The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-01-02
OPERATIONS OF THE
NEW BANKRUPT LAW
REVIEW OF ITS WORKINGS FOR
FIRST FIVE MONTHS.
There Have Been Ninty-one volun-
tary and Twenty-Five Involuntary
Petitions Filed - Liabilities
ported at $3,e75, ,4ee.33 and As
sets s1,o54, sos. 5.74-New Law Has
Greatly Increased the Business of
the United States District Court.
Failures Expected This Week.

1t is five months since the new Uni
ted states bankruptcy act went into
effect. During that period in the West
ern federal judicial district of Pennsyl-
vania, to which this part of the state
is attached, q total of 100 petitions in
bankruptcy have been presented; 81
voluntary and 20 involuntary, and some
startling figures are presented by the
papers filed with the clerk of the Uni
ted States court at Pittsburg by those
who have chosen to take advantage of
the new law.
Under the law each man filing a vol
untary petition must submit to the
court a schedule of his liabilities and
assets. The liabilities set out in their
schedules by the 81 people who have
gone into voluntary bankruptcy aggre-
gate the enormous amount of $780,
1868, or an amount sufficient to give
397 men @ capital of $4,000 each with
which to embark in business. The
schedules of assets aggregate S1,O5A.-
1914, or enough to pay an average OF
about 26 cents on the dollar There
are, however, l6 petitioners whose
debts aggregate $S2S, ,96Ss9, who have
sworn that Trey do not possess a dollar
of assets.
NUMBER HAS DECREASED.
AS compared with the first five
months of the act of 1867 the number
of petitions filed under the new law is
considerably less. That law went into
effect two months earlier in the year,
and it may he that many have en-
deavored to tide over the holiday sea-
son in the hope that they will be able
to meet their obligations. If the eX-
perence under the former act is to be
accepted as a criterion the next year
will see a rush in the bankrupt court.
I During 1868, the year following the pas
sage of the former law. a total of 1905
petitions were filed. The act of 1861
was repealed in 1873. During the IL
| years Of it's life a total of 5,543 per-
sons went into bankruptcy in the
western district of Pennsylvania. Sui
| livan was the only county in the entire
| district that did not produce a bank
rupt.
There is one petition on file in which
| the liabilities are placed at $390,000 in
round figures. and assets absolutely
nothing. In another the liabilities are
! S7S9, 900 and assets $291. In such cases
| it will be an easy matter to secure a
| discharge, for the rule under the old
| law was that where the Indebtedness
was so great and the assets of COM
paratively insignificant amount, cred
itors seldom went to the trouble and
expense of proving their claims.
There are a few cases in which the
assets are equal if not in excess of the
liabilities. 1t may be puzzling to some
to know why such persons desire to
take advantage of the bankrupt law.
In some of these instances the assets
may be over-estimated but in the cases
where the full amount of the assets as
set out can be realized by proper busi-
ness management, the motive of the
petitioner is easily explained. His OBJ
ject is to save his estate and prevent it
from being wasted While he has suf-
ficient funds to pay his Indebtedness,
it will be to his advantage to get his
| estate into the hands of a trustee, by
which process he will be able to pay
all his creditors, rather than take
chances on forced sales and resultant
sacrifices.
THE INVOLUNTARY CASES.
There are 90 persons whose creditors
have filed petitions to have them de-
| CldGeu DdnhIupJS. III lIleSt pelillOIlS HD
schedules Of liabilities nor assets are
included. But in all of them acts OF
| bankruptcy must be alleged. such as:
| that he has conveyed, transferred, con-
cealed or removed. or permitted to be
concealed or removed, any part of his
property with intent to hinder delay or
| defraud his creditors or any OF them:
has transferred, while insclvent, any
portion of his property to one or more
of his creditors with intent to prefer
| them over his other creditors; has
made a general assignment for the
benefit of his creditors, or that he has
admitted in writing his inability TO pay
his debts and his willingness to be ad-
judged a bankrupt on that ground.
There has been no final termination
| of any of the cases presented TO the
court. The business is making lots of
xtra work for United States District
Court Judge Joseph Burlington and
Clerk William T. Lindsay, and 1t prom
ises to grow in volume for many
months to come. A big rush is expect
ed this week, the aftermath of the
holiday season.