STATUTE I. July 21, 1841. When reimbursable. of the said William Henry Harrison since his death, on account of his salary as President of the United States, shall be deducted from the said sum of twenty-five thousand dollars. APPROVED, June 30, 1841. CHAP. III.—An Act authorizing a loan not exceeding the sum of twelve millions of dollars. President auBe it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the thorized to bor- United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President row$12,000,000 of the United States is hereby authorized, at any time within one year at 6 per cent. from the passage of this act, to borrow, on the credit of the United States, a sum not exceeding twelve millions of dollars, or so much thereof as in his opinion the exigencies of the Government may require, at a rate of interest, payable quarterly or semi-annually, not exceeding six per centum per annum, which loan shall be made reimbursable either at the will of the Secretary of the Treasury, after six months' notice, or at any time after three years from the first day of January next; and said money so borrowed shall be applied, in addition to the money now in the Treasury, or which may be received therein from other sources, to the payment and redemption of the Treasury notes heretofore authorized, which are or may be outstanding and unpaid, and to defray any of the public expenses which have been heretofore or which may be authorized by law, which stock shall be transferable only on the books of the Treasury. The money borrowed, how to be applied. Stock, how transferable. Certificates of stock to be prepared and sold. Proviso. Sec. Treas. to receive propo or, &c. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized, with the consent of the President, to cause to be prepared certificates of stock, signed by the Secretary and countersigned by the Register of the Treasury, for the sum to be borrowed, or any part thereof, bearing an interest not exceeding six per centum per annum, and transferable and reimbursable as aforesaid, and to cause the said certificates of stock to be sold: Provided, That no stock be sold below par. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized to receive proposals for taking the sals for the loan, said loan, or to employ an agent or agents for the purpose of negotiating the same, and to pay to him or them a reasonable commission, not exceeding one-tenth of one per cent. on the amount so negotiated, which sum to be allowed to such agent or agents, and such expense as may be necessarily incurred in printing and issuing certificates of stock, and other expenses incident to the due execution of this act, in all not exceeding twelve thousand dollars, which sum is hereby appropriated for that purpose, and shall be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. Expenses incident to this act limited. Sec. Treasury authorized to purchase stock prior to time of redemption. Appropriation therefor. Faith of U. S. pledged for punctual payment of interest, &c. STATUTE I. Aug. 1, 1841. [Obsolete.] SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to purchase, at any time before the period herein limited for the redemption of stock hereby authorized, such portion thereof as the funds of the Government may admit of, after meeting all the demands on the Treasury, and any surplus in the Treasury is hereby appropriated to that object. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the faith of the United States be, and is hereby, pledged for the punctual payment of the interest and redemption of said stock. APPROVED, July 21, 1841. CHAP. IV.—An Act making appropriation for the pay, subsistence, &c., of a home squadron. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Appropriation. United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the pay and subsistence, increase and repairs, medicines and contingent expenses, of two frigates, two sloops, two small vessels, and two armed steamers, to be employed as a home squadron, the sum of seven hundred and eighty-nine thousand three hundred and ten dollars is hereby appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. APPROVED, August 1, 1841. CHAP. V.—An Act making further provision for the maintenance of pauper lunatics in the District of Columbia. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the act entitled "An act making temporary provision for lunatics in the District of Columbia," approved February second, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, as limits the appropriation to three thousand dollars, be, and the same is hereby, repealed, and the further sum of three thousand five hundred dollars is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to make immediate provision for the maintenance of pauper lunatics as provided for in the said act. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the marshal of the District of Columbia shall not be restricted to the asylum at Baltimore, but may provide for pauper lunatics at any public lunatic asylum in the United States, consulting economy in the selection. APPROVED, August 3, 1841. CHAP. VII.—An Act to repeal the act entitled "An act to provide for the collection, Aug. 13, 1841. safe-keeping, transfer, and disbursement of the public revenue," and to provide for the punishment of embezzlers of public money, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act entitled "An act to provide for the collection, safe-keeping, transfer, and disbursement of the public revenue," approved on the fourth day of July A. D. one thousand eight hundred and forty, be, and the same is hereby, repealed: Provided, always, That, for any offences which may have been committed against the provisions of the seventeenth section of the said act, the offenders may be prosecuted and punished according to those provisions; and that all bonds executed under the provisions of said act, and all civil rights and liabilities which have arisen or accrued under said act, and the remedies therefor, shall remain and continue as if said act had not been repealed; any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any