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four hours after notice has been served on him by the carrier, the carrier is released from further liability, by placing the freight in a suitable warehouse on storage, or the carrier may hold the same upon his responsibility as a warehouseman.

539. Service of notice.

SEC. 3. If the consignee's place of residence or business be unknown, notice may be served on him through the postoffice, and the carrier may place the freight in a suitable warehouse on storage and give notice thereof to the consignor.

540. Perishable freight.

SEC. 4. If from any cause other than want of ordinary care and diligence on his part, a common carrier is unable to deliver perishable property transported by him, and collect his charges thereon, he may cause the property to be sold in open market to satisfy his lien of freightage.

541. Sale of property to pay freight-Surplus proceeds, how disposed of. SEC. 5. If no person calls for the freight or other property received by such railroad, express company or other common carrier, commission, forwarding merchant, or warehouseman, within sixty days from the receipt thereof, the carrier, forwarding, commission merchant, or warehouseman may sell such property, or so much thereof, at auction to the highest bidders, as will pay freight and other just and reasonable charges, first having given notice of the time and place of sale to the owner, consignee, or consignor, when known, and by advertisement in a daily paper ten days, or if a weekly paper, four weeks, published where such sale is to take place, or if there is no paper published at the place where such sale is to take place, by posting a notice of the sale conspicuously in at least three public places; and if any surplus is left after paying freight, storage, cost of advertising, and other reasonable charges, the same must be paid over to the owner of such property, at any time thereafter, on demand being made therefor within six months after the sale; provided, that any trunk or valise, with their contents, shall be held six months before being advertised for sale.

542. Unclaimed proceeds, how disposed of.

SEC. 6. If the owner, or his agent, fails to demand such surplus within six months from the time of such sale, then it shall be paid over to the county treasurer of the county in which the sale is made, to be held by him for a period of twelve months, subject to the order of the owner, after which time, if the same is not paid to the owner, or his authorized agent, or some person legally entitled to receive the same, it shall be paid over to the treasurer of the county where such sale is made, who shall pay the same over to the state treasurer for the benefit of the state school fund.

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579. Number of referees.

580. Jurisdiction of referees.
581. Duties of referees.

582. Compensation of referees.
583. Contempts before referees.
584. Records of referees.

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591. Accounts and papers of trustees.
592. Bonds of referees and trustees.
593. Duties of clerks.

594. Compensation of clerks and marshals.
595. Duties of attorney-general.

596. Statistics of bankruptcy proceedings.
597. Meetings of creditors.

598. Voters at meetings of creditors.
599. Proof and allowance of claims.

600. Notice to creditors.

601. Who may file and dismiss petitions. 602. Preferred creditors.

603. Depositories for money.

604. Expenses of administering estates.

605. Debts which may be proved.

606. Debts which have priority.

607. Declaration and payment of dividends.

608. Unclaimed dividends.

609. Liens.

610. Set-offs and counterclaims.

611. Possession of property.
612. Title to property.

613. Clerks, duties of.

614. Compensation.

615. Time when this act shall go into effect.

THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY ACT OF 1898, WITH
AMENDMENTS OF 1903, 1906, AND 1910

An Act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout
the United States.

Approved July 1, 1898; amendments approved February 5, 1903, June 15, 1906, and June 25, 1910

CHAPTER I
DEFINITIONS

543. Meaning of words and phrases.

SECTION 1. (a) The words and phrases used in this act and in proceedings pursuant hereto shall, unless the same be inconsistent with the context, be construed as follows: (1) "A person against whom a petition has been filed" shall include a person who has filed a voluntary petition; (2) "adjudication" shall mean the date of the entry of a decree that the defendant, in a bankruptcy proceeding, is a bankrupt, or if such degree is appealed from, then the date when such decree is finally confirmed; (3) "appellate courts" shall include the circuit courts of appeals of the United States, the supreme. courts of the territories, and the Supreme Court of the United States; (4) bankrupt" shall include a person against whom an involuntary petition or an application to set a composition aside or to revoke a discharge

