194 



CONGRESS. (UNIFORM SYSTEM OF BANKRUPTCY.) 



islands of the age of twenty-one years, shall be duly 

 qualified voters*. The said election shall be held at 

 a time and in the manner and under regulations to 

 be prescribed by the President of the United States." 

 It was rejected by a vote of 42 nays to 20 yeas. 



An amendment was offered by Senator Faulkner, 

 of West Virginia: "That until Congress provides a 

 system of government for Hawaii the officers of the 

 existing Government. and not persons appointed by 

 the President, shall exercise authority under exist- 

 ing laws, not in conflict with the Constitution and 

 laws of the United States." The amendment was 

 rejected by a vote of 43 nays to 20 yeas. 



An amendment providing for an excise tax on 

 Hawaiian sugar imported into the United States 

 during a period of ten years was also rejected ; also 

 an amendment providing that all male persons over 

 twenty-one years of age born on the islands are 

 citizens thereof, and that all male persons twenty- 

 one years of age naturalized on the islands shall 

 be entitled to vote at all elections hereafter held on 

 such islands ; also an amendment by way of substi- 

 tute: and also an amendment providing that the 

 United States shall maintain the silver money 

 coined bv the Government of Hawaii at a parity 

 with gold. 



The vote on the passage of the resolution was as 

 follows : 



YEAS Allison, Baker, Burrows, Cannon, Carter, 

 Clark, Cullom, Davis, Deboe, Elkins, Fairbanks, 

 Foraker, Frye, Gallinger, Gorman, Hale, Hanna, 

 Hansbrough* Ilawley. Hoar, Kyle, Lodge, McBride, 

 McLaurin, Money, Morgan, Nelson, Penrose, Per- 

 kins, Pettus, Platt of Connecticut, Pritchard, Proc- 

 tor, Sewell, Shoup, Sullivan, Teller, Warren, Wel- 

 lington, Wetmore, Wilson, Wolcolt 42. 



N A ^ s Allen, Bacon, Bate, Berry, Caffery, Chilton, 

 Clay, Daniel, Faulkner, Jones of Nevada, Lindsay, 

 McEnery, Mallory, Mitchell, Morrill, Pasco, Petti- 

 grew, Roach, Turley, Turpie, White 21. 



NOT VOTING Aldrich, Butler, Chandler, Cock- 

 rell, Gear, Gray, Harris, Heitfeld, Jones of Arkan- 

 sas, Kenney, McMillan, Mantle, Martin, Mason, 

 Mills, Murphy, Platt of New York, Quay, Rawlins, 

 Smith, Spooner, Stewart, Thurston, Tillman, Tur- 

 ner, Vest 26. 



The resolution was approved by the President, 

 July 7, 1898. 



Uniform System of Bankruptcy. For many 

 years the subject of a bankruptcy law has been be- 

 fore successive Congresses; and a great part of the 

 congressional reports is taken up with the discus- 

 sion of bankruptcy bills, nearly all of which made 

 progress toward enactment and some of which came 

 close to final success. The public paid little atten- 

 tion to the matter and many members of Congress 

 were indifferent, but there was a persistent effort 

 on the part of certain men with strong convictions 

 as to the good policy of the measure, and in the 

 end they carried the point. At a former session of 

 this Congress the Senate passed a bankruptcy act, 

 and it was taken up in the House of Representa- 

 tives, Feb. 16, 1898, and, under special order, de- 

 bated that day and the following day, and passed 

 Feb. 19, with various amendments, by a vote of 159 

 yeas to 125 nays. The Senate non-concurred in the 

 House amendments, but after conference the meas- 

 ure was adopted in the following shape, June 15, 

 and June 28, and so approved by the President, 

 July 1 : 



"CHAPTER I. DEFINITIONS. 



