Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 5.djvu/797

IN ,BB DONNELLY* 785 �ownership 6t tHe said money xaay be determined by motion or rule, made by or on behalf of the said Dudley, inthe dis- trict court of the United States for the district bi New Jersey, and that the assignee shoald waive any objection to the right of the court to determine it Bummàrily. .'•■■' �On the sixteenth of April, 1878, Dudley filed bis ; peti- tion in this courte setting fbriih the îoregoing faets, and pfay- ing that the assignee show cause why he shouldnotipay the said $1,800.08 to the petitioneir. 1 i . >- �The assignee answered the jbetition, elaimirig the right to retaiin the money or assets of the bankrupt :eBtate for the benefit of the general creditors.i Eyidënoeiwa8^;Ei]ien,.iipona reference to the register .having the banknuptoy prodeedings •in charge; but be^fore the case came before the -court for hearing upon the merits, to-wit, NôYembîer 30, 1880, the petitioner filed anoiher petition here, settingup thàt Brothers had no claim upon the fund, for the reason that he was not the assignee of Donnelly & Hughes, the adjudication in bank- ruptcy against them being void for want of juFisdiction of the court over the case* It is insisted that this is a jurisdiotiorial matter, and ae such takes preoedence of ail other matters, and that it inày be raised at any time by aiiy one who is party to the bankruptcy proceedings. This seems at once tô sug- gest the question whether a creditor of a bankrupt, who has obtained a preference o.ver other creditors by proceedings in attachment a^inst bis debtor, will be aUôwed tocome in by petition and contest the validity oî the. adjudication in bank- ruptcy. Such a question is deoided by asoerta,ining who are parties to a cfceditors' petition. Some of the bankrupt courts baye held thàt only the petitioning creditors, on the one part, and the bankrupt on the other, are properly parties to the proceedings, (see Karr v. Whittaker, 5 N. Bi E. 123 ; Boston, H. de E. R. R. 5 N. B. E. 232; In re Bmh, 6 N. B. E. 179;) while ôthers have maintained Ithatan involuntary petition partakes of the nature of a; proceeding in rem, in whieh ail the creditors of the bankrupt hav^e: a direct interest, and heneë are entitled to be heard wbenôver they oan satisfy the court that their rights as creditors are to be affected by �T.5,no.9— 50 ����