246 SECRETARIAL PRACTICE 
Collecting 
Debts. 
limit to the time during which this may be done, e.g. three 
months. In the event of an extension being required, a 
further application must be made to the Court. 
The right to carry on the business involves the right to do 
everything incidental thereto: contracts may be made, the 
trade generally may be continued, bills of exchange may be 
drawn or accepted, and even, in a proper case, money may 
be borrowed for the purposes of the company, upon such 
security as the company is able to offer. It is generally 
advisable to obtain the sanction of the Court before borrowing 
money. It is hardly necessary to point out that any security 
given by the liquidator for loans ranks after all existing 
securities. The liquidator will, of course, make it clear to all 
persons with whom business is done that the company is in 
voluntary liquidation. 
In carrying on the business, the liquidator must bear in 
mind that every invoice, order for goods, or business letter 
issued by or on behalf of the company, or of the liquidator 
himself, must contain a statement that the company is being 
wound up [s. 280]. 
With reference to debts incurred by the liquidator in the 
course of carrying on the business of the company, it must be 
clearly borne in mind that these must be paid in priority to 
debts and liabilities incurred before the commencement of the 
liquidation. They are, in reality, provided they are properly 
incurred, part of the costs of the administration of the com- 
pany’s affairs, which, as will be seen hereafter, have a priority 
over the ordinary liabilities. 
In getting in the debts due to the company, the liquidator 
will make written demands upon the debtors, and if all 
other means fail he will, if he considers it desirable, take 
proceedings for recovering debts outstanding. It is neces- 
sary, however, to consider carefully whether the proceedings 
are likely to be productive of any adequate result. A liquida- 
tor would not be justified in suing a debtor when he knew 
the debtor could in no circumstances pay. Proceedings 
would, in such a case, be merely a waste of the company’s 
money. The liquidator has also, as has been stated, power 
to compromise with the sanctions indicated on p. 240. 
We have seen that a liquidator can sell all or any of the 
company’s property, taking care to do so to the best advan- 
tage. Thus, he may, if he thinks it advantageous, sell the 
book debts instead of realising them himself. It may here 
be remarked that, speaking generally, the liquidator may 
employ agents to act for him in cases where the skill and