SIXTY-NINTH CONGRESS. SESS. I. Cнs. 403-405. 1926. dues paid. 661 Right to water, etc., subject to compliance with rules, etc. enforced or upon payment of all such irrigation charges assessed No payment until water delivered. Detailed statement of for Appropriation council expenses, etc., from tribal fund. Vol. 41, p. 757. "SEC. 18. That the sum of $10,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, of the tribal funds of the Crow Indians of the State of Montana is hereby appropriated to pay the expenses of the general council, or councils, or business committee, in looking after the affairs of said tribe, including the actual and necessary expenses and the per diems paid its legislative committee when visiting Washington Committee to Washon tribal business at the request of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs or a committee of Congress, said sum and the actual and necessary expenses to be approved by and certified by the Secretary of the Interior, and when so approved and certified to be paid." Approved, May 26, 1926. ington. May 26, 1926. [H. J. Res. 230.] CHAP. 404.-Joint Resolution Authorizing the Treasury Department to participate in the South Jersey Exposition to be held in the city of Camden New [Pub. Res., No. 32.] Jersey. South Jersey Exposi- Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the tion. Treasury be authorized to furnish an exhibit to the South Jersey ing press for exhibit at. Exposition, at Camden, New Jersey, during the duration of the exposition in July, August, and September, 1926, consisting of a stamping press from the United States Mint at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to demonstrate the process of turning out coins: Provided, That the loan of such exhibit shall be without expense to the United pense. States. Approved, May 26, 1926. Proviso. CHAP. 405.--An Act To authorize certain alterations to the six coal-burning battleships for the purpose of providing better launching and handling arrangements for airplanes. May 27, 1926. [H. R. 10503.] [Public, No. 300.] Navy. designated ships, to in Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in addition Limit of cost into the alterations authorized in paragraph 1 of the Act approved creased for alteration of December 18, 1924, entitled "An Act to authorize alterations to certain stall airplane handling. naval vessels and to provide for the construction of additional Post, p. 1295. vessels," the installation of improved appliances for launching and handling airplanes on the six battleships, New York, Texas, Florida, ed. Utah, Arkansas, and Wyoming, is hereby authorized and the limit of Vol. 43, p. 719, amend Proviso. Funds available. cost of the alterations for such ships is hereby increased by the sum of $1,350,000: Provided, That the funds appropriated or to be appropriated for "alterations to naval vessels may be utilized for the work hereby authorized. Approved, May 27, 1926. " May 27, 1926. [S. 1039.] [Public, No. 301.] amendments. Vol. 30, p. 544. Meaning of terms. "Corporations." CHAP. 406.—An Act To amend an Act entitled "An Act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States," approved July 1, 1898, and Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto. 66 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Bankruptcy Act United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 1 (a), subdivisions 6, 8, and 24 of an Act entitled "An Act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States," approved July 1, 1898, and Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto, be, and the same hereby are, amended as follows: (6) Corporations' shall mean all bodies having any of the Vol. 30, p. 544, amend 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 Businesses, etc., ad- subscribed alone responsible for the debts of the association, joint stock companies, unincorporated companies and associations, and any business conducted by a trustee, or trustees, wherein beneficial interest or ownership is evidenced by certificate or other written instrument. ed. ded. "Courts of bankruptcy." ed. ed. Vol. 30, p. 544, amend "(8) Courts of bankruptcy' shall include the district courts of Possessions included. the United States and of the Territories and possessions to which this Act is or may hereafter be applicable, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, and the United States Court of Alaska. "(24) States shall include the Territories and possessions to Vol. 30, p. 545, amend- which this Act is, or may hereafter be, applicable, Alaska, and the District of Columbia.' "States." Possessions included. Courts of bankruptcy. Jurisdiction conferred, including possessions. ed. SEC. 2. That the introductory provision preceding subdivision 1 of section 2 of said Act, as so amended, be, and the same hereby is, amended to read as follows: "That the courts of bankruptcy as hereinbefore defined, namely, the district courts of the United States in the several States, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, the district courts of Vol. 30, p. 545, amend the several Territories and possessions to which this Act is, or may hereafter be, applicable, and the United States Court in 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." Vol. 30, p. 546, amended. Acts constituting bankruptcy. Sec. 3. That section 3 (a) of said Act, as so amended, be, and the same hereby is, amended to read as follows: "(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 other disposition of any property affected by such preference vacated or discharged such preference; D while insolvent, added. or (4) suffered, or permitted, while insolvent, any creditor to obtain Suffering lien, etc., Specified