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emptions and report the items and estimated value thereof to the court as soon as practicable after their appointment."7 "Proofs of debt received by any trustee shall be delivered to the referee, to whom the cause is referred." (b) Trustees, before entering upon the performance of their official duties, and within ten days after their appointment, or within such further time, not to exceed five days, as the court may permit, shall respectively qualify by entering into bond to the United States, with such sureties as shall be approved by the courts, conditioned for the faithful performance of their official duties. (c) The creditors of a bankrupt estate, at their first meeting, after the adjudication, or after a vacancy has occurred in the office of trustee, or after an estate has been reopened, or after a composition has been set aside or a discharge revoked, if there is a vacancy in the office of trustees, shall fix the amount of the bond of the trustee; they may at any time increase the amount of the bond. If the creditors do not fix the amount of the bond of the trustee as herein provided the court shall do so. (d) The court shall require evidence as to the actual value of the property of sureties. (e) There shall be at least two sureties upon each bond.9 (f) The actual value of the property of the sureties, over and above their liabilities and exemptions, on each bond shall equal at least the amount of such bond. (g) Corporations organized for the purpose of becoming sureties upon bonds, or authorized by law to do so, may be accepted as sureties

district where he was appointed; that it was no defense that his attorney refused to surrender a part of the fund because of an alleged lien for counsel fees and disbursements; but that, where there were no funds of the estate in his hands, he could not be required to pay the costs awarded against him in the other district. Re Howard, 130 Fed. 1004.

730 St. at L. 544, 550, § 47, Cf. Merchants' Bank v. Slagle, 106 U. S. 558, 27 L. ed. 204. "The trustee shall, within 30 days after the adjudication, file a certified

copy of the decree of adjudication
in the office where conveyances of
real estate are recorded in every
county where the bankrupt owns
real estate not exempt from execu-
tion, and pay the fee for such filing,
and he shall receive a compensation
of fifty cents for each copy so filed,
which together with a filing fee,
shall be paid out of the estate of
the bankrupt as a part of the cost
and disbursements of the proceed-
ings.''
Ibid. § 47c.

8 General Order XXI.
9 Ibid.

upon the bonds of referees and trustees whenever the courts are satisfied that the rights of all parties in interest will be thereby amply protected. (h) Bonds of referees, trustees, and designated depositories shall be filed of record in the office of the clerk of the court and may be sued upon in the name of the United States for the use of any person injured by a breach of their conditions.10 (i) Trustees shall not be liable, personally or on their bonds, to the United States, for any penalties or forfeitures incurred by the bankrupts under this act, of whose estates they are respectively trustees. (j) Joint trustees may give joint or several bonds. (k) If any referee or trustee shall fail to give bond, as herein provided and within the time limited, he shall be deemed to have declined his appointment, and such. failure shall create a vacancy in his office." 11 "Suits upon trustees' bonds shall not be brought subsequent to two years after the estate has been closed." 12 "The trustee shall, immediately upon entering upon his duties, prepare a complete inventory of all the property of the bankrupt that comes into his possession. The trustee shall make report to the court, within twenty days after receiving the notice of his appointment, of the articles set off to the bankrupt by him, according to the provisions of the forty-seventh section of the act, with the estimated value of each article, and any creditor may take exceptions to the determination of the trustee within twenty days after the filing of the report. The referee may require the exceptions to be argued before him, and shall certify them to the court for final determination at the request of either party. In case the trustee shall neglect to file any report or statement which it is made his duty to file or make by the act, or by any general order in bankruptcy, within five days after the same shall be

10 Alexander v. Union Surety & Guaranty Co., 89 App. D. (N. Y.) 3. It has been held that an order directing a trustee to account is a necessary prerequisite to an action on his bond; U. S. v. Sondheim, 188 Fed. 378; unless he has absconded, then it is not, Scofield v. U. S., C. C. A., 174 Fed. 1. That the account may be settled and al

lowed by the referee upon the con-
firmation of a composition; and
that when this is done without any
objection or appeal by the bank-
rupt, the latter cannot thereafter
dispute such allowance in a suit
upon such bond. U. S. v. Sondheim,
188 Fed. 378.

