Henry Billings Brown

“ If, as must be conceded, he has the right to pay one creditor in preference to another, even where he is aware of his inability to pay all in full,-in other words, where he is insolvent,-there is not just reason why, in making provision for all, by way of assignment, he may not make special provision for some. ”

“ The tendency of courts, in modern times, has been not to hold instruments of this character to be fraudulent and void upon their face, unless they contain provisions plainly inconsistent with an honest purpose, or the instrument indicates with reasonable certainty that it was executed, not to secure bona fide creditors, but to enable the debtor to continue to carry on his business under cover of another's name. ”

“ The residuary interest of the assignor may, according to its nature, or that of the property, be reached by execution, or by bill in equity.' Cases in which reservations for the benefit of the assignor have been held to invalidate the assignment have usually been those where the reservation was either secret, or was upon its face detrimental to the interest of the creditors, and a practical fraud upon them. ”

“ The deed was held to be void by reason of the trust thus secretly created. So, in Robinson v. Elliott, 22 Wall. 513, a chattel mortgage which provided that, until default was made in the payment of the notes, the mortgagor might remain in possession of the goods, sell the same as theretofore, and supply their places with other goods, which should become subjected to the lien of the mortgage, was held to be a fraud upon its face, although the mortgage was recorded according to law. ”

“ Ct. 1275, a deed by an insolvent debtor in Mississippi to secure sureties upon his note, though made in advance of, and in contemplation of, a general assignment for the benefit of creditors, was held to be valid under the laws of that state, though containing a provision that the creditor should remain in possession until the maturity of the note. ”

“ Upon such sale being made, the trustee was to pay to the beneficiaries in proportion to the amounts for which each might be surety at the time of the sale, holding the remainder subject to Duncan's orders. ”