Should that correspond with the bark book or the cash book?—That should correspond with both the cash book and the pass book.
We know that they do not correspond within Landreds-I can't say.
Do you mean to say that you never in any way checked this account which you gave to Tatem - employed a man to do the work,
Yon never checked it P-I nover did. One thing I checked was the balance of my loss account, $1,443.56.
You never checked any of the payments?- No. If Barker was alive I should have had him here.
His Lordship-Barker seems to have made mistakes.
Mr. Slade Take the item $3.616. What dose that represent? - Money which I have withdrawn from the Hongkong Butchery.
Yon lave omitted to credit yourself with a balance of $355.63 less $155.49 7-2 bat is a repayment to me out of capital accouut.
Further questions were addressed to defend. ant by Counsel, who suggested that ou his own showing the capital account was clearly wrong. His Lordship pointed out that the accounts were wrongly expressed, money on loan being described as capital.
Mr. Slado added that in the first two months defendant had withdrawn $1,500 from the capital.
Defendant could not explain how it was that the cash book for a certain period showed $636 more than appeared in the bank book. In the course of further questions defendant said he had not checked any of the figures in the statement presented.
And the sum set down as your loss might be more than here shown ?-I told Mr. Gardiner months ago that 1 was willing to hand the books over to Messrs. Lowe, Bingham &. Matthews, or any other firm of accountants and abide by their decision.
Tofondant was asked if he did not closely watch the conduct of the business from the beginning, and admitted that he went down regularly during the first four mouths.
And you kept a close watch - Not close enough.
You tried to P-Yee. I was down every morning at four o'clock,
Aud having kept a close watch during the first four months you paid no attention to these things In the first four mouths it was my business. There was a leakage somewhere and I tried to find it. After the first four months Young Chung was responsible.
His Lordship then put a number of questions
to the defendant.
This business can hardly be described as a amali one ?--Well, I should not call it a largo business.
It had a turnover of $3,000-$3,000. $3,000 runwing up to $4,000P--Not during the
first four months,
For a business just started that is not bad?
I should say the turnover was larger than I expected.
I supposo from the time you started with Tatem there must have been a good deal of advertising and soliciting customers? --- Yes.
I suppose Tatem did that?—He was living with me at the time.
You seem to have started with a well prepared business, over 110 customers on the books?- İ Yes.
In fact you bad all the European community as customers ?-. Yes.
I suppose it was a great boon to the com- munity ?--Yes, my lord.
Looking at the figures, the Dooomber accounts were $3,686 as against $3,800. There was 3 profit. The January receipts were $3,095 against $3,724. Again thore was a profit. It seems to me this was a growing business. You found it larger than you had expected and you came to the conclusion that you were losing. What seems to me is that you wanted rather more Bloating capital to run it, and you begame Bervous. As the Americans say, you had bitten off more than you could show. You started something which you did not expect to be s0 big? No, my lord,
You had got together a very fine business, and therefore it must have been lack of floating capital which made you become nervons ?-There was a loss, my lord.
No loss. I will prove it, my lord. When you start a business yon do not expect your capital back in four months?-No.
Had yo started on a solid capital you were We actually making money?-No, my lord. were not. There was the trial balanoa-
If your trial balances wore like this one they were hopeless. The fact is you got frightened and surrendered a rather good thing. Do you really think that it was fair to get rid of the business to Yeung Chung and to sell what was really a good business which had been built ap by Tatem's energy for a very small sum like 82 0 and to have started the Hongkong Butchery Company, using the nano to which the European Community had become accustomed I must take one thing with the other. In the first four months the bills receivable amounted to $14.723 and the bills payable to $16,448. It left you the capital outstanding
No.
At the time how much bad you advanced !-- $3,50 to the bost of my recollection.
His Lordship pointed out that there was a profit made in the first four months. There was no profit in the first month, but on the four į mouths there was a profit. He did not state that with a view to challenging the defendant, but merely to enable him to judge of the bo- haviour of the parties.
The hearing was adjourned until this morning.
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