has been filed, or who has filed a voluntary petition, or who has been adjudged a bankrupt; (5) "clerk" shall mean the clerk of a court of bankruptcy; (6) "corporations" shall mean all bodies having any of the powers and privileges of private corporations not possessed by individuals or partnerships, and shall include limited or other partnership associations organized under laws making the capital subscribed alone responsible for the debts of the association; (7) "court" shall mean the court of bankruptcy in which the proceedings are pending, and may include the referee; (8) "courts of bankruptcy" shall include the district courts of the United States and of the territories, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, and the United States court of the Indian Territory, and of Alaska; (9) "creditor" shall include anyone who owns a demand or claim provable in bankruptcy, and may include his duly authorized agent, attorney, or proxy; (10) "date of bankruptcy," or "time of bankruptcy," or "commencement of proceedings," or "bankruptcy," with reference to time, shall mean the date when the petition was filed; (11) "debt" shall include any debt, demand, or claim provable in bankruptcy; (12) “discharge" shall mean the release of a bankrupt from all of his debts which are provable in bankruptcy, except such as are excepted by this act; (13) "document" shall include any book, deed, or instrument in writing; (14) "holiday" shall include Christmas, the Fourth of July, the twenty-second of February, and any day appointed by the President of the United States or the Congress of the United States as a holiday or as a day of public fasting or thanksgiving; (15) a person shall be deemed insolvent within the provisions of this act whenever the aggregate of his property, exclusive of any property which he may have conveyed, transferred, concealed, or removed, or permitted to be concealed or removed, with intent to defraud, hinder or delay his creditors, shall not, at a fair valuation, be sufficient in amount to pay his debts; (16) "judge" shall mean a judge of a court of bankruptcy, not including the referee; (17) "oath" shall include affirmation; (18) "officer" shall include clerk, marshal, receiver, referee, and trustee, and the imposing of a duty upon or the forbidding of an act by any officer shall include his successor and any person authorized by law to perform the duties of such officer; (19) "persons" shall include corporations, except where otherwise specified, and officers, partnerships, and women, and when used with reference to the commission of acts which are herein forbidden shall include persons who are participants in the forbidden acts, and the agents, officers, and members of the board of directors or trustees, or other similar controlling bodies of corporations; (20) "petition” shall mean a paper filed in a court of bankruptcy or with a clerk or deputy clerk by a debtor praying for the benefits of this act, or by creditors alleging the commission of an act of bankruptcy by a debtor therein named; (21) "referee" shall mean the referee who has jurisdiction of the case or to whom the case has been referred, or anyone acting in his stead; (22) "conceal" shall include secrete, falsify, and mutilate; (23) "secured creditor" shall include a creditor who has security for his debt upon the property of the bankrupt of a nature to be assignable under this act, or who owns such a debt for which some indorser, surety, or other persons secondarily liable for the bankrupt has such security upon the bankrupt's assets; (24) "states" shall include the territories, the Indian Territory, Alaska, and the District of Columbia; (25) "transfer" shall include the sale and every other and different mode of disposing of or parting with property, or the possession of property, absolutely or conditionally, as a payment, pledge, mortgage, gift, or security; (26) "trustee" shall include all of the trustees of an estate; (27) "wage-earner" shall mean an individual who works for wages, salary, or hire, at a rate of compensation not exceeding one thousand five hundred dollars per year; (28) words importing the masculine gender may be

applied to and include corporations, partnerships, and women; (29) words importing the plural number may be applied to and mean only a single person or thing; (30) words importing the singular number may be applied to and mean several persons or things.

[By act of March 3, 1911 (U. S. Stats. 1910-11), p. 1134, sec. 130, the U. S. Circuit Courts of Appeals are vested with appellate and supervisory jurisdiction in cases of bankruptcy.]

