In re Daniels
| Decision Date | 13 September 1901 |
| Docket Number | 94. |
| Citation | 110 F. 745 |
| Parties | In re DANIELS. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island |
John Henshaw, for petitioning creditor.
Alfred S. Johnson, for trustee.
The claim of Congdon & Carpenter Company, which the referee has disallowed as a claim having priority in the settlement of the individual estate of George F. Daniels, bankrupt, is for costs incurred in a suit against Daniels and one Slocum as co-partners, under the firm style of the Providence Spring Bed Company. Neither the partnership nor the other partner has been adjudged a bankrupt.
In support of the referee's ruling, the trustee contends that there is no provision in the bankruptcy law whereby costs incurred by a creditor in an action to recover a debt prior to the filing of the petition in bankruptcy can be allowed priority of payment. In re Beaver Coal Co., 5 Am.Bankr.R. 787, 107 F. 98; In re Allen (D.C.) 96 F. 512; In re Young (D.C.) 96 F. 606,-- seem to support this contention. The decision of Judge Lowell in Re Lewis (D.C.) 99 F. 935, however, is to the contrary. In that case priorities for costs given by the state insolvency law were held to be recognized by the bankruptcy act. Section 64b (5).
It has been established by the circuit court of appeals for the First circuit in Re Worcester Co., 42 C.C.A. 637 102 F. 808, that section 64b (5) may apply to priorities established by the insolvency laws of Massachusetts, and that the insolvency law of Massachusetts continued an operative law after the bankruptcy act went into effect; and the conclusions of Judge Lowell in Re Wright (D.C.) 95 F. 807, upon this point were fully affirmed. It must therefore, be accepted as the law of this circuit that, in determining what laws of a state are in force for the purpose of fixing priorities, we may look to the insolvency laws. This being the case, it seems to me that the general principles of the decision in Re Lewis (D.C.) 99 F. 935, should be followed in this circuit whatever may be the conflict of authority upon the questions there involved.
The decision of the circuit court of appeals to the effect that the insolvency law of a state still remains a law for the purpose of fixing priorities seems to me a substantial reaffirmance of the grounds upon which Judge Lowell based his decision in Re Lewis (D.C.) 99 F. 935. It is said that the Rhode Island statute (chapter 422, Pub. Laws R.I.) differs from the Massachusetts statute in that it provides for priority only when a dissolution of the attachment is made by virtue of the Rhode Island law; but this is not a sound distinction, and does not avoid the effect of the decision of the circuit court of appeals in Re Worcester Co., 2 C.C.A. 637, 102 F. 808.
The decision of the referee, then, cannot be supported upon the broad ground that in no...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
In re Bennett
...commencement of proceedings in bankruptcy against the debtor, and continued in force at the date of the petition. In the case of In re Daniels (D.C.) 110 F. 745, also, was held that costs incurred in an action against a bankrupt, prior to the bankruptcy, which would constitute a preferred c......
-
FARMERS' & MECHANICS' NAT'L BANK V. RIDGE AVE. BANK
...of the courts of the United States in enforcing subsection f. In re Wilcox, 94 F. 84 (1899); In re Mills, 95 F. 269 (1899); In re Daniels, 110 F. 745 (1901); In re Janes, 133 F. 912 (1904), rev'g 128 F. 527; In re Henderson, 142 F. 588 (1906); Euclid National Bank v. Union Trust Co., 149 F.......
-
In re Jones
... ... priority of payment out of a bankrupt's estate to debts ... which are entitled to priority under the 'laws of the ... states or the United States. ' In re Wright ... (D.C.) 95 F. 807; In re Worcester County, 102 ... F. 808, 42 C.C.A. 637, affirming In re Wright, supra; In ... re Daniels (D.C.) 110 F. 745; In re Lewis ... (D.C.) 99 F. 935; In re Crow (D.C.) 116 F. 110 ... In Re ... Wright and in Re Worcester County, supra, the question arose ... over a claim owing by the bankrupt to the county of ... Worcester. The general insolvency law of Massachusetts made a ... ...
-
In re The Copper King
...one, and, in view of conflicting decisions, cannot be said to be free from doubt. The cases of In re Lewis (D.C.) 99 F. 935, and In re Daniels (D.C.) 110 F. 745, fully sustain position of the petitioner, while a different conclusion was reached in Re Beaver Coal Co. (D.C.) 107 F. 98, and by......