11 St. at L. 544, 558, § 50.
12 Ibid.

due, it shall be the duty of the referee to make an order requiring the trustee to show cause before the judge, at a time specified in the order, why he should not be removed from office. The referee shall cause a copy of the order to be served upon the trustee at least seven days before the time fixed for the hearing, and proof of the service thereof to be delivered to the clerk. All accounts of trustees shall be referred as of course to the referee for audit, unless otherwise specially ordered by the court. 13(b) All real and personal property belonging to bankrupt estates shall be appraised by three disinterested appraisers; they shall be appointed by, and report to, the court."' 14 "The accounts and papers of trustees shall be open to the inspection of officers and all parties in interest." 15

§ 643. Title and powers of trustees. "The trustee of the estate of a bankrupt, upon his appointment and qualification, and his successor or successors, if he shall have one or more, upon his or their appointment and qualification, shall in turn be vested by operation of law with the title of the bankrupt, as of the

13 General Order XVII.

14 30 St. at L. 544, 565, amended Feb. 5, 1903, ch. 487, § 16, 32 Stat. L. 800. A person is not disqualified for appointment as an appraiser of a bankrupt's property merely because some of the officers and directors of a corporation creditor are also officers and directors of another corporation of which such appraiser is president. Re Columbia Iron Works, 142 Fed. 234. See Clark Hardware Co. et al. v. Sauve, C. C. A., 220 Fed. 102. The lack of an appraisal of real estate is an irregularity which is cured by the order of confirmation. Robertson v. Howard, 229 U. S. 254, 264, supra, § 394c.

15 30 St. at L. 544, 558, § 49. A creditor may inspect them, although he claims adversely to the trustee. Re Saur, 122 Fed. 101. It seems that his motive is immaterial. Re Sully, C. C. A., 152 Fed. 619, re

versing 142 Fed. 895. A mere debtor of the estate cannot. Re Sully, C. C. A., 152 Fed. 619.

$ 643. 1 The trustee acquires no greater rights than the bankrupt or his creditors. Re N. Y. Economical Printing Co., C. C. A., 110 Fed. 514; Re Kellogg, C. C. A., 118 Fed. 1017. It has been said that he represents the creditors only and not the bankrupt. Re Kreuger, 196 Fed. 705. Where the trustee sells the interest of the bankrupt in land, the purchaser acquires only the latter's interest on the day of the adjudication; and no interest therein, subsequently acquired by him, passes by the deed. Cramer v. Wilson, 195 U. S. 408, 49 L. ed. 256. A trustee in bankruptcy takes the property subject to all the equities imposed upon it in the hands of the bankrupt which are not invalid as to creditors or avoided by the Bankruptcy Act. Re Chantler Cloak &

date he was adjudged a bankrupt, except in so far as it is to

Suit Co., 151 Fed. 952; Re V. & M. Lumber Co., 182 Fed. 231; Aldine Tr. Co. v. Smith, C. C. A., 182 Fed. 449; Re Wade, 185 Fed. 664; Henry v. Harris, 191 Fed. 865; Re Stewart, 193 Fed. 791; Re McConnell, 197 Fed. 438; Re Hoffman, 199 Fed. 448; Re Davison, 179 Fed. 750. Re Wright-Dana Hardware Co., C. C. A., 211 Fed. 908; Re Sweeney, C. C. A., 212 Fed. 1; Consolidated Arizona Smelting Co. v. Hinchman, C. C. A., 212 Fed. 813; Re Deutsche Bros., 220 Fed. 532; Galbraith v. First Nat. Bank of Alexandria, Minn., 221 Fed. 386; Re International Mineral Co., 222 Fed. 415; Shaffer v. Federal Cement Co., 225 Fed. 893; Re East Stroudsburg Supply & Construction Co., 248 Fed. 356; Re Moose River Lumber Co., 251 Fed. 409; Re Roseboom, 253 Fed. 136; Keefe v. Worcester Trust Co., C. C. A., 253 Fed. 536.

