53 Ark. 327 | Ark. | 1890
The case is to be distinguished from a threat merely to make an assignment, which being a lawful act and standing alone furnishes no evidence of an intended fraudulent disposition of property. Bishop’s Insolvent Debtors, sec. 203. While the subsequent execution of the assignment is evidence that that was the step contemplated by the debtor when he made the threat, we cannot say that the evidence did not justify the court in drawing a different conclusion. It may have been the result only of after honest advice from his counselors. According to the debtor’s representations, more than two-thirds in value of his assets were collectible choses in action. They are easily placed beyond the reach of creditors. The apparent insincerity of the debtor in his offer to. secure the plaintiffs’ claim and his prevarication about going to the bank to get money to pay it were circumstances the natural tendency of which was to produce the impression of an intent to gain delay for his private end. They ’do not well comport with a good motive. If his representations as. to the value of his assets were true, it is not probable that any lawful disposition of them could have been made by a preferential assignment for the benefit of creditors, so as to exclude the plaintiffs from participation. It is not improbable, therefore, that his threat implied an unlawful disposition of his property. If his representations as to his assets were false, the falsehood does not increase confidence in his intention to make an honest disposition of them.
These were all pertinent facts for the consideration of the court trying the issue, and warrant the conclusion reached.
Affirmed.