ORDINANCE No. 3 OF 1846.
Insolvent Debtors.
account of any such assignee or assignees, so rendered upon oath as aforesaid, and it shall appear to the said Court that the matters of such account require a fuller or further examination; or in case any such assignee or assignees shall neglect to render such account, or shall neglect to dispose of the property or collect the effects of such prisoner, or shall in any manner waste or mismanage the estate or effects of such prisoner, or neglect to make a due distribution thereof,-it shall be lawful for the said Court to require such assignee or assignees to render such account on oath as is directed by this Ordinance, if not before rendered, and for the said Court to examine or further examine any account so rendered, and to enquire into any waste, mismanagement, or neglect of the estate and effects of such prisoner, and, if it shall seem fit, to order that it shall be referred to an officer of the said Court, or to an examiner duly appointed in pursuance of this Ordinance to investigate the accounts of such assignee or assignees so rendered as aforesaid, together with all matters brought forward in objection thereto, and to examine into the truth thereof, and to report thereon to the said Court: and it shall and may be lawful for the said Court, or such officer or examiner, upon such reference as aforesaid, to require and compel the production of all books, papers, and writings necessary for such purposes, and to summon all parties and their witnesses on oath as the case may require; and the said Court shall and may take all such measures as shall be necessary for the compelling of the rendering of such account and for the due investigation thereof, and shall have power to disallow any charge or charges in such account which it shall appear to the said Court ought not in fairness to be allowed, and to ascertain the produce of the estate and effects of any such prisoner to be divided among his or her creditors, and to direct the distribution thereof, and to take all such measures and make such order as may be necessary for compelling the proper disposition and distribution thereof, and to award costs against any of the parties, as justice shall require; and that if shall appear to the said Court upon any examination of the matters of account that any such assignee or assignees shall have wilfully retained in his or her hands, or otherwise employed for his or their own benefit, any sum or sums of money, part of or being the produce of such estate or effects, the said Court shall have power and authority to order such assignee or assignees to be charged, in his or their accounts with the estate of such prisoner, with such sum or sums of money as shall be equal to the amount of interest, computed at a rate not exceeding twenty pounds per centum per annum on all sums of money appearing to the said Court to be so retained or employed by him or them for the time or times during which he or they shall have so retained or employed the same; and the said Court shall, in pursuance of such order, charge such assignee or assignees in their accounts with such sum or sums of money accordingly; and the decisions of the said Court upon all such matters shall be final and conclusive.
26. And be it further enacted and ordained, that in all cases where any dividend or dividends have remained in the hands of any assignee or assignees for the space of twelve months next following the declaring thereof, such dividend or dividends shall be paid by such assignee or assignees into the said Court to be placed to the credit of the
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ified with assignee's account, the Court may direct inquiry.
Court may charge assignee with twenty per cent on money wilfully retained.
Assignees to pay unclaimed dividends into Court.