The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-11-15

Chairman Executive Committee commercial
Law League of America, and Editor OF the
Commercial Lawyer.
Specid Correspondence of PROGRESSIVE Farmer.
Toe National Bankruptcy Law,
which passed the last Congress, went
into efsct at once on its passage July
I, 1898; but no petition for voluntary
bankruptcy could be fled until Novem
Der 1st; that is, after August 1st a man
may voluntarily become q bankrupt,
and before November 1st his creditors
cannot compel him to become one.
The law contains over Is 600 words,
and, as ia the case with all laws Gov
ering go great @ subject, its provisions
ara so many and so interdependent
that the average citizsn will do we'll to
let a lawyer read and interpret it for
him; and even then, the chances are
about even that he may not under.
stand it, for scarcely was the law
printed and in the handsaOf the people
before lawyers were ~contending e
it, differing materially regarding It's
force and eff CT and the practice under
it. Indeed, there is every reason to
expect that long and bitter controver-
sizes in the courts will ensue before the
practice is settled and the lawyer and
his client may feel the ground under
them secure.
1t is desirable that the classes of per
sons whom the law was intended to
benefit should be distinctly pointed
out. It has been held by some that
the law il a creditors law, intended to
benefit, first and most Of all, the cred
itor class; by others it is asserted to be
to be a debtors law and for that great
number Of citizsns who since the last
bankruptcy act was annulled, 1878,
have bsen unfortunate and need the
aid of legislation to enable them to
shake off the load that Expresses
them and to start afresh.
We shall in this article, look upon
the law as intended for the unfortu
nate debtor, and seek to determine
whom the law looks upon as such and,
therefore, seek TO relieve. The law
says (3ec. 5 Chap. III), ANY person
who yves debts, except @ corporation,
may become a voluntary bankrupt"
BY voluntary bankrupt is meant one
who becomes such by virtue OF his
own conscious act. But, first, what is
meant by bankrupt2 This term is not
synonymous with insolvent. An in
solvent is one who is unable to pay his
debts; a bankrupt is one who has been
declared by a court to be unable to pay
his debts. A bankrupt Is an insolvent;
but an insolvenG Is not necessarily a
bankrupt.
Hence, the law means to say that
any person who owes debts lex
Ceps a corporatiop) may apply to a
court to have himself adjudged a bank
Fupt. Corporations are, in the eyes
Of the law. persons" hence, q Con
gress wished TO take ig out Of the power
Of corporations to go into court and
ask TO be aQjudged bankrupt and re-
lieved Of their debts, it was necessary
to specifically except them. Under
some State insolvency laws, which this
National Bankruptcy Law has now
superseded, a corporation could file a
petition in insolvency.
Under the provisions of the new law,
certain classes Of corporations, as those
engaged principally in manufacturing,
trading, printing, publishing, or mer
camille pursuits, may, If they owe
debts OF 81, 0C0 or more, be proceeded
against by creditors in bankruptcy
proceedings; but no private corpora
ton Of any kind a 60 into court and
ask to be declared a bankrupt; and this
applies TO incorporated banks, insur.
RnCe companies, fraternal societies,
ETC., as we'll as limited or other part
nership associations organized under
laws making the capital subscribed
alone responsible for the bebts Of the
association.
One need not be q citizen of the
United States in order to take advan-
tage of the law. An alien owing debts
here man file his own petition in
Bankruptcy as soon as he has acquired
the necessary residence in the United
States.
Toe better opinion is that infant
THAT ia, n under legal age) cannot be
adjudged a bankrupt, though a 8 in
the Federal courts under a former law,
and reported as In re Book, 3 McLean,
SIT holds TO the contrary.
a lunasic or insane person cannot be
Rdiudged q bankrupt.
AS 10 married women, it may be said
that the court will regard the laws Of
the state where the woman has her