CHAPTER II

CREATION OF COURTS OF BANKRUPTCY AND THEIR JURISDICTION

544. Creation and jurisdiction.

SEC. 2. That the courts of bankruptcy as herein before defined, viz., the district courts of the United States in the several states, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, the district courts of the several territories, and the United States courts in the Indian Territory and the District of Alaska, are hereby made courts of bankruptcy, and are hereby invested, within their respective territorial limits as now established, or as they may be hereafter changed, with such jurisdiction at law and in equity as will enable them to exercise original jurisdiction in bankruptcy proceedings, in vacation in chambers and during their respective terms, as they are now or may be hereafter held, to (1) adjudge persons bankrupt who have had their principal place of business, resided, or had their domicile within their respective territorial jurisdictions for the preceding six months, or the greater portion thereof, or who do not have their principal place of business, reside, or have their domicile within the United States, but have property within their jurisdictions, or who have been adjudged bankrupts by courts of competent jurisdiction without the United States and have property within their jurisdiction; (2) allow claims, disallow claims, reconsider allowed or disallowed claims, and allow or disallow them against bankrupt estates; (3) appoint receivers or the marshals, upon application of parties in interest, in case the courts shall find it absolutely necessary, for the preservation of estates, to take charge of the property of bankrupts after the filing of the petition and until it is dismissed or the trustee is qualified; (4) arraign, try, and punish bankrupts, officers, and other persons, and the agents, officers, members of the board of directors or trustees, or other similar controlling bodies of corporations for violations of this act, in acordance with the laws of procedure of the United States now in force, or such as may be hereafter enacted, regulating trials for the alleged violation of laws of the United States; (5) authorize the business of bankrupts to be conducted for limited periods by receivers, the marshals, or trustees, if necessary in the best interests of the estates, and allow such officers additional compensation for such services, as provided in section forty-eight of this act; (6) bring in and substitute additional persons or parties in proceedings in bankruptcy when necessary for the complete. determination of a matter in controversy; (7) cause the estates of bankrupts to be collected, reduced to money and distributed, and determine controversies in relation thereto, except as herein otherwise provided; (8) close estates, whenever it appears that they have been fully administered, by approving the final accounts and discharging the trustees, and reopen them whenever it appears they were closed before being fully administered; (9) confirm or reject compositions between debtors and their creditors, and set aside compositions and reinstate the cases; (10) consider and confirm, modify or overrule, or return, with instructions for further proceedings, records and findings certified to them by referees; (11) determine all claims of bankrupts to their exemptions; (12) discharge or refuse to discharge bankrupts and set aside discharges and reinstate the cases; (13) enforce obedience by bankrupts, officers, and other persons to all lawful orders, by fine or imprisonment or fine and imprisonment;

(14) extradite bankrupts from their respective districts to other districts; (15) make such orders, issue such process, and enter such judgments in addition to those specifically provided for as may be necessary for the enforcement of the provisions of this act; (16) punish persons for contempts committed before referees; (17) pursuant to the recommendation of creditors, or when they neglect to recommend the appointment of trustees, appoint trustees, and upon complaints of creditors, remove trustees for cause upon hearings and after notices to them; (18) tax costs, whenever they are allowed by law, and render judgments therefor against the unsuccessful party, or the successful party for cause, or in part against each of the parties, and against estates, in proceedings in bankruptcy; (19) transfer cases to other courts of bankruptcy; and (20) exercise ancillary jurisdiction over persons or property within their respective territorial limits in aid of a receiver or trustee appointed in any bankruptcy proceeding pending in any other court of bankruptcy. As amended, Acts of February 5, 1903, and June 25, 1910.

Nothing in this section contained shall be construed to deprive a court of bankruptcy of any power it would possess were certain specific powers not herein enumerated.

545. Acts of bankruptcy.

CHAPTER III
BANKRUPTS

SEC. 3. (a) Acts of bankruptcy by a person shall consist of his having (1) conveyed, transferred, concealed, 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; or (2) transferred, while insolvent, any portion of his property to one or more of his creditors with intent to prefer such creditors over his other creditors; or (3) suffered or permitted, while insolvent, any creditor to obtain a preference through legal proceedings, and not having at least five days before a sale or final disposition of any property affected by such preference vacated or discharged such preference; or (4) made a general assignment for the benefit of his creditors; or being insolvent applied for a receiver or trustee for his property or because of insolvency a receiver or trustee has been put in charge of his property under the laws of a state, of a territory, or of the United States; or (5) admitted in writing his inability to pay his debts and his willingness to be adjudged a bankrupt on that ground.

(b) A petition may be filed against a person who is insolvent and who has committed an act of bankruptcy within four months after the commission of such act. Such time shall not expire until four months after (1) the date of the recording or registering of the transfer or assignment when the act consists in having made a transfer of any of his property with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud his creditors or for the purpose of giving a preference as hereinbefore provided, or a general assignment for the benefit of his creditors, if by law such recording or registering is required or permitted, or, if it is not, from the date when the beneficiary takes notorious, exclusive, or continuous possession of the property unless the petitioning creditors have received actual notice of such transfer or assignment.

(c) It shall be a complete defense to any proceedings in bankruptcy instituted under the first subdivision of this section to allege and prove that the party proceeded against was not insolvent as defined in this act at the time of the filing the petition against him, and if solvency at such date is proved by the alleged bankrupt the proceedings shall be dismissed, and under said subdivision one the burden of proving solvency shall be on the alleged bankrupt.

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