According to the provisions of the Bankruptcy Acts of 1883 and 1890, by which bankruptcy is now regulated in England, a man being on debt, whether a trader or not, is considered by law to commit an act of bankruptcy in the following cases :-

(a) If in England, or elsewhere, he makes a conveyance or assignment of his property to a trustee or trustees for the benefit of his creditors generally;

(b) If in England, or elsewhere, he makes a fraudulent conveyance, gift, delivery, or transfer of his property, or of any part thereof;

(c) If in England, or elsewhere, he makes any conveyance or transfer of his property, or any part thereof, or creates any charge thereon, which would be void as a fraudulent preference if he were adjudged bankrupt;

ADVERTISEMENTS:

(d) If, with intent to defeat or delay creditors, he does any of the following things, viz. :-departs out of England, or, being out of England, remains so, or departs from his dwelling-house, or otherwise absents himself, or begins to keep house;

(e) If execution issued against him has been levied by seizure and sale of his goods, under process in an action in any Court, or in an- civil proceeding in the High Court, and the goods have been either sold or held by the sheriff for twenty-one days;

(f) If he files in the Court a declaration of his inability to pay his debts, or presents a bankruptcy petition against himself;

(g) If a creditor has obtained a final judgment against him for any amount, and execution thereon not having been stayed, has served on him in England, or, by leave of the Court, elsewhere, a bankruptcy notice requiring him to pay the judg­ment debt in accordance with the terms of the judgment, or to secure or compound for it to the satisfaction of the creditor or the Court, and he does not within seven days after service is effected in England, and if elsewhere then within the time limited in that behalf by the order giving leave to effect the service, either comply with the requirements of the notice, or satisfy the Court that he has a counter claim, set off, or cross demand which equals or exceeds the amount of the judgment debt, and which he could not set up in the action in which the judg­ment was obtained;

ADVERTISEMENTS:

(h) If the debtor gives notice to any of his credi­tors that he has suspended, or is about to suspend, payment of his debts.