Bell v. Blessing
Bell v. Blessing
Opinion of the Court
(after stating the facts as above). Three points are advanced against the regularity and legality of the adjudication;
(1) That (he bankruptcy proceedings were not authorized by the requisite, stockholders of the corporation.
(2) That the resolution of the board of directors does not meet the requirements of section 3, subd. 5, of the Bankruptcy Act.
(31 That S. A. Moss, being the owner of all the stock, and conducting (he business of the corporation as his own, caused the proceedings in bankruptcy to be instituted to hinder, delay, and defraud the petitioner, by having her attachment dissolved.
“Any person, except a municipal, railroad, insurance or banking corporation, shall be entitled to the benefits of this act as a voluntary bankrupt.”
This extends to a corporation of the kind of the present bankrupt the same privilege of becoming a voluntary bankrupt as' to an individual, and there exists no good reason why it may not become such a bankrupt in the same way. It is only necessary for such a petitioner, praying adjudication, that he show that he owes debts which he is unable to pay in full, and that he is willing to surrender his property for the benefit of his creditors. Hughes, Fed. Procedure (2d Ed.) 99, 100. The allegation or admission is practically the same in either event, but the procedure is different. In the one case, the admission constitutes an act of bankruptcy, and the creditors, basing their petition upon the act, proceed as if the case were one of involuntary bankruptcy; while, in the other,,the action is purely voluntary, and the bankrupt proceeds on his own motion and initiative. Now, the resolution of the board of directors clearly authorized the cashier, treasurer, and bookkeeper to prosecute in the name of the corporation a petition in bankruptcy to final discharge, which was amply sufficient to authorize the bankrupt to proceed as a voluntary bankrupt to obtain a discharge from its debts in the bankruptcy court. The second contention is therefore not maintainable.
The order of the District Court in sustaining the demurrer and dismissing the petition for vacation of the adjudication will bp affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BELL v. BLESSING. In re PACIFIC MOTOR CAR CO.
- Cited By
- 11 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Bankruptcy 43—Corporations—Voluntary Petition in Bankruptcy —Authorization—Sufficiency. \\ An authorization to a corporation to file its voluntary petition in bankruptcy, given by its board of directors, a member of which practically owned all the stock, is sufficient, notwithstanding Civ. Code Cal. § 361a, prohibiting any assignment 'of the business, franchise, and property of a .corporation, unless with the consent of the stockholders thereof holding at least two-thirds of the stock. |Éd. Note.—-For other cases, see Bankruptcy, Cent. Dig. § 38; Dec. Dig. 43.] 2. Bankruptcy 43—Voluntary Petition in Bankruptcy by Corporation—Statutes. A corporation, not a municipal, railroad, insurance, or banking corporation, has, under Bankr. Act July 1, 1898, c. 541, § 4a, 30 Stat. -547 (Comp. St. 1913, § 9588), the same privilege of becoming a voluntary bankrupt as an individual, and its petition therefor need only show that it owes debts which it is unable to pay in full, and that it is willing to surrender its property for the benefit of its creditors; and a resolution of the’board.of directors, authorizing the filing of a voluntary petition, need not authorize, in conformity with section 3, subd. 5 (Comp. St. 1913, § 95S7), an admission' in writing on the part of the corporation of its inability to pay its debts and its willingness to be adjudged a bankrupt on that ground, and a resolution authorizing its cashier, treasurer, and bookkeeper to prosecute in the name of the corporation a petition in bankruptcy to final discharge is sufficient to authorize the corporation to proceed as.a voluntary bankrupt to obtain its discharge. [Ed. Note.—For other cases, see Bankruptcy, Cent. Dig. § 38; Dec. Dig. 43.] 3. Bankruptcy 4—Voluntary Bankruptcy—Avoiding Attachments— Effect. The Bankruptcy Act recognizes the right of a bankrupt to make a voluntary assignment of his property to avoid attachments thereon, and thus secure an equal distribution of his property among all his creditors. [Ed. Note.—For other cases, see Bankruptcy, Cent. Dig. §§ 3, 4; Dec. Dig. 4.] (teoPor other cases see same topic & KEY-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests & Indexes