officer charged with the safe-keeping, transfer, or disbursement of public moneys, or connected with the Post Office Department, shall convert to his own use, in any way whatever, or shall use by way of investment in any kind of property or merchandise, or shall loan, with or without interest, any portion of the public moneys entrusted to him for safe-keeping, transfer, disbursement, or for any other purpose, every such act shall be deemed and adjudged to be an embezzlement of so much of the said moneys as shall be thus taken, converted, invested, used, or loaned, which is hereby declared to be a felony; and the neglect or refusal to pay over on demand any public moneys in his hands, upon the presentation of a draft, order, or warrant drawn upon him, and signed by the Secretary of the Treasury, or to transfer or disburse any such moneys promptly according to law, on the legal requirement of a superior officer, shall be prima facie evidence of such conversion to his own use of so much of the public moneys as may be in his hands. Any officer or agent of the Act of 4th July 1840, ch. 41. repealed. Proviso. Bonds, &c. not affected by the repeal. Felony, for ofwith safe-keepficers charged ing, transfer, or disbursement of public moneys, &c. to use public moneys. Neglect or refusal to pay over, transfer, moneys. prima facie evidence of such use. or disburse such Punishment United States, and all persons advising, or knowingly and willingly parfor said offence, ticipating in such embezzlement, upon being convicted thereof before &c. Act of June 23, 1836, ch. 115, excepting 13th and 14th secs, repealed. So much of act of 14th April 1836, ch. 52, as prohibits the payment by the U. S. of bank notes under certain denomina tions, repealed. STATUTE I. Aug. 16, 1841. any court of the United States of competent jurisdiction, shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay to the United States a fine equal to the amount of the money embezzled, and shall suffer imprisonment for a term not less than six months nor more than five years. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the act entitled "An act to regulate the deposits of the public money," approved on the twentythird day of June, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, excepting the thirteenth and fourteenth sections thereof, be and the same hereby is repealed. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That so much of an act, passed the fourteenth of April, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, entitled "An act making appropriations for the payment of the Revolutionary and other pensioners of the United States, for the year eighteen hundred and thirty-six," as provides that no bank note of less denomination than ten dollars, and after the third day of March, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, no bank note of less denomination than twenty dollars, shall be offered in payment in any case whatsoever, in which money is to be paid by the United States, or the Post Office Department, be, and the same hereby is, repealed. APPROVED, August 13, 1841. CHAP. VIII.-An Act to provide for the payment of Navy Pensions. [Obsolete.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Appropriation. United States of America in Congress assembled, That the sum of one hundred and thirty-nine thousand six hundred and sixty-six dollars and six cents is hereby appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the payment of pensions and half-pay chargeable on the navy pension fund: Provided, That all widows or children of all naval officers, seamen, or marines, now deceas ed, and entitled to receive or make proof of their pensions under the act of the third of March, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, shall receive the same until the close of the next session of Congress; but no widows or children of any naval officer, seaman, or marine, who may hereafter die, shall be entitled to any pension by virtue only of any provision in the said act. Proviso; pen sions under act 3d March 1837, ch. 38, limited. No widow,&c. of any naval of ficer, &c. who may hereafter die, entitled, under the act of 1837, ch. 38. No officer, &c. shall receive pay as a pensioner and officer in service. STATUTE I. Aug. 19, 1841. Repealed, 3d March 1843, ch. 82. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That no officer, seaman, or marine, entitled to a pension from the navy pension fund, who receives pay from the public treasury, shall receive more from the said fund than is sufficient to make the whole amount received from both the abovenamed sources equal to the pay fixed by law for the grade to which the officer, seaman, or marine may belong as an officer in the services in which he may be engaged, during the year, so that no officer shall receive pay at the same time both as a pensioner and an officer in service. APPROVED, August 16, 1841. CHAP. IX.-An Act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there be, and hereby is, established throughout the United States, a uniform system of bank (a) See notes of the decisions of the courts of the United States on the bankrupt act of April 4, 1800, vol. 2, 19. In the case of Nelson, a petitioner in bankruptcy, in the Kentucky district, and Carland, an opposing creditor, several points were adjourned by the district to the circuit court. Upon the hearing of the case in the circuit court, the district judge, as well as the justice of the Supreme Court, sat in the case; and, Uniform sys tem of bankruptcy establ'd. All persons owing debts not created by defalcation, &c. may be declared bankrupts. ruptcy, as follows: All persons whatsoever, residing in any State, District or Territory of the United States, owing debts, which shall not have been created in consequence of a defalcation as a public officer; or as executor, administrator, guardian or trustee, or while acting in any other fiduciary capacity, who shall, by petition, setting forth to the best of his knowledge and belief, a list of his or their creditors, their respective places of residence, and the amount due to each, together