Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 5.djvu/478



dollars, shall be liable to become bankrupts within the true intent and meaning of this act, and may, upon the petition of one or more of their creditors, to whom they owe debts amounting in the whole to not less than five hundred dollars, to the appropriate court, be so declared accordingly, in the following cases, to wit: whenever such person, being a merchant, or actually using the trade of merchandise, or being a retailer of merchandise, or being a banker, factor, broker, underwriter, or marine insurer, shall depart from the State, District, or Territory, of which he is an inhabitant, with intent to defraud his creditors; or shall conceal himself to avoid being arrested; or shall willingly or fraudulently procure himself to be arrested, or his goods and chattels, lands, or tenements, to be attached, distrained, sequestered, or taken in execution; or shall remove his goods, chattels, and effects, or conceal them to prevent their being levied upon, or taken in execution, or by other process; or make any fraudulent conveyance, assignment, sale, gift, or other transfer of his lands, tenements, goods or chattels, credits, or evidence of debt: Provided, however, That any person so declared a bankrupt, at the instance of a creditor, may, at his election, by petition to such court within ten days after its decree, be entitled to a trial by jury before such court, to ascertain the fact of such bankruptcy; or if such person shall reside at a great distance from the place of holding such court, the said judge, in his discretion, may direct such trial by jury to be had in the county of such person’s residence, in such manner, and under such directions, as the said court may prescribe and give; and all such  decrees passed by such court, and not so re-examined, shall be deemed final and conclusive as to the subject-matter thereof.

. And be it further enacted, That all future payments, securities, conveyances, or transfers of property, or agreements made or given by any bankrupt, in contemplation of bankruptcy, and for the purpose of giving any creditor, endorser, surety, or other person, any preference or priority over the general creditors of such bankrupts; and all other payments, securities, conveyances, or transfers of property, or agreements made or given by such bankrupt in contemplation of bankruptcy, to any person or persons whatever, not being a bona fide creditor or purchaser, for a valuable consideration, without notice, shall be deemed utterly void, and a fraud upon this act; and the assignee under the bankruptcy shall be entitled to claim, sue for, recover, and receive the same as part of the assets of the bankruptcy; and the person making such unlawful preferences and payments shall receive no discharge under the provisions of this act: Provided, That all dealings and transactions by and with any bankrupt, bona fide made and entered into more than two months before the petition filed against him, or by him, shall not be invalidated or affected by this act: Provided, That the other party to any such dealings or transactions had no notice of a prior act of bankruptcy, or of the intention of the bankrupt to take the benefit of this act. And in case it shall be made to appear to the court, in the course of the proceedings in bankruptcy, that the bankrupt, his application being voluntary, has, subsequent to the first day of January last, or at any other time, in contemplation of the passage of a bankrupt law, by assignments or otherwise, given or secured any preference to one creditor over another, he shall not receive a discharge unless the same be assented to by a majority in interest of those of his creditors who have not been so preferred: And provided, also, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to annul, destroy, or impair any lawful rights of married women, or minors, or any liens, mortgages, or other securities on property, real or personal, which may be valid by the laws of the States respectively, and which are now inconsistent with the provisions of the second and fifth sections of this act.

. And be it further enacted, That all the property, and rights