sum of money therein mentioned, shall be due and payable as therein expressed, and shall have the same effect, and be negotiable in like manner, as inland bills of exchange, according to the custom of merchants.

Days of grace are allowed upon bills and promissory notes where not otherwise expressed.

Damages for non-acceptance of bills of exchange upon the usual protest are as follows, when drawn or negotiated in this State:

If such bills shall have been drawn upon any person or persons in any of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, fifteen dollars upon the hundred upon the principal sum specified in such bill.

If such bill shall have been drawn upon any person or persons in any part or place in Europe, or in any foreign country, twenty dollars upon the hundred upon the principal sum specified in such bill.

CHAPTER XXIII.

MORTGAGES.

A mortgage of real property, whatever its terms, shall not be deemed a conveyance, so as to enable the owner of the mortgage to recover possession of the real property without a foreclosure and sale.

CHAPTER XXIV.

JOINT DEBTORS-RELEASE OF-ACT 1866.

Any one of two or more joint debtors, or parties jointly, or jointly and severally, bound by any contract or judgment, may be released from his, her, or its liability upon such contract or judgment by the creditor or creditors, and such release shall not operate, nor be held to operate, in law as a release to the other debtor or debtors upon such contract or judgment, ex

cept as to the released debtor's proportion of such liability or debt, estimated upon the basis of the number of such debtors; but such release shall operate only as a release of all liability of such debtor to the creditor in such contract or judgment, and as a credit upon the same of such proportionate sum as herein provided.

It shall not be necessary to make the party released, as provided in the foregoing section, a party to any action upon such contract, but the creditor or creditors aforesaid may pursue the remaining debtors for the remaining portion of such debt, the same as though no such release had been made.

CHAPTER XXV.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS.

Insolvent debtors may be discharged from their debts by petitioning the District Court and executing an assignment for benefit of creditors; providing it be made in good faith and without fraud.

All attachments on the property of the debtor levied within one month prior to the filing of the petition, are dissolved, and attaching creditors shall pro rate with other creditors, except that their costs shall be paid in full.

The assignee is appointed by a majority vote, in amount, of the proved claims of creditors.

Assignee to give bonds; the amount thereof to be fixed by the creditors, and if not by them, then by the Judge.

Assignee to be allowed commissions on net amount realized as follows: eight per cent. upon a sum not exceeding $10,000; five per cent. upon sums above $10,000, and not exceeding $30,000; three per cent. upon all sums above $30,000.

No discharge shall be granted, unless at the time of filing petition the debtor shall have surrendered property (not exempt) the cash value of which shall amount to at least fifty per cent. of the amount of liabilities, unless three-fourths in

number of his creditors, and one-third in amount consent, in writing, to his discharge.

If the debtor has already received the benefit of this insolvent law, he shall not be discharged unless the property surrendered by him amounts to at least fifty per cent. of his liabilities, or unless three-fourths of his creditors, in number and amount, consent thereto in writing.

An adjudication of insolvency may be made on the petition of five or more creditors, residents of this State, whose debts or demands accrued in this State, and amount in the aggregate to not less than five hundred dollars; provided, that said creditors, or either of them, have not become creditors by assignment within thirty days prior to the filing of said petition; such petition must be filed in the District Court of the county, or city and county, in which the debtor resides or has his place of business, and must be verified by at least three of the petitioners, setting forth that such person is about to depart from the State with intent to defraud his creditors, or being absent from the State with such intent, remains absent, or conceals himself to avoid the service of legal process, or, being insolvent, has suffered his property to remain under attachment or legal process for four days, or has confessed or offered to allow judgment in favor of any creditors, or willfully suffered judgment to be taken against him by default, or has suffered or procured his property to be taken on legal process with intent to give a preference to one or more of his creditors, or has made an assignment, gift, sale, conveyance or transfer of his estate, property, rights or credits, with intent to delay, defraud or hinder his creditors, or, in contemplation of insolvency, has made any payment, gift, grant, sale, conveyance or transfer of his estate, property, rights or credits, or has been arrested or held in custody by virtue of any civil process of Court founded on any debt or demand, and such process remains in force and not discharged by payment or otherwise for a period of four days, or, being a merchant or tradesman, has stopped or suspended and not resumed payment within a period of forty days after maturity of any written acknowl

edgment of indebtedness, unless the party holding such acknowledgment has, in writing, waived the right to proceed under this subdivision; or, being a bank or banker, agent, broker, factor, or commission merchant, has failed for forty days to pay any moneys deposited with, or received by him in a fiduciary capacity, upon demand of payment, except savings and loan banks, or associations who loan the money of their stockholders and depositors, on real estate, and provided in their by-laws for the repayment of such deposits.

Partnerships and corporations are included in the provisions of this insolvent law, except that corporations shall not receive a discharge.