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trustee shall, as soon as may be, take possession of the deeds, books, and documents of the bankrupt, and all other parts of his property capable of manual delivery.

(2.) The trustee shall, in relation to and for the purpose of acquiring or retaining possession of the property of the bankrupt, be in the same position as if he were a receiver of the property appointed by the High Court,* and the Court may, on his application, enforce such acquisition or retention accordingly.

(3.) Where any part of the property of the bankrupt consists of stock, shares in ships, shares, or any other property transferable in the books of any company, office, or person, the trustee may exercise the right to transfer the property to the same extent as the bankrupt might have exercised it if he had not become bankrupt.

(4.) Where any part of the property of the bankrupt is of copyhold or customary tenure, or is any like property passing by surrender and admittance or in any similar manner, the trustee shall not be compellable to be admitted to the property, but may deal with it in the same manner as if it had been capable of being, and had been duly surrendered or otherwise conveyed to such uses as the trustee may appoint; and any appointee of the trustee shall be admitted to or otherwise invested with the property accordingly.

(5.) Where any part of the property of the bankrupt consists of things in action, such things shall be deemed to have been duly assigned to the trustee.

(6.) Any treasurer or other officer, or any banker, attorney, or agent of a bankrupt, shall pay and deliver

sections 20, 22, and 93 of the Bankruptcy Act of 1869. See also as to the warrants and orders of the Court, post, clauses 117 to 120.

* He will be an officer of the Court, and any improper interference with him in the discharge of his duties will be a contempt of court.

to the trustee all money and securities in his possession or power, as such officer, banker, attorney, or agent, which he is not by law entitled to retain as against the bankrupt or the trustee. If he does not he shall be guilty of a contempt of Court, and may be punished accordingly on the application of the

trustee.

51. Seizure of Property of Bankrupt.*-Any person acting under warrant of the Court may seize any part of the property of a bankrupt in the custody or possession of the bankrupt or of any other person, and with a view to such seizure may break open any house, building, or room of the bankrupt where the bankrupt is supposed to be, or any building or receptacle of the bankrupt where any of his property is supposed to be; and where the Court is satisfied that there is reason to believe that property of the bankrupt is concealed in a house or place not belonging to him, the Court may, if it thinks fit, grant a search warrant to any constable or officer of the Court, who may execute it according to its tenor.

52. Sequestration of Ecclesiastical Benefice.†—(1.) *This clause re-enacts section 99 of the Bankruptcy Act 1869.

The two first sub-sections of this clause are substantially identical with clause 88 of the Bankruptcy Act of 1869. The only difference is that at the end of the first sub-section the words "available for grounding a receiving order against him" are substituted for "available against him for adjudication"; and that the order of the two provisions contained in the second sub-section is reversed. The third and fourth sub-sections are new. The third, it will be observed, gives a curate a priority of claim to the payment of salary due to him from the bankrupt, similar to that conferred upon clerks, servants, or workmen by clause 40.

Where a bankrupt is a beneficed clergyman, the trustec may apply for a sequestration of the profits of the benefice, and the certificate of the appointment of the trustee shall be sufficient authority for the granting of sequestration without any writ or other proceeding, and the same shall accordingly be issued as on a writ of levari facias founded on a judgment against the bankrupt, and shall have priority over any other sequestration issued after the commencement of the bankruptcy in respect of a debt provable in the bankruptcy, except a sequestration issued before the date of the receiving order by or on behalf of a person who at the time of the issue thereof had not notice of an act of bankruptcy committed by the bankrupt, and available for grounding a receiving order against him.

(2.) The bishop of the diocese in which the benefice is situate may, if he thinks fit, appoint to the bankrupt such or the like stipend as he might by law have appointed to a curate duly licensed to serve the benefice in case the bankrupt had been non-resident, and the sequestrator shall pay the sum so appointed out of the profits of the benefice to the bankrupt, by quarterly instalments while he performs the duties of the benefice.

(3.) The sequestrator shall also pay out of the profits of the benefice the salary payable to any duly licensed curate of the church of the benefice in respect of duties performed by him as such during four months before the date of the receiving order not exceeding fifty pounds.

(4.) Nothing in this section shall prejudice the operation of the Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Act, 1871,* or the Sequestration Act, 1871,† or any mortage or charge duly created under any Act of Parliament before the

* 34 & 35 Vict. c. 43.

+34 & 35 Vict. c. 45.

commencement of the bankruptcy on the profits of the benefice.

53. Appropriation of Portion of Pay or Salary to Creditors.*-(1.) Where a bankrupt is an officer of the army or navy, or an officer or clerk or otherwise employed or engaged in the civil service of the Crown, the trustee shall receive for distribution amongst the creditors so much of the bankrupt's pay or salary as the Court, on the application of the trustee, with the consent of the chief officer of the department under which the pay or salary is enjoyed, may direct. Before making any order under this sub-section the Court shall communicate with the chief officer of the department as to the amount, time, and manner of the payment to the trustee, and shall obtain the written consent of the chief officer to the terms of such payment.

(2.) Where a bankrupt is in the receipt of a salary or income other than as aforesaid, or is entitled to any half pay, or pension, or to any compensation granted by the Treasury, the Court, on the application of the trustee, shall from time to time make such order as it thinks just for the payment of the salary, income, half pay, pension, or compensation, or of any part thereof, to the trustee, to be applied by him in such manner as the Court may direct.

(3.) Nothing in this section shall take away or abridge any power of the chief officer of any public department to dismiss a bankrupt, or to declare the

*The two first sub-sections of this clause re-enact (though with some alterations, chiefly verbal) clauses 89 and 90 of the Bankruptcy Act 1869. The most important alteration or addition in the present clause seems to be the extension of the provisions of the second sub. section to any "half-pay or pension, or any compensation granted by the Treasury." The third sub-section of the clause is new.

pension, half pay, or compensation of any bankrupt to be forfeited.

54. Vesting and Transfer of Property.*—(1.) Until a trustee is appointed the official receiver shall be the trustee for the purposes of this Act, and immediately on a debtor being adjudged bankrupt, the property of the bankrupt shall vest in the trustee.

(2.) On the appointment of a trustee the property shall forthwith pass to and vest in the trustee appointed.

(3.) The property of the bankrupt shall pass from trustee to trustee, including under that term the official receiver when he fills the office of trustee, and shall vest in the trustee for the time being during his continuance in office, without any conveyance, assignment, or transfer whatever.

(4.) The certificate of appointment of a trustee shall, for all purposes of any law in force in any part of the British dominions requiring registration, enrolment, or recording of conveyances or assignments of property, be deemed to be a conveyance or assignment of property, and may be registered, enrolled, and recorded accordingly.

55. Disclaimer of Onerous Property.†-(1.) Where any part of the property of the bankrupt consists of land of any tenure burdened with onerous covenants,

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* This clause re-enacts portions of clauses 17 and 83 of the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, with the necessary substitution of official receiver" for "" registrar" in the first and third sub-sections.

This clause replaces clauses 23 and 24 of the Bankruptcy Act of 1869; but while re-enacting many of their provisions, it makes extensive alterations in, and additions to, them.

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