FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 541. 1898. 545 act by any officer shall include his successor itlld any person authorized by law to perform the duties of such officer; (19) “ persons " shall P¤r¤¤¤¤· include corporations, except where otherwise specified, and officers, partnerships, and women, and when used with reference to the commission of acts which are herein forbidden shall include persons who are participants in the forbidden acts, and the agents, officers, and members of the board of directors or trustees, or other similar controlling bodies of corporations; (20) “ petition " shall mean a paper filed in Petition. a court. of bankruptcy or with a clerk or deputy clerk by a debtor praying for the benefits of this Act, or by creditors alleging the commission of an act of bankruptcy by a debtor therein named; (21) “referee ” shall mean the referee who has jurisdiction of the case or to Referee. whom the case has been referred, or anyone acting in his stead; (22) Donegal “ conceal " shall include secrete, falsify, and mutilate; (23) “secured s»c¤m1'maim. creditorv shall include a creditor who has security for his debt upon the property of the bankrupt of a nature to be assignable under this Act, or who owns such a debt for which some indorser, surety, or other _ persons secondarily liable for the bankrupt has such security upon the · bankruptls assets; (24) “States " shall include the Territories, the sims. Indian Territory, Alaska, and the District of Columbia; (25) " trans- rms,:,; fer " shall include the sale and every other and different mode of disposing of or parting with property, or the possession of property, abso- · lutely or conditionally, as a payment, pledge, mortgage, gift, or security; (26) “ trustee” shall include all of the trustees of an estate; (27) “ wage- rmmt. earner" shall mean an individual who works for wages, salary, or hire, W“€° °°"°°’· at a rate of compensation not exceeding one thousand five hundred dollars per year; (28) words importing the masculine gender may be stops of wom imapplied to and include corporations, partnerships, and women; (29) gg;`_f§Q§*“” ‘“°*°¤*i¤° words importing tlhe plu1;)l)numger may be applied {gland mean only a —p1u¤h¤¤mi»». sing e person or t ing; ( wor s importing the sin ar number ma _,,,, ,,, mm _ be applied to and mean several persons or things. y gm ber · ` Cmrrnn Il. 0REAT1oN OF coimtrs OF BANKRUPTCY AND THEIR JU1z1sD1o1•1oN. Sec. That the courts of bankruptcy as hereiubefore defined, viz, cmtutu or courts the district courts of the United States in the several States, the "" "‘“‘k"‘¥"°5’· supreme court of the District of Columbia, the district courts of the several Territories, and the United States courts in the Indian Territory and the District of Alaska, are hereby made courts of bankruptcy, and are hereby invested, within their respective territorial limits as now -,nm»ax¤u.»¤. established, or as they may be hereafter changed, with such jurisdiction at law and in equity as will enable them to exercise original jurisdiction in bankruptcy proceedings, in vacation in chambers and during their respective terms, as they are now or may be hereafter held, to (l) —¤r¤¢i¤¤ r<>w¢r¤- adjudge persons bankrupt who have had their principal place of business, resided, or had their domicile within their respective territorial jurisdictions for the preceding six months, or the greater portion thereof, or who do not have their principal place of business, reside, or have their domicile within the United States, but have property within their jurisdictions, or who have been adjudged bankrupts by courts of competent jurisdiction without the United States and have property within theirjnrisdictions; (2) allow claims, disallow claims, reconsider allowed or disallowed claims, and allow or disallow them against bankrupt estates; (3) appoint receivers or the marshals, upon application of parties in interest, in case the courts shall find it absolutely necessary, for the preservation of estates, to take charge of the property of bankrupts after the filing of the petition and until it is dismissed or the trustee is qualified; (4) arraign, try, and punish bankrupts, officers, and other persons, and the agents, officers, members of the board of directors or trustees, or other similar controlling bodies, of corporations vox. xxx-—-35
