the release. If a release is withheld, the court may, on the
application of any person interested, make such order against the trustee
as it thinks just. The release when granted operates as a removal from
office, and thereupon the official receiver again becomes trustee, and is
thus in a position, even after the nominal close of the bankruptcy, to deal
with any circumstances which may arise, or which have not been foreseen and
provided for.

_Small Bankruptcies._

When the official receiver reports, or the court is otherwise satisfied
that the debtor's property is not likely to realize more than L300, the
court may make an order for the summary administration of the estate, in
which case, if the debtor is adjudged bankrupt, the official receiver in
the ordinary course becomes and remains trustee, and certain other
modifications are effected with the view of simplifying [v.03 p.0329] and
accelerating the procedure. The chief of these modifications are as
follows, viz. the Board of Trade acts as committee of inspection; there is
no advertisement of the proceedings in a local paper; in legal proceedings
all questions of law and fact are determined by the court without a jury;
adjudication may be made on a report by the official receiver before the
first meeting of creditors where no composition or scheme is proposed;
meetings of creditors may be held in the town where the court sits or the
official receiver's office is situated; notice to creditors of meetings
other than the first meeting, or of application by a debtor for his
discharge, are dispensed with in the case of creditors for amounts not
exceeding L2. Costs, other than a solicitor's charges, may be paid without
taxation; and the time for declaring the first dividend is extended to six
months, but the whole estate must be realized and distributed within this
period if practicable. No modification, however, is permitted in the
procedure relating to the public examination and discharge of the bankrupt.
Notwithstanding that an order has been made for summary administration, the
creditors may at any time by a resolution passed by a majority in number
and three-fourths in value of those voting at the meeting, appoint a
trustee in place of the official receiver, in which case the summary order
ceases to be operative.

_Scottish Bankruptcy Legislation._

In Scotland, as in England, the law of bankruptcy arose as a remedy against
the frauds of insolvent debtors. It was