Did you ever lead any of them to believe that you had a large amount of money?—Well, it was known that I had money last year.
At the time you entered into these contracts?—Yes.
Did they ever raise any question as to your financial position at the time they entered into these contracts with you—did they ever call for security'—No. About two months before one of my contracts fell due one of the banks asked me for some margin, and I told them I was not in a position to give it.
His Lordship—When was that? Débtor—About October last. The Official Receiver—Which Bank?—The Netherlands Trading Bank.
When did you start this speculation?—I started on a small scale
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.