tributed among the depositors, is not inoperativė because enacted when the United States bankrupt law was in force, but the facts place it under the class of cases excepted by the bankrupt law. - Simpson v. City Savings Bank, 15 N. B. R. (S. C. N. H.) 385.

2. Nor does it impair the obligation of contracts. — Ibid.

3. Nor is it a retrospective law within the meaning of the New Hampshire Bill of Rights. — Ibid.

BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS.

It seems, that where, by the record, the bankrupt has obtained his discharge, and the assignee has also been discharged, that this ended and closed the bankruptcy proceedings, and that all proceedings thereafter in bankruptcy were without jurisdiction and void. - Maybin v. Raymond, 15 N. B. R. (S. D. Miss.) 353.

See JURISDICTION, 1.

BILLS AND NOTES.

1. A banker's draft, dated at his usual and only place of business, is payable there, on the default of the drawer, by the implied terms of the contract itself and by the usages of merchants and by the law, though negotiated elsewhere. - In re Glyn, 15 N. B. R. (Mass. Dist.) 495.

2. The law of bills of exchange is part of the general commercial jurisprudence, and not of local law or usage, and State laws are not binding upon Federal courts. — Ibid.

3. Where no place of performance is mentioned in a note or bill, it is to be paid by each person liable upon it at the place of his own domicile, using that word in a sense large enough to include an established place of business as well as one of residence. - Ibid.

4. Interest and damages, which the drawer of a bill of exchange is to pay, are to be assessed according to the law of the place where the bill is drawn. Ibid.

See FIDUCIARY DEBT, 3.

BILL OF SALE. See MORTGAGE, 2.

CHAMPERTY.

It is not champerty for an attorney to agree to prosecute a claim at his own cost and expense, and retain one-half the amount recovered, especially a claim against the United States. Maybin v. Raymond, 15 N. B. R. (S. D. Miss.)

353.

CHECK.

1. Where the purchaser of a check of one bank, drawn upon another, fails to present the same for payment till after the maker has been adjudged a bankrupt, he is not entitled to be paid in full by the assignee, though there were funds sufficient to pay it at any time up to that of the presentment. In re Smith, 15 N. B. R. (S. D. Ohio) 459.

2. The mere drawing of a check creates no lien upon or appropriation of the funds in the hands of the bank, nor does it give the payee a right of action against the bank. — Ibid.

COMPOSITION.

1. A composition under the bankrupt law, without an adjudication and assignment, does not operate to dissolve an attachment in a State court levied within four months of the proceedings in bankruptcy. — In re Shields, 15 N. B. R. (Dist. Iowa) 532.

2. A proposition for composition may be submitted by a member of a firm to his joint and several creditors, after an adjudication of the firm. — Pool v. McDonald, 15 N. B. R. (N. D. Ohio C. Ct.) 560.

3. By the approval and confirmation of a composition proposed by one member of a firm adjudicated bankrupts, the partnership and the individual member are discharged and fully released from all their indebtedness as fully and completely as though they had received a certificate of discharge in bankruptcy. — Ibid.

CONTRACT.

Where counsel were employed by a bankrupt, long before proceedings were begun, to prosecute a claim for one-half the amount recovered, advancing all costs and expenses, they are entitled to retain the proportion named, though not recovered till after the discharge in bankruptcy is obtained. — Maybin v. Raymond, 15 N. B. R. (S. D. Miss.) 353.

See BANKRUPT LAW, 2.

Court.

1. Where an assignee obtains permission of the court to employ counsel to prosecute a claim of the bankrupt against the United States, for the compensation of one-half the amount recovered, by the suppression of facts which must have been known to him as well as to the attorneys employed, and which, if known to the court, would have caused it to withhold its permission, neither it nor the parties are bound by the contract. But the attorney would be entitled to a reasonable sum for services actually rendered. - Maybin v. Raymond, 15 N. B. R. (S. D. Miss.) 353.

2. Where it appears that the discharge of an assignee had inadvertently found its way among the files of the court, the court has power to order the paper to stand for naught and the assignee to proceed with his duties. — Ibid. CURTESY, ESTATE BY. See HUSBAND AND WIFE.

DISCHARGE.

1. Suit was brought upon partnership notes after one member of the firm, upon petition filed against him, had been adjudged a bankrupt and obtained his discharge. It appeared that, at the time of the filing of the petition, there were both partnership assets and partnership debts. Held, that the discharge was no bar to the joint debt. ·Crompton v. Conkling, 15 N. B. R. (S. D. N. Y.) 417.

