Amelius Morland SMITH (1845-1929) - Hutt Valley Biographical ...

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North Otago Times 01 Mar 1879
A meeting of the creditors of Amelius Morland Smith was held this morning. The bankrupt was subjected to a long and searching
examination by Mr Olliver, after which an adjournment for a fortnight was carried. It was intimated that in all probability an arrangement with
the creditors will then be proposed.
Wanganui Chronicle 05 Mar 1879 A Scandalous Insolvency
[Wellington Chronicle] Amelius Morland Smith, late Assistant Colonial Under-Secretary in the New Zealand Civil Service, is a highly
ingenious young gentleman. He has been only a few years in the service, during which period he has always enjoyed an excellent salary,
yet he has contrived to get heavily into debt, on two occasions to compound with his creditors – once for 2s 6d in the pound, and a second
time for a somewhat better dividend – while no later than yesterday he had to face a meeting of the same ever confiding and deluded
individuals, with a schedule of liabilities amounting to £3240, and assets practically – Nil. This last time Mr Amelius Morland Smith is not to
be allowed to pull through by a nice little private arrangement. Indeed it is doubtful whether “Amelius” could stump up even the usual halfcrown
in the twenty shillings. It is true that “Amelius” alludes vaguely to some “great expectations” which he has in England, and to a
supposititious reversionary interest in £3000 but this does not appease his creditors, who now mourn and refuse to be comforted. Of its
peculiar kind, there is a certain philosophic wisdom displayed in the conduct of Mr Amelius Morland Smith. Many poor devils of clerks in the
Civil Service earning a wretched pittance of £140 to £180 a year, and with wives and families to support – pinch, scrape, and screw to eke
out an existence, and make both ends meet – wearing old clothes, and often denying themselves even the modest luxury of a half-pint of
beer, and a fig of tobacco – so that they may honestly pay their way, and owe no one anything. Mr Amelius Morland Smith altogether
despises such poor creatures. For years he has gone arrayed in broadcloth and fine linen. He has fared sumptuously and lived luxuriously.
He has gambled and betted, and adapted the role of a patron of the turf. In fact Mr Amelius Morland Smith has enjoyed life and had a “good
time of it.” Now, that is not a bad philosophy of life. “Amelius” has taken as much in the shape of luxury, comfort, and enjoyment out of life
as any man could have done with some £1500 a year. He has done this with other men’s money, it is true; but that trifling circumstance will
not disquiet his noble mind. It is only filing his schedule after all and then “Amelius” will pull through the Bankruptcy Court, probably get reappointed
to his lucrative secretaryship at £450 a year, and re-commence life, freed from debt, as “a whitewashed man.” It is an admirable
plan of life, and we are lost in admiration at the consummate tact, skill, and dexterity which “Amelius” has displayed in carrying it out. A
shop boy who robs his master’s till of a few shillings would probably get three months imprisonment; a clerk who embezzles £20 would in
all likelihood expiate his offence by two years’ hard labour on the roads. Amelius, the aristocratic and kid-gloved, is more fortunate. He has
either lost or spent thousands of other people’s money, yet suffers no worse penalty than “going through the Court.” Verily law – is law. To
get into debt heavily, and then compound has been the constant principle and practice of this highly-talented young man. His career is
interesting and instructive. “Amelius”, we believe, came out from Home to Canterbury in 1861 and devoted himself to pastoral pursuits as a
cadet on a sheep station. But “Amelius” had a soul above sheep, and despised horned cattle. He therefore soon hied him back to England,
and his friends procured him a commission in (we believe) the 10 th Hussars, and packed him off to India “to seek the bubble reputation,
even in the cannon’s mouth.” But “Amelius” was not destined to achieve martial glories. In a few weeks, he left the service, and returned to
HBIG A-Z Smith Last updated 19 May 2012 Page 2 of 6