Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/226/384/
Timestamp: 2018-12-14 16:42:31
Document Index: 768711332

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 23', '§ 60', '§ 67', '§ 8', '§ 23', '§ 23', '§ 23', '§ 23', '§ 60', '§ 67']

Wood v. Wilbert :: 226 U.S. 384 (1912) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center
Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 226 › Wood v. Wilbert
and the "adverse claimants." By subdivision b of § 23, it is provided that suits by the trustee shall only be brought or prosecuted where the bankrupt might have brought or prosecuted them if proceedings in bankruptcy had not been instituted, unless by consent of the proposed defendant; "except suits for the recovery of property under § 60, subdivision b, and § 67 subdivision e." The words in italics were added as amendment by Act of February 5, 1903, c. 487, § 8, 32 Stat. 797. Upon them the question in the case turns. Prior to the amendment, and passing on § 23 as originally enacted, this Court decided in Bardes v. Howarden Bank, 178 U. S. 524, that that section controlled and limited the jurisdiction of all courts over suits brought by trustees to collect debts due from third parties, or to set aside transfers of property to third parties, alleged to be fraudulent against creditors, and that the district courts of the United States could, by the proposed defendant's consent, but not otherwise, entertain jurisdiction of such suits. Harris, Trustee v. First National Bank of Mt. Pleasant, 216 U. S. 382.
32 Stat. 800, c. 487. The language of the amendment seems to have no limitation, except that the transfer must be one which any creditor could avoid, and, giving it such generality, the question occurs, can it be reconciled with § 23, subdivisions a and b? The amendment was a part of the same act and passed at the same time that the amendment to subdivision b of § 23 was, and we must assume that they were intended not to conflict, but to be in accord, as provisions for different situations. In other words, that it was the intention that each should have its proper application, distinct from and harmonious with that of the other. Such application is observed by distinguishing between jurisdiction over the subject matter and jurisdiction over the person, as pointed out by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Hull v. Burr, 153 F. 945, approving and following Gregory v. Atkinson, 127 F. 185. In other words, the respective sections and their subdivisions confer jurisdiction on the designated courts so far as it is dependent upon the character of the suits, but when the condition expressed in subdivision b of § 23 exists, the consent of the defendant determines the court, except when the suit is "for the recovery of property
under § 60, subdivision b, and § 67, subdivision e." These special exceptions exclude any other. And this is the view of the respective sections and their relation expressed in Skewis v. Barthell, 152 F. 534; Palmer v. Roginsky, 175 F. 883; Parker v. Sherman, 195 F. 648. Contra: Hurley v. Devlin, 149 F. 268.