Adjudication-Advertisement in the Gazette-5 & 6 Vict. c. 122. s. 23.

The adjudication in a bankruptcy was made on the 18th of October. The days appointed for the surrender were the 15th and the 29th of November; and an advertisement, intended to be inserted in the London Gazette, was prepared accordingly. By an accident the advertisement was not inserted until the 3rd of November. The Commissioner was declared to be at liberty to insert a new advertisement in the Gazette, with fresh days of surrender, without prejudice, however, to the question of its validity.

By the 5 & 6 Vict. c. 122. s. 23, it is enacted, that before notice of any adjudication of bankruptcy under any fiat shall be given in the London Gazette, a duplicate of such adjudication shall be served on the bankrupt, and that such person shall be allowed five days to dispute such adjudication in the manner therein mentioned; but if, at the expiration of the time, no cause shall have been shewn to the satisfaction of the Court for the annulling of such adjudication, the Court shall forthwith after the expiration of such time cause notice of such adjudication to be given in the London Gazette, and shall thereby appoint two public sittings of such Court for the bankrupt to surrender and conform; the last of which sittings shall be on a day not less than thirty days, and not exceeding sixty days from such advertisement, and shall be the day limited for such surrender.

NEW SERIES, XVIII.-BANKR.

The adjudication of bankruptcy in this case was made on the 18th of October. An advertisement for the London Gazette was, soon after, prepared, in which the days for the surrender were declared to be the 15th and the 29th of November. By the negligence, however, of the messenger, the advertisement was not inserted until the 3rd of November. There was, therefore, a failure in complying with the requisitions of the act.

An application having been made to the Commissioner to direct the insertion of a new advertisement, with fresh days of surrender, he required that the application should be made to the Vice Chancellor in Bankruptcy, and intimated that, if there was any expression of opinion of the Court that it might be done, he would act upon it.

Mr. Aspland now made an application to the Court accordingly.

sole assignee, and acted as such, and as solicitor to the fiat until 1848, and was paid his costs as solicitor. The bankrupt presented a petition, praying that the accounts of A. might be reviewed, with reference to the disallowance of all the costs, except the sums paid by him out of pocket. A. stated that he had in 1832 applied to the other creditors, but had received no assistance from them, and that, under the circumstances -as no other creditor would come forward, and the affairs of the bankrupt were in a state of great complication, and as there was no fund then out of which a solicitor could be paid he had accepted the office of assignee, with the approbation of the Commissioners, and had also acted as solicitor. It appeared that the estate of the bankrupt had, under the management of A, produced nearly 20s. in the pound :-Held, that, on the ground of public policy, the accounts of A. ought to be reviewed, with reference to the union of the characters of assignee and

solicitor.

This petition, which was filed by the bankrupt, stated the following case :

The fiat issued against the bankrupt on the 16th of June 1832. The petitioning creditor was Mr. Moss, a solicitor practising at Derby. The first meeting for the choice of assignees and proof of debts took place on the 2nd of July. At this meeting Mr. Moss was appointed assignee. Mr. Moss acted as assignee, and also as solicitor for the commission, from this time until August 1848. Previously to 1843, three dividends, amounting altogether to 10s. in the pound, were paid to the creditors, and Mr. Moss was paid his bill of costs, amounting to 261. In 1843, the fiat was transferred to the Birmingham District. In August 1848, the bankrupt made an agreement with all his creditors, except Mr. Moss, that they should take a further sum of 10s. in the pound in respect of their debts and interest. The prayer of the petition was, that the accounts of Mr. Moss, previously to August 1848, might be opened, and that the Commissioner might review such accounts, and in such review might be directed to disallow all items contained in the bill of costs and law charges of Mr. Moss, as solicitor to the estate, other than the items in respect of money paid out of pocket by him, or that

the bills of costs and law charges might be taxed by the Master; and that Mr. Moss might be directed to pay the official assignee what might be found due from him on taking the above accounts, and that the creditors might be paid the sums agreed to be paid to them, and for winding up the bankruptcy.

The

The case made by the respondent, Mr. Moss, in his affidavit, was as follows:Mr. Moss was the petitioning creditor. At the time of the bankruptcy he applied to all the other creditors of the bankrupt verbally and by letter; but received scarcely any replies, and no effectual offers of assistance. One firm only, whose debt was under 20l., sent him a proof of their debt, and a letter of attorney to vote for them in the choice of assignees. property of the bankrupt, which consisted principally of some wine and spirit vaults, and a moiety of a freehold estate, was embarrassed with different claims, and was then liable to litigation, which probably would swallow it up. A meeting for the choice of assignees and proof of debts took place on the 2nd of July. At this meeting, Mr. Moss's debt and the other debt, the proof of which had been sent to him, were proved, but no other proof was tendered, and there was no person there who was willing to accept the office of assignee. The affidavit then proceeded nearly as follows:"I could not find any person who would be prevailed upon to undertake the office of assignee; there being an expectation of much trouble and litigation, with reference to the assignment to the said J. Smith and C. King, (of the wine and spirit vaults,) and to an alleged right of pre-emption of the moiety of the freehold premises, which was about that time set up, and generally with reference to the affairs of the said bankrupt. I believe that under these circumstances there was little probability that at a subsequent meeting any one would be found to take upon himself the office of assignee. I thought that it was my duty, as petitioning creditor, to prevent the estate from suffering from the want of such an officer. I believed at that time that the estate of the bankrupt was of so small a value as not to justify the expense of the adjournment of the meeting for the choice of assignees. It was then suggested to me by the Commissioners present, that