"SECTION 1. Meaning of words and phrases. 

 a. The words and phrases used in this act and in 

 proceedings pursuant hereto shall, unless the same 

 be inconsistent with the context, be construed as 

 follows: (1) 'A person against whom a petition has 



been filed ' shall include a person who has filed a 

 voluntary petition; (2) 'adjudication' shall mean 

 the date of the entry of a decree that the defendant, 

 in a bankruptcy proceeding, is a bankrupt, or if 

 such decree is appealed from, then the date when 

 such decree is finally confirmed; (3) 'appellate 

 courts ' shall include the circuit courts of appeals 

 of the United States, the supreme courts of the 

 Territories, and the Supreme Court of the United 

 States; (4) 'bankrupt' shall include a person 

 against whom an involuntary petition or an appli- 

 cation to set a composition aside or to revoke a 

 discharge has been hied, or who has filed a volun- 

 tary petition, or who has been adjudged a bank- 

 rupt ; (5) ' clerk ' shall mean the clerk of a court 

 of bankruptcy ; (6) ' corporations ' shall mean all 

 bodies having any of the powers and privileges of 

 private corporations not possessed by individuals or 

 partnerships, and shall include limited or other 

 partnership associations organized under laws mak- 

 ing the capital subscribed alone responsible for the 

 debts of the association; (?) 'court 1 shall mean 

 the court of bankruptcy in which the proceedings 

 are pending, and may include the referee ; (8) 

 ' courts of bankruptcy ' shall include the district 

 courts of the United States and of the Territories, 

 the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, and 

 the United States court of the Indian Territory, 

 and of Alaska ; (9) ' creditor ' shall include any one 

 who owns a demand or claim provable in bank- 

 ruptcy, and may include his duly authorized agent, 

 attorney, or proxy ; (10) ' date of bankruptcy,' or 

 'time of bankruptcy,' or 'commencement of pro- 

 ceeding,' or ' bankruptcy,' with reference to time, 

 shall mean the date when the petition was filed ; 

 (11) 'debt' shall include any debt, demand, or 

 claim provable in bankruptcy; (12) 'discharge' 

 shall mean the release of a bankrupt from all of 

 his debts which are provable in bankruptcy, except 

 such as are excepted by this act ; (13) ' document ' 

 shall include any book, deed, or instrument in writ- 

 ing; (14) 'holiday' shall include Christmas, the 

 Fourth of July, the 22d of February, and any day 

 appointed by the President of the United States or 

 the Congress of the United States as a holiday or as 

 a day of public fasting or thanksgiving; (15) a per- 

 son shall be deemed insolvent within the provisions 

 of this act whenever the aggregate of his properly, 

 exclusive of any property whicli he may have con- 

 veyed, transferred, concealed, or removed, or per- 

 mitted to be concealed or removed, with intent to 

 defraud, hinder or delay his creditors, shall not, at 

 a fair valuation, be sufficient in amount to pay his 

 debts; (16) 'judge' shall mean a judge of a court 

 of bankruptcy, not including the referee; (17) 

 ' oath ' shall include affirmation ; (18) ' officer ' 

 shall include clerk, marshal, receiver, referee, and 

 trustee, and the imposing of a duty upon or the 

 forbidding of an act by any officer shall include his 

 successor and any pers'on authorized by law to per- 

 form the duties of such officer; (19) ' persons' shall 

 include corporations, except where otherwise speci- 

 fied, and officers, partnerships, and women, and 

 when used with reference to the commission of 

 acts which are herein forbidden shall include per- 

 sons who are participants in the forbidden acts, and 

 the agents, officers, and members of the board of 

 directors or trustees, or other similar controlling 

 bodies of corporations; (20) ' petition ' shall mean 

 a paper filed in a court of bankruptcy or with a 

 clerk or deputy clerk by a debtor praying for tin- 

 benefits of this act, or by creditors alleging the 

 commission of an act of bankruptcy by a debtor 

 therein named; (21) 'referee' shall mean the referee 

 who has jurisdiction of the case or to whom the case 

 has been referred, or any one acting in his stead : 

 (22) ' conceal ' shall include secrete, falsify, and 



