Act of Mar. 4, 1938, ch. 41, 52 Stat. 84
An Act To amend an Act entitled “An Act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States”, approved July 1, 1898, and Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto
Seventy-Fifth Congress, Session III · Approved March 4, 1938
This is an unofficial transcription, prepared by Robert J. Pfister for ease of reading and copying. The authoritative text is the United States Statutes at Large.
United States Statutes at Large (PDF, 2 pages) (opens in a new tab) Unofficial transcription (PDF, 3 pages) (opens in a new tab)
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subsections (b) and (c) of section 75 of an Act entitled “An Act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States”, approved July 1, 1898, as amended, are amended to read as follows:
“(b) Upon filing of any petition by a farmer under this section there shall be paid a fee of $10, to be transmitted to the clerk of the court and covered into the Treasury. The conciliation commissioner shall receive as compensation for his services a fee of $25 for each case submitted to him when a composition or extension proposal has been effected and confirmed, or $10 in each case submitted to him in which there is no confirmation, to be paid out of the Treasury upon final disposition of each case. A supervising conciliation commissioner shall receive, as compensation for his services, a per diem allowance to be fixed by the court in an amount not in excess of $5 per day, together with subsistence and travel expenses in accordance with the law applicable to officers of the Department of Justice. Such compensation and expenses shall be paid out of the Treasury. If the creditors at any time desire supervision over the farming operations of a farmer, the cost of such supervision shall be borne by such creditors or by the farmer, as may be agreed upon by them, but in no instance shall the farmer be required to pay more than one-half of the cost of such supervision. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent a conciliation commissioner who supervises such farming operations from receiving such compensation therefor as may be so agreed upon. No fees, costs, or other charges shall be charged or taxed to any farmer or to his creditors by any conciliation commissioner or with respect to any proceeding under this section, except as hereinbefore in this section provided. The conciliation commissioner may accept and avail himself of office space, equipment, and assistance furnished him by other Federal officials, or by any State, county, or other public officials. The Supreme Court is authorized to make such general orders as it may find necessary properly to govern the administration of the office of conciliation commissioner and proceedings under this section; but any district court of the United States may, for good cause shown and in the interests of justice, permit any such general order to be waived.
“(c) At any time prior to March 4, 1940, a petition may be filed by any farmer, stating that the farmer is insolvent or unable to meet his debts as they mature, and that it is desirable to effect a composition or an extension of time to pay his debts. The petition or answer of the farmer shall be accompanied by his schedules. The petition and answer shall be filed with the court, but shall, on request of the farmer or creditor, be received by the conciliation commissioner for the county in which the farmer resides and promptly transmitted by him to the clerk of the court for filing. If any such petition is filed, an order of adjudication shall not be entered except as provided hereinafter in this section.”
Sec. 2.That Section 75 of said Act be further amended by amending Paragraph 5 of Subsection (s) to read as follows:
“This Act shall be held to apply to all existing cases now pending in any Federal Court, under this Section, as well as to future cases. All cases under this Section that have been dismissed by any conciliation commissioner, referee, or Federal Court because such Court erroneously assumed or held that Subsection (s) of Section 75 of this Act was unconstitutional, shall be promptly reinstated, without any additional filing fees or charges. Any farm debtor who has filed under the General Bankruptcy Act may take advantage of this section upon written request to the court; and a previous discharge of the debtor under any other section of this Act shall not be grounds for denying him the benefits of this section”.
Approved, March 4, 1938.