Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-09-14

Rebukes Attorney Beniamin.
In the course of his opinion. which
he read personally In court, Referee
Adams took occasion to rebuiSc In
strong terms Frank benjamin, repre-
senfinR some of the creditors whose
claims were thrown out al the rncef-
Ing which resulted In the election of "A
trustee, for MIR. Benjainin's alleged
criticism of the amount OF the fees
asked by the trustee and his attorney.
After Mr.. Benjamin had addressed the
court Referee Adams ruled that the
portion of his opinion referring to Mr..
Benjamin should be expunged.
In an endeavor to seek original
sources of information as advised by
Referee Adams in his report a repre-
sentative of the STAR asked Senator
Osborne after the hearing if he, in ad-
dition 10 his duties as attorney for the
trustees, also represented creditors of
the Vacuum Cleaner Company
Senator Osborne said thnt he did, but
thnt owing to the fact that the matter
hnd been running two years he did not
remember the number of these creditors
nor the amount of their combined
claims.
"Since the bankruptcy law does not
permit compensation to an attorney
for trustee for the services he per-
forms for creditors who are his clients.
was 1t on that ground that the referee
reduced the fee you asked for so
greatly?" Senator Osborne was asked.
II don't know as I haven't discussed
the matter with the referee he re-
piled.
Senator Osborne. was asked If II was
true that hut $4,000 had been dis
trlbuted among the creditors. After an
examination of his hooks he said that
the amount was little over $4,000.
"If there Is but $4,000 left to he dis
tributed to the creditors and 100000
was realized from the admlnistratio tion
of the estate, under what head does the
SS7,OOO-the difference between SIO7,-
900 less $4,000 aud $4,000 come ~
Senator Osborne WIS asked.
"The expenses of running the COM
pany for eight months were very
great" said MIR. Osborne.
yes but you remember that Referee
Adams, in his opinion, declared that
Trustee Cornish had run the business
In such manner that apparent profits
accrued" he was reminded.
Senator Osborne then declared that
he did not know how the puzziing s57,-
900 could he classified, and added that
an accountant should be able 10 dis
cover the missing Item In the trustees'
report.
Referee Adams's opinion is given be-
low in full In il he resents the pub
licity which has been given to the pro-
tests of some creditors of the bankrupt
company, and is particularly harsh in
his criticism of Mr. Benjamin, who
represents some of these creditors
That ne was in accord with the spirit
of the protests, however. was apparent
by the drastic cut made in the allow
anees asked by senator Cornish and
Senator Osborne.
The report is;
AT the first session of the final
meeting of creditors herein, objection
was made to certain items OF dis
bursement in the final account of the
trustee consisting of payments to one
/ Henry Decker, amounting TO $4,000
being compensation paid him at the
rate of 500 per week as an employee
of the trustee, while the latter WAS
conducting the business of the bank
rupt corporation The trustee applied
for compensation for conducting such
business in addition to his statutory
fees, suggesting the sum of $500 to
cover both hi fees and such additional
compensation. The trustees attorney
asked for an allowance of $500 for
the services set forth in his petition
for allowance The trustee and said
CONTINUED ON Page 2. Column B,