2. A discharge duly obtained in bankruptcy cannot be impeached collaterally in an action in a State court, on the ground that it was obtained by fraud.

· Smith v. Ramsey, 15 N. B. R. (Sup. Ct. Ohio) 447.

3. The validity of a discharge granted under the act of 1867 cannot be impeached, in an action in the State court, upon the ground that the bankrupt fraudulently represented that a creditor's residence was unknown to him, by

means of which the creditor received no notice of the proceedings. — Rayl v. Lapham, 15 N. B. R. (Sup. Ct. Com'n Ohio) 508.

4. In a suit upon a claim provable in bankruptcy, the bankrupt's discharge will operate as a bar where due notice by publication was given, though the creditor's name was not on the schedule or furnished to the marshal, and in the absence of fraud in omitting the name from the schedule. Heard v. Arnold, 15 N. B. R. (Sup. Ct. Ga.) 543.

See BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS; COMPOSITION, 3; JURISDICTION, PLEADINGS, 2; PRESUMPTION, 1.

DISTRESS. - See FRAUDULEnt Preference, 4.

EVIDENCE.

3;

1. Under general money counts, joined with counts to recover for a preference, evidence will not be admitted to show any liability, contract, promise, or obligation arising exclusively under sect. 5128. Warren v. Garber, 15 N. B. R. (E. D. Va. C. Ct.) 409.

2. Copies of the proceedings in bankruptcy, containing a certified copy of the assignment, are proper evidence of the execution of the assignment. Dewey v. Moyer, 16 N. B. R. (Sup. Ct. N. Y.) 1.

See JURY.

EXECUTION. See PARTNERSHIP ASSETS, 2.

EXEMPTION.

1. Exemption is created by the State law, and the assignee acquires no title to exempt property; and it makes no difference that the exemption, a homestead, was not ascertained or set out in severalty until after proceedings in bankruptcy were commenced, or until after the conveyance to the assignee was executed. – In re Bass, 15 N. B. R. (S. D. Ga.) 453.

2. Nor that the bankrupt has agreed with certain creditors to waive his right to a homestead as to their claims. - Ibid.

3. Any agreement of this kind must be inquired into by the State court, and not by the Bankrupt Court. — Ibid.

4. The bankrupt law does not abridge the power of the debtor to encumber or dispose of his exempted property. It adopts the State law as to the fact of exemption and as to the measure or amount thereof, but does not embrace local restrictions upon his estate in or dominion over it. Farmer v. Taylor, 15 N. B. R. (Sup. Ct. Ga.) 515.

5. The Bankrupt Court has power to order the bankrupt to surrender possession of property sold under order of the court, to satisfy a debt secured upon it by mortgage or deed of trust, though the property is claimed as a homestead by the bankrupt. - In re Betts, 15 N. B. R. (E. D. Mo.) 536.

FEES. See COURT, 1.

FIDUCIARY DEBT.

1. The debt of a guardian to his ward is fiduciary, and not released by a discharge in bankruptcy. In re Maybin, 15 N. B. R. (N. D. Miss.) 468.

2. A debt due by a factor or commission merchant for goods sold on consignment, remittance to be made in thirty days after sale, is not a debt contracted in a fiduciary capacity and excepted from the operation of a discharge in bankruptcy. Owsley v. Corbin, 15 N. B. R. (C. Ct. So. Ca.) 489.

3. Prima facie, a judgment obtained upon a promissory note is not a fiduciary debt. — Hayes v. Ford, 15 N. B. R. (Sup. Ct. Ind.) 569.

4. The obligation of a surety upon a guardian's bond is not a fiduciary one, but a debt barred by the surety's discharge in bankruptcy. - Ex parte Taylor, 16 N. B. R. (E. D. Va.) 40.

FRAUDULENT PREFERENCE.

1. Where creditors take notes of a debtor, with warrants to confess judgment, both knowing at the time that the debtor is insolvent, the transaction is fraudulent as to other creditors, though an involuntary petition in bankruptcy was not filed till more than two months afterwards. - In re Herpich, 15 N. B. R.

(S. D. Ill.) 426.

