The Portland daily press., 1894-05-30
MILLIKEN- -MOREY CASE.
Law Court Has Rendered Another
Decision.
MOREYS MAY INCREASE THEIR
CLAIM TO $146,17O.61.

Provided They VIII Make Conditional
Payment of $3.50. "a to Assignees of
| DennisOn Manufacturing Co. Within
Thirty Days-A Case Long in the Courts
| A decision was handed down from the
Law Court yesterday in the we'll known
and important Millikin- Morey, or as
otherwise known, Dennison- Morey case
This is law suit involving large sum
of money and growing out of the failure
o t the Dennison Paper Company of Me.
chanic Falls,in March, 1887. The case has
been in litigation until the present time,
and has been before the law court once
before.
The present decision, which will have
to be explained by brief review of the
case, is as follows: "If the appellant,
Edwin M. Corey & Co., shall pay to the as
| signee of the Dennison Manufacturing
Company within thirty days the sum of
Ss, 516.64, they may increase their proof
of debt in the insolvency court by the
| amount of their preference, SO that the
same shall stand for future dividends at
| the sum of $146, 170.61, and the excep-
tions are over ruled. Otherwise the ex-
| sustained.
When the Dennison Manufacturing
Company failed in 1887, they were ow-
ing large sum, said to be over $1S9, 900,
to Edwin Morey & Co., paper dealers of
Boston. The Moreys are wealthy cap
italists, the senior member of the firm
having been president of the Boston &
Lowell railroad. of this Indebtedness,
about $4,000 was for amounts due for
merchandise, and about S25, 900 for mon
ey advanced. to build the pulp mill. at
Canton. These two sums were unse-
cured. A further sum of S135,000, ad-
vanced upon drafts accepted by Corey &
pany to make sale of their paper directly,
was secured to the amount of about $685.
600 by assignments of accounts due the
Dennison Company.
| The assignees of the Dennison Com
| pany were Morey & Co., Clarence Hale,
E. A. Gamomn, and SIG. Grain. These
| assignees came to an agreement with
Morey & Co., whereby they, the assig-
nees, would release all claim to the COL
lateral held by Morey & Co., on condi-
| tion that Morey & Co. would reduce
their claim to S134,s15.
| This agreement was approved by Judge
| Savage, of the court of insolvency, and
| Morey & Co. subsequently received div
idend of 25 per cent with the other
creditors.
| But in 1889 Charles r. MilIiken of Port
land, who had purchased the claims of
certain creditorsssof the Dennison Compa.
ny together with others, fled objections
to this claim of Morey & Co., on the
| ground that the latter had, knowing
the Dennisons to be insolvent, accepted
| property. thereby taking a fraudulent
preference under the insolvency law. OBJ
| jections were also filed in April, 1883,
| by George G. Wing and others. Nss
After hearing upon both of these OBJ
jections, the judge of Insolvency in An
droscoggin county, then Judge Drew
made decree disallowing the money
| claim in whole.
| Thereupon Morey & Co. appealed to
| the Supreme Court, and a hearing was
| had before Judge Foster, who made a
| finding of fact in the case. revised the
decree of Judge Drew, and directed that
the money claim be admitted = .ssas
The Milliken party then appealed to
| the law court, and it is upon their ap-
peal that the present decision is handed
down.
The decision just rendered allows for
some additions of the Morey claim, in
accordance with similar additions that
have come in on the part of other credi-
tors. The money to be returned as divi-
| dend money, which is to be returned in
order to allow for new distribution
onra new basis.
| Substantially. the decision sustains the
Morey claim.
| From first to last the case has en-
| ployed many lawyers. For the Mill
ken party Judge Putnam appeared be-
fore he went on to the bench, and Seth
| M. Carter and ohm A. Morrill, were asso-
ciated with him. For the Moreys, Sy-
monds Snow.and Cook, Charles f Libby,
A. "A. Strout, and A. r. Savage have ap-
peared.