Debts owing

by the bank

rupt may be proved, although the

ter of credit be not expired.

or determination of the said Judge or Commissioner, by the assignees of the bankrupt, or by the party setting up any such claim to, upon or respecting such estate as aforesaid.

XXXV. And be it enacted, that all debts due and payable by any bankrupt, at the date of the commission against him, may be proved and allowed against his estate, and all debts then absolutely due, although not payable until afterwards, may be proved and allowed as if payable presently, with a discount or rebate of interest, when no interest is payable by the contract until the time when the debt would become payable; and all monies due by any bankrupt, on any bottomry or respondentia bond, or on any policy of insurance, may be proved and allowed, in case the contingency or loss should happen before the declaring of the first dividend, in like manner as if the same had happened before the date of the commission; and in case the bankrupt shall be liable for any debt, in consequence of having made or indorsed any bill of exchange or promissory note before the date of the commission, or in consequence of the payment by any party to any bill or note of the whole, or any part of the money secured thereby, or of the payment of any sum of money by a surety of the bankrupt in any contract whatsoever, although such payment shall in either case be made after the date of the commission, provided it be made before the declaring of the first dividend, such debt shall be considered, for all the purposes of this Act, as contracted at the time when such bill or note, or other contract, shall have been so made or indorsed, and may be proved and allowed as if the said debt had been due and payable by the bankrupt before Claims of the the date of the commission; and also any claim or demand by or in right of the

bankrupt's

wife.

Claims for goods wrong

Mutual credit.

wife of the bankrupt, founded on her contract of marriage with the bankrupt, and which is valid as against creditors, according to the laws of the part of this Province where such contract was made, or for or in relation to her separate property; and all demands against the bankrupt, for or on account of any goods or fully detained. chattels wrongfully obtained, taken, or withheld by him, may be proved and allowed to the amount of the worth of the property, and no debt other than those above mentioned shall be proved or allowed against the estate of any bankrupt; and when it shall appear that there has been mutual credit given by the bankrupt and any other person, or mutual debts between them, the account between them shall be stated, and one debt shall be set off against the other, and the balance of such account, and no more, shall be allowed and paid on either side respectively; and when any creditor shall have any hypothec or mortgage, lien or security, upon or of any real estate of the bankrupt at the date of the commission, or any pledge of, or lien on any personal property of the bankrupt, for securing the payment of any debt claimed by him, the property, real or personal, so liable or held as security, shall, if he require it, be sold, and the proceeds shall be applied towards the payment of his debt, and he shall be admitted as a credi

Creditors se

cured by privi

lege on perty.

pro

tor

tor for the residue thereof, if any, and such sale shall be made in such manner as the Judge or Commissioner shall order, and the creditor and assignee, respectively, shall execute all such deeds and papers as may be necessary or proper for effecting the conveyance; and if the creditor shall not require such sale, and join in effecting the conveyance, he may release and deliver up to the assignee the premises so held as security, and shall thereupon be admitted as a creditor for the whole of his said debt; and if the said property shall not be either sold or released, and delivered up as aforesaid, the creditor shall not be allowed to prove any part of his debt secured thereby.

XXXVI. And be it enacted, that the Judge or Commissioner shall have full power, by writing under his hand, to summon any witness to be examined on oath (to be taken before him) touching and concerning the several matters which may arise in any case in bankruptcy, and to enforce the attendance of and to compel such witness to answer, by the like means, and to the same extent, as may be used or done in any of the Superior Courts of Record.

XXXVII. And be it enacted, that all conveyances and contracts, and other dealings and transactions by and with any bankrupt, bonâ fide made and entered into before the date of the commission against him, and all executions against the lands and tenements, goods and chattels of such bankrupt, bonâ fide executed and levied before the date of such commission shall be valid, notwithstanding any act of bankruptcy by him committed: Provided the person so dealing with such bankrupt, or at whose suit or on whose account such execution issued, had not at the time of such conveyance, contract, dealing or transaction, or at the time of levying such execution, notice of any act of bankruptcy before then committed by such bankrupt.

