her that whoever should keep for the purpose
of prostitution "any alien woman or girl within three years after she
shall have entered the United States" should be deemed guilty of a
felony and punished therefor.[1082] Three Justices, however, thought the
measure justifiable on the principle that "for the purpose of excluding
those who unlawfully enter this country Congress has power to retain
control over aliens long enough to make sure of the facts. * * * To this
end it may make their admission conditional for three years. * * *"
[And] "if Congress can forbid the entry * * *, it can punish those who
cooperate in their fraudulent entry."[1083]

Bankruptcy

PERSONS WHO MAY BE RELEASED FROM DEBT

In an early case on circuit Justice Livingston suggested that inasmuch
as the English statutes on the subject of bankruptcy from the time of
Henry VIII down had applied only to traders it might "well be doubted,
whether an act of Congress subjecting to such a law every description of
persons within the United States, would comport with the spirit of the
powers vested in them in relation to this subject."[1084] Neither
Congress nor the Supreme Court has ever accepted this limited view. The
first bankruptcy law, passed in 1800, departed from the English practice
to the extent of including bankers, brokers, factors and underwriters as
well as traders.[1085] Asserting that the narrow scope of the English
statutes was a mere matter of policy, which by no means entered into the
nature of such laws, Justice Story defined a law on the subject of
bankruptcies in the sense of the Constitution as a law making provisions
for cases of persons failing to pay their debts.[1086] This
interpretation has been ratified by the Supreme Court. In Hanover
National Bank _v._ Moyses,[1087] it held valid the Bankruptcy Act of
1898 which provided that persons other than traders might become
bankrupts and that this might be done on voluntary petition. The Court
has given tacit approval to the extension of the bankruptcy laws to
cover practically all classes of persons and corporations,[1088]
including even municipal corporations.[1089]

LIBERALIZATION OF RELIEF GRANTED

As the coverage of the bankruptcy laws has been expanded, the scope of
the relief afforded to debtors has been correspondingly enlarged. The
act of 1800, like its English antecedents, was designed primarily for
the benefit of creditors. Beginning with the act of 1841, which opened