REGISTER'S OFFICE, AUSTIN, TEXAS, April 5th, 1869. In presenting this pamphlet, containing a list of the names of bankrupts, dates of filing, names of assignees, &c., I have thought proper to suhmit a brief statement of the operations of the Bankrupt Act in this District, including a report from MR. POLAND, one of the committee on the Revision of the Laws. REPORT. "The Committee on the Revision of the Laws of the United States, to whom was referred House bill No. 1702, entitled "An act in amendment of an act entitled 'An act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States, approved March 2, 1867," and also certain resolutions directing said committee to inquire into and report as to the exdediency of further extending the time mentioned in the second clause of the thirty"third section of the Bankrupt Act, commonly called the fifty per cent. clause, and also various petitions and memorials upon the same subject; having considered the same, report: "That in the judgment of the committee it is not expedient to further extend the time for said clause to go into effect. As a provision to be contained in a prospective system of bankruptcy, to continue permanently as a part of the commercial law of the country, the committee consider it wise and prudent, and one that will check wild and hazardous speculations among business and commercial men; and when a man by any misfortune or miscalculation has become embarrassed in his circumstances, he may thereby be induced to surrender his effects at once to his creditors, rather than risk the chance of retrieving his affairs by resorting to desperate shifts, which commonly result in the loss of the whole. "When the system was adopted, it was justly thought improper to apply this principle to existing cases, and hence this clause was not to go into effect until one year after the general law took effect, so as to give all persons needing relief under the law time to apply, without being embarrassed by the provisions of that clause. "At the last session, a very strong appeal was made to Congress to further extend the time, based mainly upon the disordered condition of political and business affairs in the Southern States, and the great scarcity of money there; which causes, it was alleged, have prevented many persons desirous of availing themselves of the relief given by the bankrupt law from do.ng so. This committee, actuated by those reasons, which were undoubtedly to a certain extent true, reported a bill to further extend the time for one year. On reporting the bill to the House, by a decisive majority the bill was amended so as to limit the time to the 1st of January, 1869, and in this form the bill was passed. "The committee are not aware of any reasons now existing for a further extension which did not exist then, and they could hardly hope that the decision then made would be reversed, if recommended by the committee. "While the committee are satisfied that the causes above alluded to have prevented many persons from applying for the benefit of the bankrupt law, they are hardly prepared to believe that a refusal to further defer the operation of this clause will be as disastrous as is claimed. "A year and seven months have already been allowed for persons to apply without being subjected to the operation of this clause. If any persons have failed to do so, for want of means, their pecuniary condition must be very hopeless, and it is scarcely to be believed that even hostile creditors would take the trouble to prove their debts, for the purpose of interposing objections to a discharge, or that if they did, they might not be outnumbered by more friendly ones. It should be remembered also that the act of July 27, 1868, by which the time was extended to January 1, 1869, made one important modification in this respect, that creditors of the bankrupt, where he was but a surety, cannot object-only those where he was principal debtor. "In the establishment of this law, all the odium of previous failures to make a satisfactory system of uniform bankruptcy had to be encountered. "In a country so largely commercial as ours has become, the commitee regard a safe and well-guarded law of this character as almost indispensable. "This law thus far seems to have met with very general approbation in its practical operation, and the committee do not deem it wise to make attempts to amend it, except as experience under it shall demonstrate their necessity. "A resolution was also referred to the committee, directing them to inquire and report whether the fees under the bankrupt law could not be reduced. "The bankrupt act itself prescribes some of the fees to be paid, and authorizes the judges of the Supreme Court to establish by rules fees other than those enumerated, and to lessen those in certain classes of cases. "The committee do not understand that the enumerated fees, or those established by the supreme court, are complained of, but so far as the committee can ascertain, the difficulty is that officers have charged fees not warranted either by the law or the rules established by the court. “It is manifest, therefore, that it is not an alteration of the law that is needed, but a more perfect administration of it, and this can readily be secured by carrying such questions of supposed illegal charges before the court for revision, as is done in all other classes of cases. "The committee, therefore, ask to be relieved from the further consideration of said bill, resolutions, and memorials." When the practical operations of the law went into effect in this district, which occurred upon the filing of the first petition, July 31st, 1867, barely five months from the approval of the Act by Congress, it was found that great difficulties existed from the want of a thorough understanding of the different sections of the law-the want of proper blanks, and the necessity of some instructions-the general rules and orders not having then been promulgated. The pamphlets sent to the registers, containing only the act as approved, a system had to be inaugurated that would work in conformity with the law. To insure expedition and meet all of its requirements, the necessary books and paraphernalia of an office were immediately brought into requisition; and as the cases increased and the work progressed, a better understanding of the matter developed, day by day, the details, and made the fact apparent, that the more thorough the system adopted, the more perfect success would be achieved in carrying out the intent and spirit of the law. This has been the aim and intention of the officers of the court, and to the best of their ability they have endeavored to carry it out, and with what success the profession and public can determine. The details in prosecuting a case in bankruptcy are various. Neither the public nor many of the profession know anything about the course adopted when the case is referred to the register. The papers in the commencement of a case, issued by the register alone, are nine in number, exclusive of the instructions to assignees and the orders applied for in the case by both assignee and creditor. When the bankrupt and assignee are discharged, and all the papers in the case then filed with the clerk of the court, they average thirty-two papers to the case. The reason is obvious. Bankruptcy proceedings, like matters in chancery, are entirely matters of record, reduced to writing. Every paper, with but few exceptions, commencing from the bankrupt's petition and schedules, inclusive of the final discharge, has a sworn affidavit attached; and when all the papers are filed in the clerk's office, as required by the act, in some cases they swell to in number one hundred separate papers, all having the filing mark and belonging to one case. In these, however, are included the depositions of proof of debts. In the execution of the provisions of this law in this State, great embarrassments and impediments have existed and yet exist, from various circumstances, which could not be controlled, chiefly from the want of proper mail facilities and the great distance between points. The unsettled condition of the country and the pecuniary embarrassments the people labored under the difficulty at first experienced in getting proper assignees, men of energy and business qualifications, the creditors seldom coming forward to elect an assignee, it devolved upon the court the duty to make the appointment in a majority of the cases. By the profession, this law was looked upon as a change of practice, with all the features new and untried, and the prospect of its being in existence for a brief period, and the fact that a large proportion of the State practice was confined to the County and District courts, which did not impose the labor of requiring all matters to be set forth in writing, and which in a measure was the cause that deterred many of the profession from mastering the law, contenting themselves with simply acquiring the knowledge of framing the petitions and schedules of the applicants in bankruptcy, and which in many cases, upon examination, were found to be defective from omissions, and not in compliance with the provisions of the act, the forms and general rules and orders. Another serious matter affecting the bankrupts is the omission on the part of their agents or attorneys to have the oaths and applications for discharge filed in the court before the expiration of the period allotted by the law. To obviate this, the forms have been procured, filled up, and will be sent to the bankrupts or their attorneys in due course of time. A report upon this point has been made by Hon. Mr. Jenckes, the framer of the present bankrupt act and one of the committee in Congress on the "Revision of the Laws," an extract from which is as follows: 66 "That they have had said bill under consideration, and have come to the conclusions following: "By the 1st paragraph of the 29th section of the bankrupt act of March 2, 1867, it is provided “ “That at any time after the expiration of six months from the adjudication of bankruptcy, or if no debts have come to the hands of the assignee at any time after the expiration of sixty days and within one year from the adjudication of bankruptcy, the bankrupt may apply to the court for a discharge from his debts, &c.' "Some district judges have so construed this paragraph as to apply the limitation of one year to the filing of applications for discharge in all |