XXXVIII. And be it enacted, that all payments bonâ fide made by any bankrupt or any person on his behalf, before the date of the commission, to a creditor of such bankrupt, (such payment not being a fraudulent preference of the creditor,) shall be deemed valid, notwithstanding any prior act of bankruptcy by such bankrupt committed; and all payments bona fide made to any bankrupt before the date of the commission, shall be deemed valid notwithstanding any prior act of bankruptcy by such bankrupt committed, and the creditor shall not be liable to refund the sum to the assignee, or the debtor of the bankrupt to make re-payments to the assignee, provided they respectively had not, at the time of such payment, notice that such act of bankruptcy had been committed.

XXXIX. And be it enacted, that no revendication of goods, sold and delivered to the bankrupt without day or term of payment shall be allowed to the vendor

thereof,

Second meeting.

Schedule to

be amended and attested on oath.

Creditors may compound

commission of

thereof, by reason of the non-payment of the price of the same; nor shall the vendor of any goods be entitled to claim a preference on the proceeds of such goods for the price thereof, by reason of their being in the possession of the bankrupt at the time of the bankruptcy, in the same state and condition as when sold to him; but the vendor may, in case of the failure of the purchase, stop in transitu or reclaim the goods sold by him, and the price of which has not been paid to him, as may, under similar circumstances, be done according to the law of England, and not otherwise.

XL. And be it enacted, that the Judge or Commissioner shall appoint a second general meeting of the said creditors, to be held at such time, not more than three months after the date of the commission, as such Judge or Commissioner shall think fit, regard being had to the distance at which the creditors or any of them reside, at which meeting any creditors who have not before proved their debts shall be allowed to prove the same, which shall be allowed, and a list thereof made, certified and filed in like manner as is provided in respect of debts proved at the first meeting; and the bankrupt shall there be allowed to amend the schedule of his creditors, and to correct any mistake therein, and he shall then make and subscribe an oath, before the Judge or Commissioner, which shall be certified by him and filed in the case, in substance as in the Schedule (F.) to this Act annexed; and the bankrupt shall then also submit to such further examination on oath as the Judge or Commissioner shall see fit to require.

XLI. And be it enacted, that if at such second general meeting of the said crewith the bank- ditors, and after the creditors who may not have proved their debts at the first rupt after the general meeting, have been allowed to prove, and have proved the same, and the second general meeting and bankrupt has taken and subscribed the oath herein-before prescribed, and submitsupersede the ted to such examination as aforesaid, two thirds of the creditors in number and bankruptcy. value agree to compound with the said bankrupt, such agreement shall be valid and effectual to all intents and purposes according to the tenor thereof, and equally binding upon the remaining third of the creditors aforesaid, and shall have the effect of superseding the said commission of bankruptcy from the date of such agreement, and the jurisdiction of the said Judge or Commissioner over the estate and effects of the said bankrupt, shall thenceforth cease and determine.

A clerk to be appointed.

His duty.

XLII. And be it enacted, that the Judge or Commissioner, at the commencement of the proceedings in each case under this Act, shall appoint a clerk, who shall sign a declaration in writing that he will faithfully discharge his duty, and who shall keep a record of all the regular meetings of the creditors, and of all the proceedings thereat, and shall preserve all papers duly filed in the course of the proceedings, and shall perform such other duties appertaining to his office as shall

be

Proceed

and papers, how preserved.

be prescribed by the Judge or Commissioner, and the record of proceedings in each case and of the certificate of discharge; and all papers so filed shall, at the termination of the proceedings, be deposited, together with a list thereof, in the office hereinafter appointed, and shall be there preserved; and the Judge or Commissioner may remove such clerk, and appoint another in his place; and the copies of the same proceedings, so returned and filed, or of any part thereof, duly certified by the officer in whose custody they shall be deposited, shall in all cases be as evidence. admissible as evidence primâ facie of the facts therein stated and contained, in all Courts in this Province.

XLIII. And be it enacted, that the Judge or Commissioner shall attend and preside at all meetings of the creditors, and shall regulate the proceedings thereat, and may adjourn any meeting from time to time, as occasion shall require; and all things done at any such adjourned meeting shall be of the like force and effect as if done at their original meeting.

