Insolvent Debtors' Court,...
The Times, 1824-11-08T00:00:00

abert Ureave, who had been previously btfore the Court in July last, came up to be reheard to.disy. He w:, opDpea by Ilr. po-. LOCK, on behalf of ilir. Salter, a silversmith, residing in tiie Strand, on the ground of having obtained 951- Worth of plate frotb him, through fraudulent representation, on a bill.drawn by [H. Brooke, and accented by the lnscslcnt. - On thc fomoer exernination, a person named Wisddesen, in Mr. Salter's employment, stated ihst he weat to lMr. Codd-s, the army^agnen, to whom he was refbrred for an AC- count of the insolvent s circurmtstances, *nd wsa infortmed by hlr Codd's son,that he (ilisolventl had 4001- a-sear, which came tbrou Ii their hbnds; and such waf tbeir opinion of him, that the" were fre quently 1001. and sometimes 2001. in advance with him, aldintr, that he made several bills payable tihere, and provided for them all punctually. In consequence of this repyesentittiisn, Ar. Salter sold the insolvent the plate. From the insolvent's examination, it ap- peared that he llad no annual property of hil own, and almost none of any other kind; but fr. Codd received 200L for hisr mother, who allowed him the use of it. He pawned the plate itl question as soon as he received. it; and. owed. debts to the a'nmunt of about 11,0001. at the time. The service of noticea being then incomplete, the cqse was ordered to stand over; but the Court intitnated their intention of remanding the insolvent, whose condurc they ac. verely censured, for a considerable time, and said they thought Alr. Codd's son outght not to have lent himself to so un, worthy n purpose, in giving an 4ntriie reprenciltation to hMr. XVid. deson of the insolvent's circumstances. lr. eadd, Jun., seeing a report of this case in the public prints, sbortly 4fterwar4ds insructed Air. Coole to apply to the Court for leave to disprove the stateme2t of the account nllegesl to have buen given by himn re.'tecting the in. solvent's property; but the Conmmissioners refiLsed the A';icat' on the ground that Mr. Codd was not a party before the'Court, a d nmust, therefore, f hi-conllaind of misrepresen4tiqn, eAply to an- othier court for redress. Theo issoly5it,t hoi5ever, Auh%eqgently ap plied, through his c6upnsdii),for l1rty to ebrtn1ne Air. Codd ana other witnesses, for the purpose of contradictigi Mr. Widdeson's statement, to which application the Court acceded; and accordingly the case came on again to-day. Henry Brtoeke, exaiiiine1 by Mlr. HrA'rTC, stated thv~be hadbeesi acqiainted for A considerable length qf timp with the insolvent. who owies him 4001., for wanit of which he (Prooke) is nowr in White- cross-streetlirigoil. He agreed with thle insolvenit, at the latter enid of 111, to draw a bill on0 him fer 1001., for the rpo e'd of raisig money upon it; the insolvent was to give him A5. out of it, if he passed the bill, on account of interest due sqpon his debt to witness. 0i the 1st of Jatnuary, I82, witness wrent to Mri. Salter to ask him to discount lMfr. Craven's acepptance. Mt. Salter re- plied, that he never meddled with bills except when he took them in payment for goods. WVitness told him that he undenstood dAr. Crae ven had a couisiderable proparty at Sockhazn.mills, zurrey, whicb he rented of Lard King; and referred hilm to '51t. Codd s, where Allr. Craven made his bills payable. The insclvent had previoud told witness that he had a considerable interest in lockham; and also that he would lhave no objection to take 1001. worth of plate on a bill, as he wanted dtat much for his own use. Witetsi acconpa. nied the insolvent to h1r. Salter, who consente4 to take the hill in payment of plate, if M1r. Codd gave a fAyourabie account of ir. (Cravea; hut desired it to be drawn at two months, anzl not exceed 1001., as they were strangers to him. Accordingly, on thli3dof Ja. naarv, 1823, plate was furnished to the insolvent to the ansount of 951. As. lid. on a bill at two months, drawn by witnsqs, and itocepted by thec insolivent. On his crosszexamination by Mfr. PoLTocx, the witness stated, that at the iniolvent's desire, he had gone femr or five tases to Alr. Codd's, to request that he (insolvent) might be favou*ibly spoken of to persons whom he referred there when passing them his bills. He recetied 51. froa the insolvent the day Mr. Saltor sold h im the plate, part of which was sold to raise the monig. Witnes once be- fore drew a bill on the inrolvent for 591, whlicl he pasd, and re- ceived 31. on that occasion, on account of interest due to him by the insolvent. Edward S. Godd was then examined by ilMr. Cooxe and stated, that he acts as clerk for his father. In January, 11123, a person, whom he had not seen since, nor should he knew him now, came to him to inquire about the insolvent, Ue spoke of a 1001. bill, drawn by Brooke on Craven, and asked witness, not whether Mfr. Craven received 4001. a-year through their hands, but whether he considered hiim worth 3001. or 4001.; to which witness replied in the affirmtaive. The insolvent bad previously told witness that he liad propert of that value at Hlockham-mills. The person inquired whether Mr Craven had any funds in their hands at that time? Witness said no; but they received 2001. a year for hla mother, which was paid to his orderm Without being asked what crtdit they would give the insolvent, witness said lie was a reapect. able mals, and they were frequently I00L, aa they were at that moment, and sometimes 2001. in advance with him. One of the clerks named Browne was present, but witness's father was not. The insolvent's bills were frequently made payable at their office, and he generally provided for them; but when he did not,witness heard no more about them, and therefore conclailed thev were paid. On his cross-examinution he said, that the in.olvent had frequently apprised him when a bill would be presented, and ex. pressed a hope that he would give him such a character as he thought he deserved ; but neither he nor Brooke asked witness to give himn a good charactcr. Witness never told any one that the insolvent had any property of his own passing through their haAds, nor that all his bills were regularly paid at their office. Afier lhearing counsel on both gides, The COURT riaid, thatthe evidence whichhad been brought for- ward to-day would, both in its terns and duratien, materially al- ter the judgment settled on by the Court when the case was for. merly before them. The Chief Commissioner's note stated, that the insolvent was to be remanded for fraudulently contracting a debt witlh Mr. Salter, and without reasonable expctatian of being able to pay it. The evidence of to-day had relievZ the Insolvent from the charge offraudl; but hig want of reasonable expectation remained the same. When a person, owing 4,000I., precured gwdg only to raise mnoneyupon them, it was clear that the party giving him credit must stof er in the end. The Court would endeavour to put a stop to such condact. Its judgment was, that the insolwent shall not be discharged, or receive any benefit under the act until he ahall have been in custody at the suit of MI'I. Salter, for eight calendar rmonths from the date offiling hIis petition, for contracting a debt with him without any reasonable expectation of being able to pay it. INSOLVENT DEBTORS' (OUtT, LxgCOts tkx F1Lr SATURDAY. NOvzMnRI: G.