duties of Schedule of property to be filed, modified. ed. Sec. 4. That section 7 (a), subdivision (8), of said Act, as so bankrupts. amended, be, and the same hereby is, amended to read as follows: "(8) Prepare, make oath to, and file in court within ten days after adjudication, if an involuntary bankrupt, and within ten days after Vol. 30, p. 548, amendthe filing of a petition, if a voluntary bankrupt (unless in either case further time is granted), a schedule of his property showing the amount and kind of property, the location thereof, its money value in detail, and a list of his creditors showing their residence, if known; if unknown, that fact to be stated, the amounts due each of them, the consideration thereof, the security held by them, if any, and a claim for such exemptions, as he may be entitled to, all in triplicate, one copy of each for the clerk, one for the referee, and one for the trustee." Sec. 5. The section 12 (a) of said Act, as so amended, be, and the same hereby is, amended to read as follows: Compositions. made. ed. Action if before ad Vol. 36, p. 839, amend (a) A bankrupt may offer, either before or after adjudication, Time offer of, may be terms of composition to his creditors, after, but not before, he has been examined in open court, or at a meeting of his creditors, and has filed in court the schedule of his property and the list of his creditors required to be filed by bankrupts. In compositions before adjudica- judication. tion the bankrupt shall file the required schedules, and thereupon the Vol. 30, p. 549, amendcourt shall call a meeting of creditors for the allowance of claims, examination of the bankrupt, and preservation or conduct of the ed. estate, at which meeting the judge or referee shall preside; but action upon the petition for adjudication shall not be delayed, except that the court, for good cause shown, may in its discretion delay such action upon such terms and conditions for the protection of and indemnity against loss by the bankrupt estate as may be proper." SEC. 6. That section 14 (a) and (b) of said Act, as so amended, be, and the same hereby is, amended to read as follows: "(a) Any person may, after the expiration of one month and within twelve months, subsequent to being adjudged a bankrupt, file an application for a discharge in the court of bankruptcy in which the proceedings are pending, if it shall be made to appear to the judge that the bankrupt was unavoidably prevented from filing it within such time, it may be filed within but not after the expiration of the next six months. Discharges. aling application for. Vol. 30, p. 550, amend Time permitted for ed. charge. dis Grounds for refusing discharge. ed. "(b) The judge shall hear the application for a discharge and Hearing and such proofs and pleas as may be made in opposition thereto by the trustee or other parties in interest, at such time as will give the trustee or parties in interest a reasonable opportunity to be fully heard; and investigate the merits of the application and discharge the applicant, unless he has (1) committed an offense punishable by imprisonment as herein provided; or (2) destroyed, mutilated, falsified, concealed, or failed to keep books of account, or records, from which his financial condition and business transactions might be ascertained; unless the court deem such failure or acts to have been justified, under all the circumstances of the case; or (3) obtained money or property on credit, or obtained an extension or renewal of credit, by making or publishing, or causing to be made or published, in any manner whatsoever, a materially false statement in writing Provisos. Bankrupt to show that acts alleged by objector were not com respecting his financial condition; or (4) at any time subsequent to the first day of the twelve months immediately preceding the filing of the petition, transferred, removed, destroyed, or concealed or permitted to be removed, destroyed, or concealed any of his property, with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud his creditors; or (5) has been granted a discharge in bankruptcy within six years; or (6) in the course of proceedings in bankruptcy, refused to obey any lawful order of or to answer any material question approved by the court; or (7) has failed to explain satisfactorily any losses of assets or deficiency of assets to meet his liabilities: Provided, That if, upon the hearing of an objection to a discharge, the objector shall show to the satisfaction of the court that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the bankrupt has committed any of the acts which, under this paragraph (b), would prevent his discharge in bankruptcy, then the burden of proving that he has not committed any of Objections by trus- such acts shall be upon the bankrupt: And provided further, That the trustee shall not interpose objections to a bankrupt's discharge until he shall be authorized so to do by the creditors at a meeting of creditors called for that purpose on the application of any creditor." SEC. 7. That section 21 of said Act, as so amended, be, and the same hereby is, amended by adding after paragraph (g) thereof a new paragraph (h), to read as follows: mitted. tee only when authorized by creditors. Evidence. Vol. 30, p. 552, amended. Communication by one creditor to another etc., of bankrupt, pri vileged. "(h) A communication by a creditor, receiver, or trustee of one by in good faith as to acts, or against whom a bankruptcy petition is filed, or who has been adjudicated a bankrupt, to another creditor, uttered in good faith and with reasonable grounds for belief in its truth, concerning the conduct, acts, or property of such bankrupt, shall