pre a close at hand, to the
s charged with a civil pro-
will, I think, be repre-
The trustees and
gentleman, Mr.
e opportunity of
offered to a process

kinst ti:

no credit upon
giving of which, as tending tc

perha—ps,

life on the part
f Her Maj
ery right

hended b

Lded peison

solicitor

tlasiall, with the otiker

Harmo,

Walcott Bann

Lg such r

mistance as has t

Of this court by the general order to barricade the pre-
mises of an insolvent trader, whose affairs they, or some
of them, knew full well had been submitted to the
1 of this court two months ago. As the party
immediately charged with resistance, I have only to deal
with the evidence as it affects him. Margetts is on
the premises when application for admiskion is made
by the messPmger, who shows his authority, the
warrant. Margetts admits that he placed the men outside
the door, (Hering in his statement from that of the mes-
senger only as to the number of men, which, he says, did
not exceed seven, of whom, he further states, only :one had
a spade, and another a lever. After he had received the
order from Mr. Hassan, brought by Scambler, the police-
man, which again proved the character in which Mr
Gaskill desired adnsittaace, he still withholds admission,
the gates being still barricaded, and additional resistance
being provided by means of a prop placed against the
door of the office ; which, when first visited by the mes-
senger, was fastened by lock and chains only. There is
no doubt that resistance, in this case, was made by Mar-
getts, independently of the last act, which I don't press
against him, because the prop appears to have been placed
there by the doorkeeper, a person under him ; and that
such resistance amounted to contempt of this court. But
his conduct appears to have been partly influenced by a
very reprehensible order, some time since given, to barri-
cade the premises. The court will not deal towards him
as severe a measure of justice as it would have done under
other circumstances. On looking through the evidence,
I find that Margetts states that, after receiving the mes-
sage from Liverpool, he made no further resistance, but
that, on the contrary, he assisted one of the officers of the
court to enter.
Mr. G.Lextlx, the messenger of the court, observed that
the statement was incorrect.

control

His HONOUR : Well, as the case has been disposed of, I
shall not allow that to influence the decision. I think
the justice of the case, so far as Margetts is concerned,
will be met by an order for his committal for three days,
or until this court, or the Lords Justices, or the Lord
• Chancellor shall otherwise earlier order.
Mr. EVANS stated that the order for delivering up the
bankrupt's books, without prejudice to any lien which Mr.
Banner might have, had been responded to in this fashion ;
a namberof blank books had been delivered to the official
assignee, in which they had not been able 0 discern one
account affecting thit estate.
lib lawfir ;Med that, actilag cruder the adyjo: of Mr.