with an accurate inventory of his or their property, rights, and credits, of every name, kind, and description, and the location and situation of each and every parcel and portion thereof, verified by oath, or, if conscientiously scrupulous of taking an oath, by solemn affirmation, apply to the proper court, as hereinafter mentioned, for the benefit of this act, and therein declare themselves to be unable to meet their debts and engagements, shall be deemed bankrupts within the purview of this act, and may be so declared accordingly by a decree of such court; all persons, being merchants, or using the trade of merchandise, all retailers of merchandise, and all bankers, factors, brokers, underwriters, or marine insurers, owing debts to the amount of not less than two thousand certain cases. bankers, &c., on petition of their creditors, may be declared bankrupts in Merchants, being opposed in opinion upon questions adjourned from the district court, they were certified to the Supreme Court on the motion of the counsel of the petitioner. Held, that the district judge cannot sit as a member of the circuit court, under the "Act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States." Consequently, the points adjourned could not be brought before the Supreme Court on a certificate of division. Nelson v. Carland, 17 Peters' Rep., 181; S. C., 1 Howard, 265. An appeal or writ of error will not lie from the decision of the circuit court, in a case of bankruptcy, adjourned from the district court. The decision of the circuit court is conclusive on the district judge. Ibid. Under the late bankrupt act of the United States, the existence of a fiduciary debt, contracted before the passage of the act, constitutes no objection to the discharge of the debtor from other debts. Chapman v. Forsyth, 2 Howard, 202. A factor, who receives the money of his principal, is not a fiduciary, within the meaning of the act. Ibid. A bankrupt is bound to state, upon his schedule, the nature of a debt if it be a fiduciary one. Should he omit to do so, he would be guilty of a fraud, and his discharge will not avail him; but if a creditor, in such case, proves his debt and receives a dividend from the estate, he is estopped from afterwards saying that his debt was not within the law. Ibid. But if the fiduciary creditor does not prove his debt, he may recover it afterwards from the discharged bankrupt, by showing that it was within the exceptions of the act. Ibid. In Kentucky, the creditor obtains a lien upon the property of his debtor by the delivery of a fi. fa. to the sheriff; and this lien is as absolute before the levy as it is afterwards. Savage's Assignee v. Best, 3 Howard, 807. Therefore, a creditor is not deprived of this lien by an act of bankruptcy on the part of the debtor committed before the levy is made, but after the execution is in the hands of the sheriff. Ibid. This court has no revising power over the decrees of the district court sitting in bankruptcy; nor is it authorized to issue a writ of prohibition to it in any case, except where the district is proceeding as a court of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. Ex parte Christy, 3 Howard, 292. The district court, when sitting in bankruptcy, has jurisdiction over liens and mortgages existing upon the property of a bankrupt, so as to inquire into their validity and extent, and grant the same relief which the state courts might or ought to grant. Ibid. The control of the district court over proceedings in the state courts upon such liens, is exercised, not over the state courts themselves, but upon the parties, through an injunction or other appropriate proceeding in equity. Ibid. The design of the bankrupt act was to secure a prompt and effectual administration of the estate of all bankrupts, worked out by the courts of the United States, without the assistance of state tribunals. Ibid. The phrase in the 6th section, "any creditor or creditors who shall claim any debt or demand under the bankruptcy," does not mean only such creditors who come in and prove their debts, but all creditors who have a present subsisting claim upon the bankrupt's estate, whether they have a security or mortgage therefor, or not. Ibid. Such creditors have a right to ask that the property mortgaged shall be sold, and the proceeds applied towards the payment of their debts; and the assignee, on the other hand, may contest their claims. Ibid. In the case of a contested claim, the district court has jurisdiction, if resort be had to a formal bill in equity or other plenary proceeding; and also jurisdiction to proceed summarily. Ibid. The principles established in the case of Ex parte the City Bank of New Orleans in the matter of Christy, assignee of Walden, reviewed and confirmed. Ibid. But this court does not decide whether or not the jurisdiction of the district court over all the property of a bankrupt, mortgaged or otherwise, is exclusive, so as to take it away from the state courts in such cases. Norton's Assignee v. Boyd, 3 Howard, 426. Black v. Where the defendant below became a bankrupt, the Supreme Court will not award a supersedeas to stay an execution, because the assignee of the bankrupt has his remedy in the circuit court. Zacharie, 3 Howard, 453. VOL. V.--56 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 eviProviso; perdence of debt: Provided, however, That any person so declared a banksons declared rupt, at the instance of a creditor, may, at his election, by petition to bankrupts at the 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. instance of creditors, entitled to trial by jury. Where persons reside at a great distance. Payments, &c. made in contemplation of bankruptcy, &c. Assignee under the bankruptcy may recover the same, as part of the assets. Such prefer ences prevent a discharge. Proviso. Preference to any creditor to prevent a discharge, &c. Proviso. SEC. 2. 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 not inconsistent with the provisions of the second and fifth sections of this act. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That all the property, and rights |