IIANKRrPT. 



IIANKRUPT. 



bj iu further orvlcr, fix a peremptory day for *uch payment, and if 

 Meh trader having been personally *errrd with such Uct-BMotiOMd 

 order seven <Uyi before rath peremptory day, foil to ]*y the money a* 

 ordered. b shall be deemed to her* committed an act of bankrupu-y 

 on the eighth day after errice of the order. 



F>l,*yp<trt, im /Met*** MW CWt in JWgbuid.-Br the Bnk. 

 nipt Law Consolidation Act, s. 74, It ii prorided that the tiling by 

 M>T trader of a petition in the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtor*, 

 for discharge from custody, (hall be deemed an act of bankruptcy, 

 fmoi the time of filing such petition, if euch trader be adjudicated a 

 bankrupt before the time appointed for hit being brought up to be 

 dealt with according to the law* for relief of insolvent debtor*, or 

 within two month* from the making of any verting order by nich 

 insolvent court. The property of inch trader by iuch subsequent 

 adjudication become! divested out of the provisional assignee of the 

 Insolvent Court. 



/mwlrtmry im /<&'. Analogous provision to the above is made by 

 a. 73, for the case of trader* filing petition* in India under the " Act 

 to eon*olidate and amend the LAW* relating to Insolvent Debtor* in 

 India." 



Ammiffmenl hetro* tradrr debtor and hit eredit-jfi. Section 76 of 

 the Bankrupt Law Consolidation Act, 1849, provide* that filing a 

 petition for arrangement by a trader under a subsequent section (2111, 

 tball constitute an act of bankruptcy if a petition for adjudication be 

 filed againgt him within two month* from the dJHmisnnl of imch 

 for arrangement. 



Ad* of bamkruptey by trader* c*o hare primltflt of Parliament. As 

 trader* being member* of parliament are not liable to personal urrest 

 for debt during the time of privilege, some special provisions are 

 requisite as to acts of bankruptcy committed !> such persons. 

 Accordingly, it is provided by the Bankrupt Law Consolidation Act, 

 1849, a. 77, that if any creditor of such trader in an amount suffi- 

 cient to support an adjudication of bankruptcy, shall file an affidavit 

 of such debt and of the trading in one of the superior courts, and 

 (hall me out of the same court a writ of summon* in the special 

 form provided by the Act, and personally serve the same ; and if such 

 trader shall not within one mouth after such service, pay, secure, 

 or compound, for such debt ; or give sufficient security for debt and 

 costs in tile action, and within the month cause an appearance to be 

 entered in the action, such trader shall be deemed to have com- 

 mitted an act of bankruptcy from the time of the sun-ice of the 

 summons. 



ff<jn-pa<fi*t*t of debt after trader debtor lummox*. The Bankrupt 

 Law Consolidation Act, 1849, lastly provides, . 78,-etseq., that a 

 trader upon whom an account of the particulars of a creditor's demand, 

 together with a notice in writing in the form provided by the Act, 

 requiring immediate payment has been served in the manner also by 

 the Act provided, may, upon formal affidavit filed in the Court of 

 Bankruptcy for the district in which the trader reside.', and upon 

 summons issued out of such court, be required to appear in ,-m-!i 

 court, and to state whether he admit* the debt or not. If he admit.'; 

 it, he is required to sign a formal admission, to be filed in the 

 court, and if he fails to pay the sum admitted within seven days 

 after filing the admission, he is deemed to have committed an act of 

 bankruptcy on the eighth day from the filing the admission. But if 

 he fails to appear or refuse to admit the debt, and do not moke a 

 formal deposition upon oath that he believes he has a good defence 

 upon the merits, and do not, if required by the court, enter into a 

 bond with sureties, as provided by the Act, he is deemed to have com- 

 mitted an act of bankruptcy upon the eighth day after service of the 

 summon* to appear. But in either cose the petition for adjudication 

 malt be filed within two months from the filing of the affidavit. 



Thi* process by trader debtor summons, as it is called, is found very 

 effective for the recovery of debts, and is much resorted to for that 



irpose notwithstanding the penalty imposed upon exaggerated claims 



' *. 69, and the discretion as to costs vested in the court by s. 85. 



for the debt and for the creditor'* costs of suit. "Trader* who are really 

 indebted are thus compelled either to pay their debts summarily or 

 to submit to an otherwise immediate bankruptcy. Great care, how- 

 ever, should be taken in employing this process, and if collateral with 

 an action it should rarely be resorted to until after the defendant ha* 



The above are the various and the only acts which, according to the 



adjudication i grounded must, a* before stated, be one which existed 

 during the period of hi* trading. An act of bankruptcy, in order to 

 * t|'p-Tt an adjudication, mu.it have been committed within twelve 

 month* before filing the petition. 



8. Of Ike pncttditg, bf rAiVA a Trader u made a R.i>. 

 Baring wondered what peaon* may bo rendered bankrupts, and th 



several acts and rii , mmUinees by which they may become so, we will 

 now shortly explain the peculiar mode of proceeding by which creditor* 

 reader their debtor a bankrupt. 



