ance at a meeting of creditors were disallowed and the claimants excluded from voting, the court has power, after they have been allowed upon appeal, to set aside the election, provided that their votes, if cast, would have changed the result.13 It has been held that the referee has power to exclude the votes of proxies obtained from creditors by or on behalf of the bankrupts to be used in voting for a trustee of his choice; that the holders of such proxies in that case should not be counted as present at the election; and that the referee may then refuse to allow a postponement and may direct the election to proceed.1 Where a trustee elected by the creditors is disapproved by the court, or declines to act, or fails to qualify, a vacancy arises which must be filled by a new election if practicable. Appointments by the referee have been sustained when there was immediate need of action by a trustee, and after two sessions of a creditors' meeting, upon successive days, there was a failure to obtain a majority for any one; 16 and where, at the first creditors' meeting, there was no request that an election be had nor a nomination of any candidate.17 When, at a meeting of creditors, objections are made to the person elected as trustee and the referee takes them under advisement, the meeting should be adjourned for a new election then, in case the objections are sustained and the appointment disapproved.18 § 484. Qualifications, duties and powers of trustees."Trustees may be (1) individuals who are respectively competent to perform the duties of that office, and reside or have an office in the judicial district within which they are appointed, or (2) corporations authorized by their charters or by law to act in such capacity and having an office in the judicial district within which they are appointed."1 13 Ibid. 14 Falter et al. v. Reinhard, 104 Fed. R. 292; s. c. as In re McGill (C. C. A.), 106 Fed. R. 57. “Ordinarily, the creditor whose claim has been allowed should be permitted to vote in person or by proxy, and any question as to whether his vote has been improperly influenced should be reserved until the referee is called upon to approve the election, when the parties can be fully heard and a new election or- "(a) Trustees shall respectively (1) account for and pay over to the estate under their control all interest received by them upon property of such estates; (2) collect and reduce to money the property of the estates for which they are trustees, under the direction of the court, and close up the estate as expeditiously as is compatible with the best interests of the parties in interest; (3) deposit all money received by them in one of the designated depositories; (4) disburse money only by check or draft on the depositories in which it has been deposited; (5) furnish such information concerning the estates of which they are trustees and their administration as may be requested by parties in interest; (6) keep regular accounts showing all amounts received and from what sources and all amounts expended and on what accounts; (7) lay before the final meeting of the creditors detailed statements of the administration of the estates; (8) make final reports and file final accounts with the courts fifteen days before the days fixed for the final meetings of the creditors; (9) pay dividends within ten days after they are declared by the referees; (10) report to the courts, in writing, the condition of the estates and the amount of money on hand, and such other details as may be required by the courts, within the first month after their appointment and every two months thereafter, unless otherwise ordered by the courts; and (11) set apart the bankrupt's exemptions and report the items and estimated value thereof to the court as soon as practicable after their appointment. (b) Whenever three trustees have been appointed for an estate, the concurrence of at least two of them shall be necessary to the validity of their every act concerning the administration of the estate."? 230 St. at L 544, 550, § 46. Cf. Merchants' Nat. Bank v. Slagle, 106 U. S. 558. The court has the power, upon the application of the trustee, to order the bankrupt to deliver to him money or property in the latter's possession or under his control and which are part of the assets. In re Purvine (C. C. A.),96 Fed. R. 192; In re Tudor, 100 Fed. R. 796; In re Schlesinger, 97 Fed. R. 930; In re Deuell, 100 Fed. R. 633; In re Rosser, 96 Fed. R. 308; In re McCormick, 97 Fed. R. 566; In re Brooks, 91 Fed. R. 508; In re Mayer, "The death or removal of a trustee shall not abate any suit or proceeding which he is prosecuting or defending at the time of his death or removal, but the same may be proceeded with or defended by his joint trustee or successor in the same manner as though the same had been commenced or was being defended by such joint trustee alone or by such successor." "The accounts and papers of trustees shall be open to the inspection of officers and all parties in interest." "(b) Trustees, before entering upon the performance of their official duties, and within ten days after their appointment, or within such further time, not to exceed five days, as the court may permit, shall respectively qualify by entering into bond to the United States, with such sureties as shall be approved by the courts, conditioned for the faithful performance of their official duties. (c) The creditors of a bankrupt estate, at their first meeting, after the adjudication, or after a vacancy has occurred in the office of trustee, or after an estate has been reopened, or after a composition has been set aside or a discharge revoked, if there is a vacancy in the office of trustee, shall fix the amount of the bond of the trustee; they may at any time increase the amount of the bond. If the creditors do not fix the amount of the bond of the trustee as herein provided the court shall do so. (d) The court shall require evidence as to the actual value of