2. Where a person makes application to a bank for a loan to pay a debt already due, and, at the same time, owes to the bank one note due, with others to mature in a few days, and agrees, upon the demand of the bank, for such loan, to substitute for his note already due and the other notes a number of smaller notes, payable instanter, whereby the bank may and does obtain judgment and execution at once, and sells the whole of the applicant's property thereon, such sale will be decreed void upon a bill brought by the assignee, and the amount realized therefrom ordered to be paid to him. — Loudon v. First National Bank of Wilmington, 15 N. B. R. (E. D. No. Ca.) 476.

3. The provisions of the constitution of a stock and exchange board, that "in sales of seats for account of delinquent members, the proceeds shall be applied to the members of the board, exclusive of outside creditors," is valid, and an assignment of the same by such a member, with authority to sell the same and apply the proceeds to the payment of all debts due from him to the members, is not a preference, though made within two months of the filing of the petition in bankruptcy. - Hyde v. Woods, 15 N. B. R. (U. S. S. Ct.) 518.

4. A distress made in pursuance of the terms of a lease is not a fraudulent preference under the bankrupt law, though made within four months of the petition, and though the bankrupt did consent to it. Goodwin v. Sharkey, 15 N. B. R. (Sup. Ct. Pa.) 526.

See JUDGMENT; Mortgage, 4; PRIORITY, 1.

A wife acquires no separate rights in a homestead which has been purchased by her husband in his own name with partnership funds, in fraud of partnership creditors. In re Boothroyd, 15 N. B. R. (E. D. Mich.) 368.

-

See EXEMPTION, 3; MORTGAGE, 1.

HUSBAND AND WIFE.

Where a wife mortgaged her separate estate to pay debts of her husband,

which debts exceeded the sum which he would be entitled to by curtesy upon

her death, he cannot claim any part of the estate to its prejudice, but the same belongs to her heirs or representatives. - Shippen & Robbins's Appeal, 15 N. B. R. (Sup. Ct. Pa.) 553.

See HOMESTEAD; PRACTICE, 2.

JOINT AND SEPARATE ESTATES. — See PROof, 1.

JUDGMENT.

Where creditors take notes of a debtor with warrants to confess judgment upon them, both knowing at the time that the debtor is insolvent, and judgment and execution are obtained and levied upon property before the commencement of proceedings in bankruptcy, the execution creditors obtain thereby no preference. In re Herpich, 15 N. B. R. (S. D. Ill.) 426.

See APPEAL, 2; FIDUCIARY DEBT, 3; Lien, 2; PROOF, 2; WAIVER, 1.

JURISDICTION.

1. A State court is not ousted by bankruptcy proceedings of its jurisdiction of suits in which attachments have been made, unless such proceedings are brought to the notice of the court by proper pleadings. - Haber v. Klauberg, 15 N. B. R. (St. Louis Ct. of Appls.) 377.

2. The question whether the District Court, under the Bankrupt Act, has authority, upon petition of an execution creditor, to order a sheriff to sell property levied upon and pay the proceeds into court, and the decision of the State court thereon, are sufficient to sustain the Federal jurisdiction. —O'Brien V. Weld, 15 N. B. R. (U. S. S. Ct.) 405.

3. Proceedings in bankruptcy are so far in rem that actual notice to the creditors is not essential to the jurisdiction of the court, nor will the want of it invalidate the discharge, when the debtor is found to have honestly complied with the requirements of the act.— Rayl v. Lapham, 15 N. B. R. (Sup. Ct. Com'n Ohio) 508.

4. The fact of an assignment under the State law for the benefit of creditors does not annul the Bankrupt Act nor interfere with its jurisdiction and power under it. — Pool v. McDonald, 15 N. B. R. (N. D. Ohio C. Ct.) 560. 5. A decree was obtained in a State court against a guardian and the sureties upon his bond, which created a lien upon their respective estates. One of the sureties was subsequently adjudged a bankrupt, and thereafter arrested upon process of a State officer to elicit a disclosure of his estate, similar to that given by sect. 5086 of the United States Revised Statutes. Held, that the State tribunal had no jurisdiction, and that the Federal court would discharge the petitioner from imprisonment upon habeas corpus, the decree of the State court not being for a fiduciary debt of the bankrupt. Ex parte Taylor, 16 N. B. R. (E. D. Va.) 40.

See ASSIGNEE, 2; BILLS AND NOTES, 2; EXEMPTION, 3, 5; PRACTICE, 5; PRESUMPTION, 1; REVIEW, 1.