52 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



States in the several States, the Supreme Court 

 of the District of Columbia, the district courts 

 of the several Territories, and the United 

 States courts in the Indian Territory and the 

 district of Alaska courts of bankruptcy. The 

 law defines acts of bankruptcy as follows : 



Acts of bankruptcy by a person shall consist 

 of his having (1) conveyed, transferred, con- 

 cealed, or removed, or permitted to be con- 

 cealed or removed, any part of his property 

 with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud his 

 creditors, or any of them ; or (2) transferred, 

 while insolvent, any portion of his property to 

 one or more of his creditors with intent to 

 prefer siich creditors over his other creditors ; 

 or (3) suffered or permitted, while insolvent, 

 any creditor to obtain a preference through 

 legal proceedings, and not having at least five 

 days before a sale or final disposition of any 

 property affected by such preference vacated or 

 discharged such preference ; or (4) made a 

 general assignment for the benefit of his credi- 

 tors ; or (5) admitted in writing his inability 

 to pay his debts and his willingness to be ad- 

 judged a bankrupt on that ground. 



The following described persons may be- 

 come bankrupts : 



Any person who owes debts, except a cor- 

 poration, shall be entitled to the benefits of 

 this act as a voluntary bankrupt. 



Any natural person, except a wage-earner or 

 a person engaged chiefly in farming or the 

 tillage of the soil, any unincorporated com- 

 pany, and any corporation engaged principally 

 in manufacturing, trading, printing, publish- 

 ing, or mercantile pursuits, owing debts to 

 the amount of one thousand dollars or over, 

 may be adjudged an involuntary bankrupt 

 upon default or an impartial trial, and shall 

 be subject to the provisions and entitled to the 

 benefits of this act. Private bankers, but not 

 national banks or banks incorporated under 

 State or Territorial laws, may be adjudged 

 involuntary bankrupts. 



The act does not affect the allowance to 

 bankrupts of the exemptions which are pre- 

 scribed by State laws in force at the time of 

 the filing of a petition in the State wherein 

 they have had their domicile for six months 

 or the greater portion thereof immediately 

 preceding the filing of a petition. The law 

 creates two offices referees and trustees. 



The act went into full force and effect upon 

 its passage, that is, July 1, 1898, but no peti- 

 tion for voluntary bankruptcy could be filed 

 within one month of that date, and no petition 

 for involuntary bankruptcy within four months 

 thereof. Proceedings commenced under State 

 insolvency laws before the passage of the act 

 were not affected by it. 



THE LAW OF TRADE-MARKS. 



Any person, firm, or corporation can obtain 

 protection for any lawful trade-mark by com- 

 plying with the following : 



1 . By causing to be recorded in the Patent 

 Office the name, residence, and place of busi- 

 ness of persons desiring the trade-mark. 



2. The class of merchandise and description 

 of the same. 



3. A description of the trade-mark itself 

 with facsimiles. 



4. The length of time that the said mark 

 has already been used. 



5. By payment of the required fee $6.00 

 for labels and f25 for trade-marks. 



6. By complying with such regulations as 

 may be prescribed by the Commissioner of 

 Patents. 



7. A lawful trade-mark must consist of some 

 arbitrary word (not the name of a person or 

 place), indicating or not the use or nature of 

 the thing to which it is applied ; of some 

 designated symbol, or of both word and 

 symbol. 



INTERSTATE COMMERCE LAW. 



The Interstate Commerce Act is a law 

 passed by Congress in 1887 for the regulation 

 of rates and the management of interstate 

 commerce. It applies to carriers engaged in 

 the transportation of passengers or property 

 wholly by railroad or partly by railroad and 

 partly by water, from one State, Territory, or 

 District of the United States to any other 

 State, Territory, or District, or to or from a 

 foreign country. It provides for the appoint- 

 ment of a board of five commissioners, em- 

 powered to inquire into the management of the 

 carriers and determine the reasonableness of 

 their rates. A carrier whose line is entirely 

 within a State is subject to the act so far as it 

 makes or accepts through rates on interstate 

 commerce. 



Among other things the act requires that all 

 charges shall be just and reasonable ; that 

 charges for a shorter distance shall not exceed 

 those for a longer distance on the same line in 

 the same direction, when the circiimstances 

 and conditions are similar; that there shall be 

 no unjust discrimination as between persons or 

 classes of traffic or localities, in the charges 

 made, or in the service rendered ; that the rates 

 charged for transportation shall be printed, 

 filed with the Commission, and kept for public 

 inspection at the several stations, and that the 

 carriers shall annually make a complete exhibit 

 of their business to the Commission. 



The act makes exceptions from its provisions 

 of the carriage of property for the United 

 States or for any State or municipal govern- 



