Entered according to Act of Congress in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-eight

BY

SARAH E. BUMP, SARAH E. BUMP, GUARDIAN; AND CHARLES W. BUMP,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress.

339320

PREFACE TO THE ELEVENTH EDITION.

This revision contains references to all cases reported construing provisions in former laws so far as they are analogous to those of the act of July 1, 1898.

Mr. Bump's comments upon the law of March 2, 1867, and amendments thereto, have been expunged, as in many instances they would be misleading when applied to the present law.

No editorial construction has been attempted explanatory of the existing statute, in recognition of the fact that since Mr. Bump wrote, lawyers have been less and less inclined to regard opinions of text-writers on acts of Congress except when supported by judicial construction.

No claim is made for this work other than that it states the entire law of bankruptcy as it now exists, and as it has existed from time to time since the first act was passed in 1800, and that it cites every decision rendered by the bankruptcy courts of the United States and many from other courts which would assist the practitioner in forming an accurate conception of the true meaning of the law now in force.

The preface of Mr. Bump to his tenth edition will apply with greater force to this revision, since nothing of importance to the law of 1898 has been taken from though much has been added to the main body of his work, adapting it to the law and practice under that act.

The reviser respectfully requests judges, referees and lawyers to extend the same consideration in calling his attention to defects. and errors in the work for which Mr. Bump, with reference to former editions, took opportunity to return his thanks.

EUGENE WILLIAMS.

WACO, TEXAS, August 1, 1898.

PREFACE TO THE TENTH EDITION.

This edition contains references to all cases reported to September 1, 1877. The whole work has been carefully revised so as to correspond with the late important decisions. The references have also been carefully verified so as to eliminate all errors that may have crept in from inadvertence or from mistakes incident to successive editions. Inaccuracies in language and conclusions not drawn with sufficient care, have been corrected. In fine, no pains have been spared to make the work worthy of the approbation which the profession have thus far accorded to it. The aim has been to make a practical, not a theoretical work, to show what is established, not what may be decided, to follow rather than anticipate decisions, to furnish a practical guide rather than brilliant theories. This plan, though not as tempting as others that might have been pursued, has stood the test of trial and met with approbation.

In this edition, all the cases decided under the acts of 1800 and 1841, so far as they are applicable, have been cited, and the work now contains references to all which are of any value that have ever been decided in this country. In this particular it is superior to any former edition. The greater part of that which has been added pertains not to the practice in bankruptcy, but to collateral questions arising out of bankrupt cases, such as constitutional law, the rights of the assignee, suits to recover choses in action, the limitation of two years, and the effect of a discharge in a word, the very questions which are now arising in the State courts. A glance at the topics indicated will at once show the fullness of the citations and the value of the additions.

In this edition the citations from the Bankrupt Register are all taken from the octavo volumes, and the references are accordingly made to the reprint and not to the original quarto volumes. The Bankrupt Register has taken its place among the regular reports, and the author has deemed it best to refer to that edition which will hereafter be most frequently used.

The author takes the opportunity to return his thanks to those judges, registers and lawyers who have called his attention to new decisions and to defects or errors in his work, and to request similar favors from the profession generally. Those who examine only one particular point, will, from the very nature of the case discover defects, which others taking a survey of the whole field would not perceive. It is only by the combined efforts of all that a harmonious and symmetrical system can be developed.

ORLANDO F. BUMP.

BALTIMORE, September 1 1877.