in which the property mortgaged is situated, or to which it may be removed, and must be recorded in books kept for chattel mortgages exclusively.

CHATTEL MORTGAGE LAW OF 1879.

When the mortgagee has reasonable cause to believe that the mortgaged property will be destroyed, lost or removed, he shall have the right to an immediate action, even though the debt is not due, and makes a misdemeanor to remove the property (by the mortgagor) from the county where situated without consent in writing of mortgagee.

CHAPTER XXII.

INTEREST.

The legal rate of interest is ten per cent. per annum, in the absence of any contract in writing fixing a different rate. Parties may contract in writing for any rate of interest that they may

agree upon.

CHAPTER XXIII.

INSOLVENT LAW.

Every insolvent debtor may be discharged from his debts on executing an assignment of all his property, real, personal or mixed, for the benefit of all his creditors, in compliance with the provisions of the Act of the Legislative Assembly, approved January 31, 1867, provided said assignment "be made bona fide and without fraud.”

The District Court has original jurisdiction in matters of insolvency. The insolvent debtor petitions the Judge having original jurisdiction within his place of domicile or usual residence, briefly stating the causes which compel him to surrender his property to his creditors, and prays to make a cession of his estate and be discharged from his debts; he shall annex to said petition a schedule containing a list of the losses he may have sustained, giving the names of his creditors, if known, amount due to each creditor, the cause and nature of such indebtedness and when it accrued, and a statement of any existing judgment, mortgage, collateral or other securities for the payment of any such debt; it shall contain a full, complete and perfect inventory of all his property, real, personal and mixed; of all choses in action; debts due or to become due, and all moneys on hand, and a full statement of all incumbrances on his property. He shall estimate and set forth in said schedule his property at its cash value.

He shall subscribe and swear to the schedule. (The form of the oath is given in the statute, and it is exceedingly strong and forcible.).

The Judge then makes an order requiring all the creditors to show cause why an assignment should not be made, and the insolvent discharged from his debts.

The homestead, if any, and property exempt from execution are included in the schedule, but it is the duty of the Judge to set it apart for the use and benefit of the insolvent. The insolvent shall, on or before the day appointed for the meeting of his creditors, de

liver to the Court all his books of account, and vouchers, notes, bonds, bills, securities or other evidences of debt bearing on the property surrendered, and they shall be filed and ultimately delivered to the assignees who may be appointed.

A notice is published by the Clerk of the Court directing the creditors to appear before the Judge at chambers or in open Court, to show cause why the petition should not be granted; meantime all proceedings against the insolvent are stayed, which does not, however, prevent the appointment of a receiver by the Judge to take possession of all the insolvent's property; provided, one or more of his creditors shall show cause therefor by preliminary affidavit, and satisfactory proof of the facts on which it is founded.

At the creditors' meeting they first certify "on oath that their respective claims are legitimate and true," and then appoint one or more assignees, not exceeding three. In appointing assignees, "the opinion of the majority of said creditors, in sums or in claims, shall prevail,” and any creditor may be represented by his "duly authorized agent or attorney."

When the assignee or assignees have been appointed and the surrender of the property accepted of, the assignees file in the Clerk's office " a certified statement of the deliberations of said creditors on the appointment of said assignees," and they give bond in such sum as the majority of the creditors may have determined; or if they have not fixed on any amount, the Judge shall determine it.

The insolvent's property is sold at public auction by the assignees, on twenty days' notice by publication in a newspaper of the county, or if none, in the one nearest thereto.

The assignees (if more than one) shall deposit all funds "belonging to the failure" in their joint names, and they shall never be used till distributed according to the directions of the Court; they may sue or be sued in respect to the insolvent or his creditors, and all suits againt the insolvent shall be transferred to the Court having jurisdiction of the insolvency.

The assignees shall declare dividends when they have funds; and any creditor may make a motion, at any time, to know if they have funds in their hands, and they shall, if they have, be compelled to present their accounts and make distribution; or, if they neglect to do so, shall be removed by the Judge or Court, and others may be

appointed by said Judge or Court. In that event the former assignees forfeit all claim to any commission and pay twenty per cent. in addition to the amount of funds in their hands, as a penalty.

The assignees collectively receive ten per cent. on a sum not exceeding $10,000; eight per cent. on sums above $10,000, and not exceeding $30,000; six per cent. on sums above $30,000, and not exceeding $60,000; and four per cent. on sums exceeding $60,000.

If no creditors attend on the day appointed for the meeting, the Judge may authorize the Sheriff to receive the surrender of the property and perform the functions of assignee.

If after the appointment of assignees, any one of the creditors deems it necessary to oppose the assignment on account of fraud of the insolvent, or the assignment not having been legally made, he shall, within ten days after the appointment, lay before the Judge or Court his written opposition, specifying the facts on which it is based, and in case of fraud, a trial is had before a jury of six men, at which the objecting creditor "shall have the right to interrogate the insolvent debtor on oath, and put to him such written questions as to the state of his affairs, and the several transactions in which he may have been engaged anterior to his failure, as he shall think proper, and the insolvent shall answer in writing the said interrogatories in a pertinent and distinct manner, and every equivocal answer on his part shall be construed against him." If the jury find the insolvent guilty of fraud, he shall forever be debarred from the benefit of the Territorial insolvent laws.

All persons shall be considered as "fraudulent bankrupts" who shall be convicted of having concealed their property with the intention to keep it from their creditors; or of having concealed or altered their books or papers with like intention; or of having passed sham deeds with intent to deprive their creditors of the whole or any part of their property; or of intentionally omitting any of his property from his schedule; or of having purloined his books or any of them; or of having altered, changed, or made them anew with intent to defraud his creditors; or of having fraudulently alienated, mortgaged, or pledged any of his property; or of having "committed any other kind of fraud to the prejudice of his creditors."

The insolvent shall be debarred from the privileges of the act, if he shall be convicted of having at any time within three months

preceding his failure, "fradulently sold, engaged or mortgaged any of his goods or effects, or of having otherwise assigned, transferred, or disposed of the same, or any part thereof, or confessed judgment in order to give a preference to one or more of his creditors over others."

All debtors accountable for public funds, all "unfaithful depositaries," all who refuse or neglect to pay all funds received by them as bankers, brokers, commission merchants, or in any fiduciary capacity are debarred the benefits of the act.

If, after the insolvent has had the benefit of the act, it be made thereafter to appear that he has concealed any part of his property or estate or given a false schedule, or committed any fraud under the provisions of the act, he forfeits all its benefits and cannot "avail himself of any of its provisions in bar to any claim that may be instituted against him."

After the surrender of the property of the insolvent it vests in the assignees.

The Judge shall appoint an attorney to represent all creditors residing out of the Territory who have no attorney to represent them, but the mass of the creditors pay said attorney nothing; his fees are levied on the amount recovered for such non-resident creditors, at the rate of ten per cent., and in no case shall said fees exceed $350.

The insolvent must surrender to the assignees all the property contained in his schedule; if not the Judge shall order the Sheriff to take the property and deliver it to the assignees, or may imprison the insolvent till he surrenders it.

The assignees shall make out and verify an account of their disbursements, which if approved, the Judge shall certify, and allow the amount thereof out of the insolvent's property.

A member of a firm may make an assignment of copartnership property with the consent in writing of the other members; when all join they may include in the assignment all their individual as well as partnership property, and may be discharged from both classes of debts in the same proceeding, but partnership property shall be applied to partnership debts, and individual property to individual debts.