2 By the amendment of June 25, 1910, such trustees, as to all property in the custody or coming into the custody of the bankruptcy court, shall be deemed vested with all the rights, remedies, and powers of a creditor holding a lien by legal or equitable proceedings thereon; and also, as to all property not in the custody of the bankruptcy court, shall be deemed vested with all the rights, remedies and powers of a judgment creditor holding an execution duly returned unsatisfied." We think that the purpose of the law was to fix the line of cleavage with reference to the condition of the bankrupt estate as of the time at which the petition was filed and that the property which vests in the trustee at the time of adjudication

is that which the bankrupt owned at the time of the filing of the petition. Everett v. Judson, 228 U. S. 474, 479. See Fairbanks Shovel Co. v. Wills, 240 U. S. 642, 649. Re Williamsburg Knitting Mill, 190 Fed. 871, 877. Before this amendment it was said that "the filing of the petition is a caveat to all the world, and in effect an attachment and injunction. Mueller v. Nugent, 184 U. S. 1, 14, 46 L. ed. 405; citing Bank v. Sherman, 101 U. S. 403, 405, 25 L. ed. 866, under the former law. This dictum was criticised in Re Williamsburg Knitting Mill, 190 Fed. 871, 877; Remington on Bankruptcy, § 1212. See, also, York Mfg. Co. v. Cassell, 201 U. S. 344, 353, 50 L. ed. 782; Davis v. Crompton, C. C. A., 158 Fed. 735, 742. The effect of the amendment seems to be to establish this doctrine. Acme Harvester Co. v. Beekman Lumber Co., 222 U. S. 300, 307; Re Williamsburg Knitting mill, 190 Fed. 871, 877; Reming. ton v. Bankruptcy, III, 331. See Toof v. City Nat. Bank of Paducah, Ky., C. C. A., 206 Fed. 250; Re Federal Contracting Co., C. C. A., 212 Fed. 688; Tripplehorn v. Cambron, 250 Fed. 605. The trustee was allowed to recover the amount of a check given by the bankrupt before the petition and collected by the defendant after the adjudication. Edison Electric Illuminating Co. v. Tibbetts, C. C. A., 241 Fed. 468, 469, affirming Morton, J., who said: "It may be that, as between the trustee and the bank, the latter would be protected by reason of the agreement under which deposits are customarily accepted. See In re

property which is exempt, to all (1) documents relating to his

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Harv. Law Rev. XXV. 80, 469. The trustee has no greater rights than an execution creditor at the date of the filing of the petition. Re Terrell, C. C. A., 246 Fed. 743. Since the amendment it has been said that an assignee in insolvency is bound to take notice of the filing of the petition and that a subsequent sale by him is "null and void; although subsequently approved by the State court. This dictum, however, was not essential to the decision. Re Louis Neuburger, 233 Fed. 701. It has been said that the trustee may enforce an estoppel for the benefit of a part of the creditors. Re Desnoyers Shoe Co., 210 Fed. 533. He has the rights of a judgment and execution creditor although no creditor has entered judgment. Baldwin v. Kingston, 247 Fed. 162. Under Va. Code of 1904, § 2877, he may seize goods held by the bankrupt on consignment for sale. Virginia Book Co. v. Sites, C. C. A., 254 Fed. 46. He was allowed land which the bankrupt intended to mortgage but failed sufficiently to describe. Re Scruggs Bros., 252 Fed. 322. That he cannot assert the rights of stockholders of a bank

rupt corporation, Re V. & M. Lumber Co., 182 Fed. 231; nor of creditors who have released their rights under a prior composition which they have not sought to avoid. Batchelder & Lincoln Co. v. Whitmore, C. C. A., 122 Fed. 355. As to wages previously earned, see Re Beck, 238 Fed. 653. This includes the reward for information concerning smugglers, allowed by the Secretary of the Treasury, after the filing of the petition for services previously given. Re Ghazal, C. C. A., 174 Fed. 809. An award subsequent to the bankruptcy of an increase of wages for services previously performed can be enforced for the benefit of the bankrupt 's trustee. Re Evans, 253 Fed. 276. He. acquires the rights to commissions, subsequently paid upon the renewals of insurance policies negotiated by a bankrupt agent; although, by the terms of the latter's contract with the insurance company, they may be forfeited if he fails to comply with its conditions or quits the company's employment. Re Wright, C. C. A., 18 L.R.A. (N.S.) 193, 157 Fed. 544; Re Wright, 177 Fed. 578. Wages earned subsequent to the adjudication are the property of the bankrupt and not assets to be administered by his trustee. Re Karns, 148 Fed. 143; Progressive Building & Loan Co. v. Hall, C. C. A., 220 Fed. 45. It has been held that the trustee cannot obtain an injunction against their collection by a creditor who has an assignment made prior to the petition. Re Karns, 148 Fed. 143; but that the debtor may do so. Re Newberry, 183 Fed. 338.

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