The adjudication of bankruptcy is made upon a petition <>f one or 

 more creditor* to tli. Court of Bankrnp 1 



If on the single petition of one creditor, hi* debt must amount to 

 SOI. ; if of two creditors, not being partners, to 7"' ; if of three or more 

 such creditors, to 10(W. This debt must have been contracted while the 

 bankrupt was in trade, or must at least hare been at ibsist- 



ing ; and it must have been actually due at the time of the act of 

 bankruptcy. If the del.t ..f tin- |-titi--ning creditor appears on ny 

 ground inMiflicirnt. the adjudication may be supported on any 

 debt of another creditor which is legally adequate to sustain it, sec. 10S. 

 The petitioner file* and prosecutes his petition at his own coct 

 the choice of assignees by the creditors, and is entitled to lia\ > 

 paid back to him out of the estate when realised. Bee ' Bankrupt 

 Law Consolidation Act,' 1849, a. 114, and' Rule* and Oixiers in 

 Bankruptcy,' 114 ft 116. If it appear that the debt alleged in the 

 affidavit is not due to the petitioning creditor, or no proof be given 

 that the person petitioned against is or was a trader, and that he 

 committed an act of bankruptcy, and that the petition was filed 

 fraudulently and maliciously, the court may order satisfaction 

 made. If the petitioning creditor compound with the bankiu; 

 adjudication, so as to receive more in the pound than tli 

 tors, he is liable to forfeit his whole debt, and to repay and '< 

 all money or securities received, to the assignees for the ben-tit of the 

 creditors. In the case of a firm of traders, any creditor whose debt is 

 of sufficient amount may petition cither against the firm collectively, 

 or i>gaint one or more partners in it. The petition must, unless 

 otherwise specially ordered, be addressed to, and filed, and prosecuted 

 in the court for the district within which the trader shall have resided 

 or carried on his business for six months next precedinK the filims 

 the petition. The form of petition is provided by the statute, and 

 its truth must be verified by the affidavit of the petitioner. Upon 

 proof of the petitioning creditor's debt, of the trailing, and of the act of 

 bankruptcy, the court adjudges the trader a bankrupt. A trad, 

 petition for an adjudication of his own bankruptcy, and upon hi* 

 application and proof of his trading, and of the filing and declaration 

 of insolvency, and of his available estate being sufficient to pro- 

 duce at least ISO/., the court similarly adjudges him a bankrupt. 

 Immediately after adjudication, an official assignee is aj>|imc.! 

 court, whose duty it is at once to take possession of all the bankrupt's 

 property. 



Notice of the adjudication is given to the bankrupt, that he r 

 so advised, show cause against it ; this he is t liberty to do within 

 seven days, giving two days' notice in writing thereof, and of the 

 grounds of objection to the petitioning creditor or his solicitor, and ti- 

 the registrar of the court. The necessary proofs must be again 

 and the adjudication is thereupon either annulled or sustai< 

 is an appeal from the Commissioner to the Lords Justice* of Appeal in 

 ry, and from their judgment to the House of Lords. If the 

 adjudication in submitted to, or sustained, the commissioner causes 

 notice thereof to be given in the ' London Gazette,' and at the same 

 time appoints two public sittings of the court for the bankrupt to 

 surrender and conform, and for the election of creditors' assignees. This 

 advertisement becomes conclusive evidence as against the luuikruptof 

 the date of the petition being filed, and of his lank 

 date, unless ho shall within two calendar months thereafter (if within 

 the United Kingdom, and if elsewhere, within .111 extended ; 

 have commenced, and shall duly prosecute an action or other proceed- 

 ing to dispute or annul the adjudication. The bankrupt is at libcrtyj 

 however, to surrender at any time before the timu limited, l>y appear- 

 ing in court and signing a memorandum to that effect, on which he 

 obtain* an order of protection from arrest at the suit of any creditor, 

 until the next sitting of the court. 



4. The AaigwMt, tlicir poicen and dutiet, and the retl!;i of tht 

 Bankrupt 1 ! property nndrfrctt in them. At the first of these sittings an 

 election must be mode of assignees, or persons to whom the Iwnki up! ' 

 estate shall be assigned, and in whom it shall be vested for 

 of the creditors ; which assignees are to be chosen by the major part in 

 value of the creditors who shall then have proved tl,. Lut no 



creditor shall be admitted to vote in the choice of assignees, 

 debt, on the balance of accounts, does not amount to lOt 



In the mean time, however, and Immediately on the adjudication 

 being made, the official assignee become* the depository of all the 

 bankrupt's property, and if the court c 

 creditor'* assignees arc chosen, sell or dispose of goods of 

 nature, or other property, Uic holding of which until t! 

 assignees would prejudice the bankrupt'* estate. T lignoc 



receive* all rente, interest, proceeds of sale, or other > 

 accrue from the bankrupt's estate, and places them in the Bank of 

 England. AU books, papers, and accounts relating to the estate must 



cred up to him, on oath, if required, and the ban' 

 attend him at all reasonable times, to asi 



the estate, for which attendance he is paid at the rate of five si 

 a day. Th -l.-eti.m ' assignees being made, and the 



n Leillg latltie.l ' 



of vetting in these assignees, conjointly with the official assignee, all 



