TIME OF TAKING EFFECT

The Time When Act of 1898 Went into Effect.-a This act shall go into full force and effect upon its passage: Provided, however, that no petition for voluntary bankruptcy shall be filed within one month of the passage thereof, and no petition for involuntary bankruptcy shall be filed within four months of the passage thereof.

b Proceedings commenced under State insolvency laws before the passage of this act shall not be affected by it.

The Time When Amendatory Act of 1903 Took Effect.(§ 19 of Amendatory Act of 1903.) That the provisions of this amendatory act shall not apply to bankruptcy cases pending when this act takes effect, but such cases shall be adjudicated and disposed of conformably to the provisions of the said act of July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight. The Time When Amendatory Act of 1910 Took Effect.(§ 14 of Amendatory Act of 1910.) That the provisions of this amendatory act shall not apply to bankruptcy cases pending when this act takes effect, but such cases shall be adjudicated and disposed of conformably to the provisions of said act approved July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, as amended by said act approved February fifth, nineteen hundred and three, and as further amended by said act approved June fifteenth, nineteen hundred and six.

WHEN THE ACT OF 1898 WENT INTO EFFECT

Subsection a is different from the corresponding provisions of previous laws. The operation of each was postponed to a day certain some time after the approval of the act. Not so of the present statute.1 It went into full operation on July 1, 1898 — which means the whole of that day 2-save that no petitions could be filed until

1. For the reason, see cases like: In re Horton, Fed. Cas. 6,708; Day v. Bardwell, 97 Mass. 246, and Judd v. Ives, 4 Metc. 401, are no longer of value.

2. Compare Leidigh Carriage Co. v. Stengel, 2 Am. B. R. 383, 95 Fed. 637. And see In re Tonawanda St. Pl. Mill, 6 Am. B. R. 38.

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August 1, 1898, if voluntary; or until November 1, 1898, if involuntary. "Passage" here means the same as "approval." Thus, the courts had power on July 1, 1898, to appoint referees and promulgate rules, and from and including that day all State insolvency laws were suspended. It has even been held that the rights of creditors fixed by the law accrued on that day, the exercise of them only being suspended until a petition could be filed. On the other hand, a State court sustained a demurrer to a bill in equity, the apparent purpose of which was to keep the debtor's property intact until a bankruptcy petition could be filed. The amendatory act of 1903 went into effect February 5, 1903, that of 1910 went into effect June 25, 1910.

3. Palmenter Mfg. Co. v. Hamilton, 1 Am. B. R. 39; In re Bruss-Ritter Co., 1 Am. B. R. 58, 90 Fed. 651; In re Etheridge Furniture Co., 1 Am. B. R. 112, 92 Fed. 329; In re Curtis, 1 Am. B. R. 440, 91 Fed. 737; Littlefield v. Gray, 8 Am. B. R. 409. Also cases cited in foot-note 13, post.

4. Westcott v. Berry, 4 Am. B. R. 264. Compare Kosches v. Libowitz, 4 Am. B. R. 265, in note; Blake v. Valentine Co., 1 Am. B. R. 372, 89 Fed. 691.

5. Ideal Clo. Co. v. Hazle, 6 Am. B. R. 265. See also Ellis v. Hays, etc., Co., 8 Am. B. R. 109.

GENERAL ORDERS IN BANKRUPTCY

GENERAL ORDERS IN BANKRUPTCY ADOPTED BY THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES AT THE OCTOBER TERM, 1898.

PREFATORY NOTE.- The General Orders in Bankruptcy were adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States in conformity with the power conferred by section 30 of the bankruptcy act. The cross-references inserted after each General Order are to sections of the act, to the official and supplementary forms, and to the equity rules. Cases construing and applying the several orders are digested and classified. These orders are supposed to explain, amplify and apply the provisions of the bankruptcy act, and have the full force of law except as they conflict with that act. They are, therefore, an essential part of the law of bankruptcy.

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