Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-09-14
Senator Osborne to Receive
$500 for Legal Services
During Bankruptcy.

claims were excluded for mere book
keeping Irregularities. and on the fol-
lowing day that they were disallowed
on flimsy p~retexts.' If the referee
makes an error in the allowance or dis
allowance of any claim or in any other
action taken by him at the first meeting
of creditors or at any point in the pro-
%ceedings, such error can be readily and
speedily corrected by the filing of a pc
tition to review. The petition is q brief
document, and upon the fling of it the
whole matter is certified to the judges
of this court at Trenton for their deter
mination. There is no expense m
neeted with it, no printing of a record.
and the hearing on the review can usu-
ally be brought on in ten days time.
Neither Mr.. Benjamin nor any other
creditor apparently considered that any
such error was committed at the first
meeting as would Justify a review.
Having so simple a remedy at hand to
reetify what is nov termed outrageous
action of the referee, il would seem
passing strange that 1t was not re-
sorted to.
Two Benjamin Claims Allowed.
The records show that of Mr.. Benja-
Minis four claims two were allowed
and two were disallowed at the first
meeting. All of the claims which were
disallowed upon objection were SO
treated because they failed to prove
the debt, as the law requires. In a
contested suit on such a debt in a
court of law the plaintiff would be nom
suited If he failed to prove the debt.
So here where objection is made he
must legally prove his debt or it Will
be disallowed. The preparation of a
proof of claim so as to prove the debt
ID a simple matter, and a few minutes
spent upon the pages of a bankruptcy
text book would indicate what the
proof should contain. If an attorney
negleets to ascertain the law he would
hardly seem justified In wailing bit
terly at the result of his own ignor-
ance,
There were twenty claims aggre-
eating s66,1S1.52 disallowed at the first
Fifteen of these were after
wards relied in amended form and five
We're allowed upon objections being
withdrawn. That some of these claims
had other infirmities than matters of
form is indicated by the fact that the
trustee afterwards by litigation sue
ceeded in reducing the amount of six
them either on a trial upon the
or by consent after d petition
for denomination of the claims had
been filed.
Cornish Had III Claims.
The vote for trustee at the first
resulted in Id claims, aggre- |
$32,512.64, for Mr.. Cornish, and
claims aggregating $40, 129. Sd
Tor another candidate. Assuming that
the twenty claims disallowed had voted
Will the seventeen claims, the vote
would have stood: For Cornish, ia
claims aggregating $32, 51Ge4: for his
opponent, thirty-seven claims aggre-
eating &c. 81 .06, and there would have
been no election, the choice then de-
upon the referee. The law pro-
vides that the referee shall choose the !
where a majority both In num-
Der and amount of claims fail to vote
for one candidate. While 1t cannot be
determined now what choice the ref
cree would have made, 1t is worthy OF
note that the usual practise where las
in this case) the receiver has been ap-
poiiicu Wy Oiit VI tile Judges OF THIS |
court is for the referee in such a con-
.tingency to appoint him the trustee.
unless good cause is shown why such
should not be made.
II have gone to this extent in this |
memorandum because of the false pub
lications concerning this matter, which
If true would reflect seriously upon
the administration of my office.
Because of the untrue statements
regarding the cost of administering this
estate have intended to have made
up a statement of the disbursements
in this matter so distributed as to show
the expenditures for conducting the
business. and the expenditures for
other purposes. / find this will require
examination of the trustees vouch-
ers, and l have asked an accountant
to prepare such statement, which will
be filed with the papers in this mat
ter"