mortgagee, or shall dispose of or secrete the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be imprisoned in the county jail not exceeding three years.

Mortgages of personal property, when the debt is due, may be foreclosed by notice and sale, or by action in the Superior Court. A mortgagee may take possession of the mortgaged property when the debt has become due; or when not due and the mortgagee has reasonable ground to believe the debt is insecure, and sell the same after giving notice.

CHAPTER XXV.

INTEREST.

The legal rate of interest is ten per cent. per annum in the absence of any contract in writing fixing a different rate. Parties may contract in writing for any rate of interest that they may agree upon.

CHAPTER XXVI.

BILLS OF EXCHANGE AND PROMISSORY NOTES. On all bills of exchange, promissory notes, orders and drafts payable at a future day certain, three days' grace shall be allowed, unless otherwise expressly stipulated. The fourth day of July and the twenty-fifth day of December, shall, for the purpose of presentment and acceptance, and of protesting and giving notice of dishonor of bills of exchange, promissory notes, drafts and checks, be treated as Sunday.

An acceptance must be in writing, signed by the acceptor, or his lawful agent. If the acceptance is written on a paper other than the bill, it shall not bind the acceptor, except in favor of an innocent holder of such paper for valuable consideration.

An unconditional promise in writing to accept a bill before

it is drawn, shall be deemed an acceptance, in favor of every person, who, upon the faith thereof received the bill for valuable consideration. A refusal to write the acceptance on the bill is a refusal to accept, and the bill may be protested for non-acceptance.

If a bill is delivered to a drawee for acceptance, and he destroys the same, or refuses to accept within twenty-four hours after delivery, shall be deemed to have accepted.

The rate of damages for protest of bills of exchange for non-payment, drawn or endorsed in this State, payable without the limits of the United States, is ten per cent., if out of the State but within the United States, five per cent.

TAXES.

Household furniture to the value of two hundred dollars for each family; all wearing apparel in actual use, and food, not to exceed one year's supply, is exempt. Personal property, which has been consigned from any place out of the State, to be sold in the State, is subject to taxation. Taxes are delinquent on the first day of March in each year, after which the Sheriff shall collect all delinquent taxes, with the per cent. penalty, and interest at the rate of ten per cent. until paid. Tax sales commence on the first Monday in August of each year; the Sheriff must give notice by publication for three consecutive weeks, or by posting printed notices. Lands sold for taxes may be redeemed by former owner, mortgagor, execution or attaching creditors, within three years, on payment of delinquent taxes, with interest at twenty per cent. per annum, and costs, charges, and accruing taxes.

CHAPTER XXVII.

INSOLVENT LAWS.

Every insolvent debter may be discharged from his debts on executing an assignment of all his property, real, personal or mixed, for the benefit of all his creditors, in compliance with

No general assignment of property by an insolvent, or in contemplation of insolvency, for the benefit of creditors, shall be valid unless it be made for the benefit of all his creditors in proportion to the amount of their respective claims. And such assignment shall have the effect to discharge any and all attachments on which judgments have not been taken at the date of such assignment; and after the payment of costs and disbursements thereof, including the attorneys' fees allowed by law in case of judgment out of the estate of the insolvent, such claim or claims shall be deemed as presented, and shall pro rata with other claims.

Every assignment shall be in writing, acknowledged and recorded.

Two or more creditors may, within thirty days from the making or recording of the assignment, through the Judge of Superior Court, have a meeting of creditors called to choose an assignee in lieu of the assignee named in the assignment. Such creditors may appear in person or by proxy with verified claims, and a majority in number and value of said creditors attending such meeting shall select one or more assignees.

Assignee shall give bonds.

Assignee shall give notice to creditors to file their claims under oath within three months. All creditors who shall not exhibit their claims within the three months shall not participate in the dividends until after payment in full of all claims presented within the three months and allowed by the Court. •

If estate realizes fifty per cent. net of allowed claims, and there is no fraud on the part of the debtor, he shall be entitled to a discharge from his debts.

All laws in conflict with this are repealed.

the provisions of the Act of the Legislative Assembly, approved January 31, 1867, provided said assignment "be made bona fide and without fraud."

The Superior Court has original jurisdiction in matters of insolvency. The insolvent debtor petitions the Judge having original jurisdiction within his place of domicile or usual residence, briefly stating the causes which compel him to surrender his property to his creditors, and prays to make a cession of his estate and be discharged from his debts; he shall annex to said petition a schedule containing a summary statement of his affairs, a list of the losses he may have sustained, giving the names of his creditors, if known, amount due to each creditor, the cause and nature of such indebtedness and when it accrued, and a statement of any existing judgment, mortgage, collateral or other securities for the payment of any such debt; it shall contain a full, complete and perfect inventory of all his property, real, personal and mixed; of all choses in action; debts due and to become due, and all moneys on hand, and a full statement of all incumbrances on his property. He shall estimate and set forth in said schedule his property at its cash value.

He shall subscribe and swear to the schedule. (The form of the oath is given in the statute, and it is exceedingly strong and forcible.)

The Judge then makes an order requiring all the creditors to show cause why an assignment should not be made, and the insolvent discharged from his debts.

The homestead, if any, and property exempt from execution, shall be set forth, included in the schedule, but it is the duty of the Judge to set it apart for the use and benefit of the insolvent. The insolvent shall, on or before the day appointed for the meeting of his creditors, deliver to the Court all his books of account, and vouchers, notes, bonds, bills, securities, or other evidences of debt, bearing on the property surrendered, and they shall be filed and ultimately delivered to the assignee who may be appointed.

A notice is published by the Clerk of the Court directing