the property of sureties. (e) There shall be at least two sureties upon each bond. (f) The actual value of the property of the sureties, over and above their liabilities and exemptions, on each bond shall equal at least the amount of such bond. (g) Corporations organized for the purpose of becoming sureties upon bonds, or authorized by law to do so. may be accepted as sureties upon the bonds of referees and trustees whenever the courts are satisfied that the rights of all parties in interest will be thereby amply protected. (h) Bonds of referees, trustees, and designated depositories shall be filed of record in the office of the clerk of the court and may be sued upon in the name of the United States for the use of any person injured by a breach of their conditions. Fed. R. 930. The order is void unless notice of the application is given to the bankrupt. In re Rosser (C. C. A.), 101 Fed. R. 562. 330 St. at L. 546, 557, § 46. (i) Trustees shall not be liable, personally or on their bonds, to the United States, for any penalties or forfeitures incurred by the bankrupts under this act, of whose estates they are respectively trustees. (j) Joint trustees may give joint or several bonds. () If any referee or trustee shall fail to give bond, as herein provided and within the time limited, he shall be deemed to have declined his appointment, and such failure shall create a vacancy in his office." "Suits upon trustees' bonds shall not be brought subsequent to two years after the estate has been closed." "(a) The trustee may, pursuant to the direction of the court, submit to arbitration any controversy arising in the settlement of the estate. (b) Three arbitrators shall be chosen by mutual consent, or one by the trustee, one by the other party to the controversy, and the third by the two so chosen, or if they fail to agree in five days after their appointment, the court shall appoint the third arbitrator. (c) The written finding of the arbitrators, or a majority of them, as to the issues presented, may be filed in court and shall have like force and effect as the verdict of a jury." "(a) The trustee may, with the approval of the court, compromise any controversy arising in the administration of the estate upon such terms as he may deem for the best interests of the estate. (b) The court may order the trustee to enter his appearance and defend any pen ling suit against the bankrupt. (c) A trustee may, with the approval of the court, be permitted to prosecute as trustee any suit commenced by the bankrupt prior to the adjudication with like force and effect as though it had been commenced by him. (d) Suits shall not be brought by or against a trustee of a bankrupt estate subsequent to two years after the estate has been closed." 530 St. at L. 544, 558, § 50. 6 Ibid. 730 St. at L. 544, 553, § 26. It has been held that the court may set aside the award of the arbitrators for any reason that would justify a new trial of an action at common law. In re McLam, 97 Fed. R. 922. And that it may be set aside when the third arbitrator was selected by the contending parties instead of by the two arbitrators respectively selected by them. In re McLam, 97 Fed. R. 922. This 8 30 St. at L. 544, 555, § 27. 9 30 St. at L. 544, 549, § 11. does not authorize his substitution in a suit such as an action for malicious prosecution, the proceeds of which form no part of the assets. In re Haensell, 91 Fed. R. 355. trustee is bound in collateral pro The 66 (a) The trustee of the estate of a bankrupt, upon his appointment and qualification, and his successor or successors, if he shall have one or more, upon his or their appointment and qualification, shall in turn be vested by operation of law with the title of the bankrupt, as of the date he was adjudged a bankrupt, except in so far as it is to property which is exempt, to all (1) documents relating to his property; (2) interests in patents, patent-rights, copyrights, and trade-marks; (3) powers he might have exercised for his own benefit, but not those which he might have exercised for some other person; (4) property transferred by him in fraud of his creditors; (5) property which prior to the filing of the petition he could by any means have transferred or which might have been levied upon and sold under judicial process against him: Provided, that when any bankrupt shall have any insurance policy which has a cash-surrender value payable to himself, his estate, or personal representatives, he may, within thirty days after the cash-surrender value has been ascertained and stated to the trustee by the company issuing the same, pay or secure to the trustee the sum so ascertained and stated, and continue to hold, own, and carry such policy free from the claims of the creditors participating in the distribution of his estate under the bankruptcy proceedings, otherwise the policy shall pass to the trustee as assets; and (6) rights of action arising upon contracts or from the unlawful taking or detention of, or injury to, his property. (b) All real and personal property belonging to bankrupt estates shall be appraised by three disinterested appraisers; they shall be appointed by, and report to, the court. Real and personal property shall, when practicable, be sold, subject to the approval of the court; it shall not be sold otherwise than subject to the approval of the court for less than seventy-five per centum of its appraised value. (c) The title to property of a bankrupt estate which has been sold, as herein provided, shall be conveyed to the purchaser by the trustee. (d) Whenever a composition shall be set aside, or discharge revoked, the trustee shall, upon his appointment and qualification, be vested as ceedings by a judgment against him in a suit in which he was substituted for the bankrupt. In re Van Alstyne, 100 Fed. R. 929. For a case holding that the trustee was estopped by his failure to intervene in a pending suit, see Frazier v. So. L. & Tr. Co. (C. C. A.), 99 Fed. R. 707. |