Cumberland Glass Manufacturing Co. v. De Witt & Co.

Citations

• 237 U.S. 447
• 35 S. Ct. 636
• 59 L. Ed. 1042
• 1915 U.S. LEXIS 1353

Syllabus

<p>A plea of former judgment in a Federal court adjudicating a right of Federal origin, asserts a right which if denied makes the case reviewable here under § 237, Judicial Code. Deposit Bank v. Frankfort, ■ 191U.S.499.</p> <p>The effect of a composition proceeding as provided in the Bankruptcy Act is to substitute that proceeding for the bankruptcy proceeding and in a measure to supersede the latter, and, when the composition is. confirmed, to reinvest the bankrupt with all his property free from claims of his creditors.</p> <p>Composition proceedings arise from the bankruptcy proceedings and this part of the statute is to be construed with the entire act. Wilmot v. Mudge, 103 U. S. 217.</p> <p>The restoration of his estate to the bankrupt after a composition restores to him the right of action upon choses in action. Cf. Stone v. Jenkins, 176 Massachusetts, 544.</p> <p>The object of the set-off provision in § 68-a of the Bankruptcy Act is to permit the statement of accounts between the bankrupt and his creditor with a view to the application of the doctrine of set-off between mutual debts and credits; it is permissive rather than mandatory, does not enlarge the doctrine of set-off and cannot be invoked where the general principles of set-off would not justify it.</p> <p>The set-off provision in § 68-a of the Bankruptcy Act is not self-executing and its benefit is to be had only upon the action of the District Court when it is properly invoked.</p> <p>After composition had been affirmed by the Bankruptcy Court against the opposition of a creditor, a claim against whom by the bankrupt had been scheduled as an asset, the creditor, without applying to the District Gourt to set off the mutual claims, accepted the composition dividend, after which the bankrupt sued on the scheduled claim. Held that:</p> <p>The effect of the composition was to reinvest the bankrupt with all of his assets including the right to maintain a suit on the choses of actions including this claim