§ Mr. JOHN WARDasked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the bankruptcy proceedings of Frank Fardell Smith, of Oxford, when the unsecured creditors received £31 8s. 10d. in dividend, and the costs of the Board of Trade officials were £202 10s. 9d.; and, if so, whether he will consider the possibility of minimising the costs of realising estates in bankruptcy?
Mr. BUXTONThe figures quoted in the question give an altogether inaccurate statement of the facts of the case. The total of the Board of Trade fees amounted to £36 17s. out of a total cost of administration of the estate of £185 15s. 5d. The number of creditors in the bankruptcy (on which the Board of Trade fees, to some extent, depend) was large—namely, 186. The principal items of cost other than Board of Trade fees, and over which they had no control, were: Court fees, £5 8s.; law costs of petition, £15 13s. 5d.; remuneration of trustees, £32 17s. 8d.; auctioneers' charges, £42 14s. 9d.; possession charges, £18 16s. 2d. The amount paid to preferential creditors was £26 12s. 6d., and to unsecured creditors, £31 18s. 10d., making a total of £58 11s. 4d. The estate was administered by a non-official trustee, who was appointed by the creditors, and acted under the supervision of a committee of inspection appointed from among the creditors. In such a case the Board of Trade have no control over the costs of administration beyond the audit of the trustee's accounts.