In Re Shear

The bankrupt, as petitioner here, has filed with this Court a petition for a review of an order of the Referee, adjudicating him an involuntary bankrupt after finding that the bankrupt was not a “wage earner” within the meaning of the Bankruptcy Act, Title 11 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq. The facts are that the bankrupt was employed as a truck dispatcher with an income of $600 per month at the times that are pertinent to these proceedings, and it was on the basis of these facts that the Referee made his determination that the bankrupt was not, for the purpose of these proceedings, a “wage earner.”

Section 4, sub. b of the Bankruptcy Act, Title 11 U.S.C.A. § 22 , sub. b, provides, in part, that “Any natural person, except a wage earner or farmer, * * * owing debts to the amount of $1,000 or over, may be adjudged an involuntary bankrupt * * * ”, and Clause (32), in § 1, of the Bankruptcy Act, Title 11 U.S.C.A. § 1 , defines a “wage earner” as “an individual who works for wages, salary, or hire, at a rate of compensation not exceeding $1,500 per year.”

The petitioner contends that the portion of § 1, of the Bankruptcy Act, applicable to this proceeding, is void and unconstitutional because…