In re Locke
District Court, D. Massachusetts
[The bankrupt [Worthington S. Locke,] has been fully examined, and his examination, which is not impeached or contradicted, tends to show that he was extensively engaged in trade, in several cities of the United States, ■down to the year 1856, when his business was concentrated at Portland, in Maine; and that in December, 1857, he failed.
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[The bankrupt [Worthington S. Locke,] has been fully examined, and his examination, which is not impeached or contradicted, tends to show that he was extensively engaged in trade, in several cities of the United States, ■down to the year 1856, when his business was concentrated at Portland, in Maine; and that in December, 1857, he failed. He settled with many of his creditors on such terms as he could offer and they could accept; but with some of them he made no settlement, for reasons not disclosed nor pertinent here. Since his failure he has from time to time earned money by service in the…
1Opinion of the CourtLowell, District Judge
(after stating the .facts as above). In its origin the doctrine of preference is a creation of the courts. The word is not found in the English statutes; but the courts soon discovered that many acts, legitimate at common law, would tend to defeat the equal and .proper operation of the bankrupt laws, and declared such acts to be frauds on the statute. Thus the conveyance of the whole of a trader’s property with a view to the payment or security of past debts, has always ueen held a fraud on the act, although there may have been no wrong intended. I had occasion to examine these decisions on a…
2Cited by2 opinions
- In re MaherDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts · 1906
- In re BoyntonDistrict Court, D. Rhode Island · 1882