XLIV. And be it enacted, that when two or more persons, who are partners in trade, become bankrupt, a commission may be issued in the manner provided in this Act, upon which all the joint stock or property of the firm, and also all the separate estate of each of the partners shall be taken, excepting such parts thereof as may be by law exempted from attachment; and all the creditors of the firm, and the separate creditors of each partner, shall be allowed to prove their respective debts; and the assignees in such case shall be chosen by the creditors of the firm, and they shall keep distinct accounts of the property of the firm, and of the separate estates of each partner thereof, and after deducting, out of the whole amount received by the assignees, the whole of the expenses and disbursements paid by them, the net proceeds of the partnership estate shall be appropriated to pay the creditors of the firm, and the net proceeds of the separate estates of each partner shall be appropriated to pay his separate creditors; and if there shall be any balance of the separate estate of any partner after payment of his debts, such balance shall be added to the proceeds of the partnership estate, if necessary for the payment of the creditors of the firm; and if there shall be any balance of the partnership estate, after payment of the debts of the firm, such balance shall be appropriated among the separate estates of the respective partners, according to their rights and interests therein, and as it would have been if the partnership had been dissolved without any bankruptcy, and the sum so appropriated to the separate estate of any partner shall be applied to the payment of his separate debts.

Their effect

Provision in cases of suit the

XLV. And be it enacted, that if the assignees commence any action or suit for any money due to the bankrupt's estate, before the time allowed by this Act for before the G

disputed the

bankrupt has the bankrupt to dispute the commission shall have elapsed, the defendant in commission. any such action or suit shall be entitled, after notice given to the assignees, to pay the same or any part thereof into the Court in which such action or suit is brought, and with the costs of suit up to that time, and all proceedings with res pect to the money so brought into Court, shall thereupon be stayed; and after the time aforesaid shall have elapsed, the assignees shall have the money paid to them out of Court.

Wages or salary due to clerks or ser

vants.

Wages due to workmen

and labourers.

Rent due by

XLVI. And be it enacted, that when any bankrupt shall have been indebted, at the date of the commission against him, to any servant or clerk of such bankrupt, in respect of his wages or salary, it shall be lawful for the Judge or Commissioner, upon proof thereof, to order so much as shall be due as aforesaid, not exceeding twelve months, wages or salary, to be paid to such servant or clerk out of the estate of such bankrupt, and such servant or clerk shall be at liberty to prove, under the commission, for any sum exceeding such twelve months' wages or salary.

XLVII. And be it enacted, that when any bankrupt shall have been indebted, at the date of the commission against him, to any labourer or workman of such bankrupt in respect of his wages, it shall be lawful for the Judge or Commissioner, upon proof thereof, to order so much as shall be so due as aforesaid, not exceeding one month's wages or labour, to be paid to such workman or labourer out of the estate of such bankrupt, and such workman or labourer shall be at liberty to prove, under the commission, for any sum exceeding such one month's wages.

XLVIII. And be it enacted, that no distress for rent made or levied after an the bankrupt. act of bankrupety, upon the goods or effects of any bankrupt, (whether before or after the issuing of the commission,) shall be available for more than twelve months' rent accrued prior to the date of the commission, but the landlord, or party to whom the rent shall be due, shall be allowed to come in as a creditor under the commission for any overplus of the rent due, and for which the distress shall not be available.

Power to search for con

XLIX. And be it enacted, that in all cases where it shall be made to appear to cealed property the satisfaction of any Judge or Commissioner authorized to issue a commission of a bankrupt. of bankruptcy, that there is reason to suspect and believe that property of any bankrupt is concealed in any house, premises or other place not belonging to such bankrupt, such Judge or Commissioner is hereby directed and authorized to grant a search warrant to the Sheriff of the District, and it shall be lawful for such Sheriff, or his Deputy or other officer, to execute such warrant, according to the tenor thereof, and the Sheriff, or other officer employed by him to execute such warrant,

shall