LINDSAY MACKERSY v ALEXANDER MURRAY GUTHRIE (Court of Session)

It was answered , that the mere distance of the usual place of residence could not be held to furnish, of itself, a good and conclusive personal objection against a candidate for a trusteeship; and, in the case referred to, the Court neither established, nor intended to establish, any rule to the contrary, such an objection depending on the circumstances of each particular case. The Lord Ordinary repelled the objection; and the Court adhered.

To one of the votes for Mr Guthrie, it was objected , that the creditor, after specifying the sum upon which she claimed, and stating that a certain specified deduction ought to be made, as being the amount of board agreed to be paid by her to the bankrupt, did not actually deduct this sum, and specify, in her affidavit, the precise balance on which she claimed, as was required by the 50th section of the bankrupt statute.

It was answered , that it was only in the case of securities that this precise subtraction and specification was required; and it ought not to be extended, by implication, to other cases where the statute had not made a similar provision. It was enough that the amount of the claim was specified in the affidavit, although not in the form laid down in the act.

The Lord Ordinary repelled the objection; and added the following note:—‘It is true that the Court have held themselves constrained, by the express words of the statute, to require this subtraction and specification of the balance claimed in the case of securities; but it is not likely that it will be disposed to extend the same strictness, by implication, to cases where the act has not required it.’ The Court adhered.

It was objected to another of the votes, that the creditor, in stating the value of an heritable security which he held for his debt, had not stated the value of it bona fide , but had done so in an illusory and colourable manner, for the purpose of enabling him to control the election by ranking for a large sum, while, in truth, his whole debt was thereby sufficiently covered.