Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-08-29

o"'v "ote vohte nporaneous and effected
at MS stall. The fact that he gathered
10 Pennsylvania what he disposed OF in
delaware was held by the court to he
immaterial.
The court also held that his business
was raising and selling, buying and
seiIlrg' selline on commission, and buy
ing, Strengthening and selling. Selling
was an essential rart and the consum
nation of his business. A horse dealer
or butcher may buy his stock in many
States, but if horses or cattle are boupbt
with view to their sale at certain
| place in Delaware, and that Mace IN
| the principal place of sale. il ia nm.
doubtedly his principal place of bust
ness, according to the ruling of the
| court.
$50 here" to quote from Judge
praoioru 8 opinion, under the circum-
stances disclosed by the evidence, it
must be hold that the principal place
OF business OF the defendant William
d. A. Mackey) was in Wilmington, in
TINS district, and that 1t was such dur
ing the greater portion of six months
next preceding the filing of the peti.
ton; Friday and Saturday, September
list and 22d, 1900, being days on which
the defendant was IN occupation of his
stall, The court thereby holds that
IL has jurisdiction in the case.
As to the matter of exemptiop of car.
tain persons-from the operation of tho
bankruptcy law, the opinion says |:
Section exoepts from It's provisions
a wage Garner or a pcrson engaged
chiefly in farming or the tilaRe of the
soil. IL is admitted that the defendant
was not wage-earner or person en-
gagged chiefly In the tillage of the soil,
~ the sense which those terms are en-
ployed in the net. But it is oontended
tnat ne was "a person engaged chiefly
10 farming. person engaged chiefly
~ farming is one whose chief oocupa-
tion or business is farming. The chief
occupation or business of one, so for as
worldly pursuits are ccnoerned, is that
which is of principal concern to him, of
some permanency In its nature, and on
which be chiefly relies for his livelihood
or as the means of acquiring wealth,
great or small. That one may princi-
rally devote his physical exertions or
his time to given pursuit, while
one OF the factors entitled to considers-
tion, is not in all cnses determinatiye
OF the question whether that pursuit is
his chief occupation or business. One
may own, reside and operate a farm and
at the same time 10 engaged in the
business of buying and selling stocks
and other securities. The latter occu-
pationim may consume only an hour or
two and the bs'ance of the day be de-
voted by him to his farm, yet it does
not follow that his chief occupation or
business is not dealing in stocks OF
ether securities. Ii such dealing is of
principal concern to him and chiefly re-
lied on by him for his subsistence and
financial advancement and il he treats
itas OF paramount importance to his
welfare, he would not be within the
category OF persons chiefly engaged in
iaiinlng, even were his farm to yie.d
him some profit Nor does the amount
of capital invested necessarily deter.
mine in all cases what one's chief occu.
patton or business is. 1t, like the
amount OF time devoted.is undoubtedly
a factor to be, considered, but often is
not conclusive. One may erect pa!a-
tlal residence IN the county and own
the farm on which it stands. It be-
comes part of the farm, ana the farm
may he skilfully operated and yet not
yield 10 profits a hundredth part of the
interest ON the Investment The owner
may be engaged In profitable manufac-
turing or mercantile pursuits, which |
enable him to pay in full the cost of |
his house and thereafter maintain il /
from the profits on his BUSINESS capital, |
though less than such cost. No one |
would IN such case contend that the |
owner of the farm was chiefly eDpap.d
In farming because most of his cspital
was invested in it, 1t is evident that
II is inpractioable, il not impo ;sibIe.
TO define with precision the facts which
Will in all cases determine whether one
is engaged chiefly in farming, and that
zach case must be decided on its own
circumstances. It may, however,
egitimately be stated, generally, thar,
X 1t appears in given case that one q
occupation or business which is of
principal concern to him, not ephem.
'ral, but OF some degree of permanency,
md ON which he manly relies for his
livelihood aud financial welfare, be
'ther than farming, he is not "a person
chiefly in farming.
No one snould be held exempt from
'he provisions OF the bankrupt act on
his ground unless it satisfactorily an
iears that he comes within the ex +.
'eption. The evidence on this branch
II the case is voluminous and has re-
eived careful attention. The do
endant, for many years and until nftor
his act of bankruptcy, owned and
perated a farm of 100 acres in Elk
ownship, Chester county, of which 100
cres were arabic and the rest wood
and. The year 1900 appears from tne
yidenoe to have been an average year
nth respect to the amount of crops ,
aised on the farm. X 1t appears
rom the evidence, taken as a whole, ,
hat during 1900 the value of the meat
nd other produce taken by the de- /
sndant to market could not have been
,ss than S6, 000, and that, on a liberal 4
stimate, OF this meat and produce, the /
roduce from his farm, including meat, n
Id not amount to more than $3.50, 4
,aving balance of not less than
,, l50, representing the value of meat
nd other produce sold by him on COM
lission or bought by him from i
thers. The balance is approximately
lree times as large as the total value
all the crops on the farm sold by
i'm, together with the total value Of a
u meat and other produce of the farm i
I'D from his wagon or at his stall q
uring 1900. The evidence is also clear I
,at ir would not have been possible to n
lise ON farm OF the size OF that of 4
10 defendant more than a small pro- o
ortion of what he marketed here aud
lat the most extensive and IMPORTANT n
Ianoh OF his business consisted in a
uying and slaughtering live stock and h
'eparing and selling the meat. Il
urther, nearly, il not quite, as ex- /
nsive as the farming branch of his
lssness was his occupation of selling
.s.As T.