Who Owns Haulage Business ?
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AN unusual point arose during the hearing of an application at Chester, when it was revealed that a haulage business was owned by a woman whose husband, an undischarged bankrupt, carried on a hay and straw business.
The application came before the North-Western Deputy Licensing Authority, when the railways contended that the applicant, Mrs. C. A. Hughes, Terfyn Garage, Kinmel Park, was not entitled to the renewal of her A licence for two vehicles (4 tons), but should be granted B licences.
Mr. Henry Backhouse, for the applicant, said that the haulage was, in fact, carried on by Mrs. Hughes in her name; the insurance policies, Road Fund licence and all material documents were jolter name. Her husband, who had been declared bankrupt some years ago and had not received his discharge, had a small hay and straw business which he carried on for cash. The two undertakings were entirely separate.
Mr. H. F. R. Sturge, for the railways, contended that this was a business which, under Section 2 (3) of the Act, should be carried on under a B licence. He contended that both Mr. and Mrs. Hughes owned the hay and straw business and the A licence should not be granted.
Mr. Backhouse declared that the difficulty with regard to both parties owning the business would be Section 17 of the Married Women's Property Act, because the wife could leave him to-morrow and take all his business away with her. Was it for the Authority, or anyone else, to say that they must be forced into a partnership? The .L.M.S. Railway would accept goods for the L.N.E.R. line, but the fact that it accepted them did not make the L.M.S. a partner in the L.N.E.R., and the position was the same here.
Decision was reserved.