Edward Douglass White

“ Out conclusion, then, is that as a deed of general assignment for the benefit of creditors is made by the bankruptcy act alone sufficient to justify an adjudication in involuntary bankruptcy against the debtor making such deed, without reference to his solvency at the time of the filing of the petition, the denial of insolvency by way of defense to a petition based upon the making of a deed of general assignment is not warranted by the bankruptcy law, and therefore that the question certified must be answered in the negative. ”

“ Therefore, though the rules and forms in bankruptcy provide for an issue as to solvency in cases of involuntary bankruptcy, where by the statute such issue becomes irrelevant, because the particular act relied on in a given case conclusively imports a right to the adjudication in bankruptcy if the act be established, the allegation of insolvency in the petition becomes superfluous, or, if made, need not be traversed. ”

“ Further, a petition in a proceeding in involuntary bankruptcy is defined in section 1 of the act of 1898, enumeration 20, to mean 'a paper filed * * * by creditors alleging the commission of an act of bankruptcy by a debtor therein named.' It follows that the mere statement in the statute, by way of recital, that a petition may be filed 'against a person who is insolvent and who has committed an act of bankruptcy,' was not designed to superadd a further requirement to those contained in paragraph a of section 3, as to what should constitute acts of bankruptcy. ”