Word: courting
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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Bankruptcy. A business man possesses $50,000. He owes $200,000. He goes, or is thrown, into bankruptcy. A U. S. court takes over his $50,000 assets, turns them into cash at auction, equitably distributes the proceedings among the bankrupt's creditors in extinguishment of all claims, at the rate of 25? (less court costs) on the dollar. He is discharged free of debt, but with his credit badly blotted...
...Straight Bust: A business man, through bad commercial judgment or bad markets, overstrains his credit, owes more than he can pay, gives up all assets to the Court, conscientiously assists in settling his debts...
...Crooked Bust: A business man deliberately uses his credit to obtain excessive loans or merchandise, conceals his assets from the court, defrauds his creditors...
...Court. Bankruptcy cases strain the integrity of the best U. S. courts. Countless dollars are held in trust by the court, countless assistants are named to administer them. The judicial machinery is cumbersome and complex, understood only by legal experts. Large are the potentialities for graft and corruption...
...theory the court guards the bankrupt's assets, with all the moral rigor of the U. S. behind it. In practice the judge appoints a supposedly disinterested and trustworthy person as receiver who does the actual work, subject only to final court review. The Federal law fixes the service charges a receiver may make upon the assets, ranging from 6% on $500 or less, down to 1% on $10,000 or more. In effect the creditors pay the receiver from funds they would otherwise get. Thus receiverships are profitable political plums whereby many a lawyer swells his income...