be privileged, and the creditor receiver, or trustee so uttering the same shall not be held liable therefor." Jurisdiction of courts. Vol. 30, p. 552, amended. District courts in suits by trustees and adverse claimants. Limitation of suits for recovery of property. Vol. 36, p. 798, amended. Vol. 36, p. 842. Appellate jurisdic tion. ed. Sec. 8. That section 23 of said Act, as so amended, be, and the same hereby is, amended to read as follows: "(a) The United States district courts shall have jurisdiction of all controversies at law and in equity, as distinguished from proceedings in bankruptcy, between trustees as such and adverse claimants concerning the property acquired or claimed by the trustees, in the same manner and to the same extent only as though bankruptcy proceedings had not been instituted and such controversies had been between the bankrupts and such adverse claimants. "(b) Suits by the trustee shall be brought or prosecuted only in the courts where the bankrupt, whose estate is being administered by such trustee, 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 section 60, subdivision b; section 67, subdivision e; and section 70, subdivision e.' Sec. 9. That section 24 (a) and (b) of said Act, as so amended, be, Vol. 30, p. 553, amend and the same hereby is, amended to read as follows, and by adding at the end thereof, a new subdivision (c), to read as follows: Courts specified. "(a) The Supreme Court of the United States, the circuit courts of appeal of the United States, the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, and the supreme courts of the Territories, in vacation, in chambers and during their respective terms, as now or as they may be hereafter held, are hereby invested with appellate jurisdiction of controversies arising in bankruptcy proceedings from the courts of bankruptcy from which they have appellate jurisdiction in other cases. "(b) The several circuit courts of appeal and the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia shall have jurisdiction in equity, either interlocutory or final, to superintend and revise in matter of law (and in matter of law and fact the matters specified in section 25) the proceedings of the several inferior courts of bankruptcy peals. (c) All appeals under this section shall be taken within thirty Time limit for apdays after the judgment, or order, or other matter complained of, has been rendered or entered." Sec. 10. That section 25 (a) of said Act, as so amended, be, and the same is, amended to read as follows: Appeals. Vol. 30, p. 553, amended. Allowed from bank ruptcy courts, to courts of appeals. "(a) That appeals, as in equity cases, may be taken in bankruptcy proceedings from the courts of bankruptcy to the circuit courts of appeal of the United States and the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia and to the supreme courts of the Territories in the following cases, to wit: (1) From a judgment adjudging or refusing Cases stated. to adjudge the defendant a bankrupt; (2) from a judgment granting or denying a discharge; and (3) from a judgment allowing or rejecting a debt or claim of $500 or over. Such appeal shall be taken within thirty days after the judgment appealed from has been rendered, and may be heard and determined by the appellate court in term or vacation, as the case may be." SEC. 11. That section 29 (a), (b), and (d) of said Act, as so a Offenses. Vol. 30, p. 554, amend trustee, etc. "(a) A person shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of Punishment for not to exceed five years upon conviction of the offense of having property of estate by knowingly and fraudulently appropriated to his own use, embezzled, spent, or unlawfully transferred any property or secreted or destroyed any document belonging to a bankrupt estate which came into his charge as trustee, receiver, custodian, or other officer of the court. Punishment for property, etc., from re fraudulently concealing ceiver, etc. False oaths. False claims. Receiving property. "(b) A person shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of not to exceed five years upon conviction of the offense of having knowingly and fraudulently (1) concealed from the receiver, trustee, United States marshal, or other officer of the court charged with the control or custody of property, or from creditors in composition cases, any property belonging to the estate of a bankrupt; or (2) made a false oath or account in, or in relation to any proceeding in bankruptcy; or (3) presented under oath any false claim for proof against the estate of a bankrupt, or used any such claim in composition, personally, or by agent, proxy, or attorney, or as agent, proxy, or attorney; or (4) received any material amount of property from a bankrupt after the filing of the petition with intent to defeat this Act; or (5) received or attempted to obtain any money acting or forbearing or property, remuneration, compensation, reward, advantage, or promise thereof from any person, for acting or forbearing to act Officer in bankruptcy proceedings; or (6) having been an officer or agent property, etc. of any person or corporation, and in contemplation of the bankruptcy of such person or corporation, or with intent to defeat the operation of this Act, concealed or transferred any of the property of the debtor; or (7) after the filing of the petition, or, in contemplation after petition has been of bankruptcy, concealed, destroyed, mutilated, or falsified any filled. Receiving reward for to act. concealing Destroying records book, document, or record affecting or relating to the property or Witholding papers, affairs of a bankrupt; or (8) after the filing of the petition, withheld etc. |