In re Pacific Lumber Fuel Co., 7 Cir., 1952, 194 F.2d 995; 3 Collier, On Bankruptcy, Section 57.11[3], page 186, n. 25 (14th ed. 1961). Our own Circuit, in Avidon v. Halpert, 2 Cir., 1944, 145 F.2d 884, in affirming sub nom. the district court's decision in In re Strikalite, Ltd., S.D.N.Y., 1944, 54 F. Supp. 419, significantly omitted to decide the correctness of the dictum of the lower court adopting this restrictive approach. And, in Public Operating Corp. v. Schneider, 2 Cir., 1944, 145 F.2d 830, affirming sub nom.
It should be observed that the two decisions last referred to, from this circuit and the tenth respectively, were decided after the Chandler Act had become effective and, though the opinions do not indicate that the courts were called upon to rule upon the point, they did so in each instance, sub silentia, by interpreting the statute as they did. Appellants urge in this respect that the District Court, in Re Srikalite, 54 F. Supp. 419, 421, adopted a sounder rule, in holding that since the Chandler Act became effective, the fact that as amended the Act requires a more formal claim than did the Acts involved in the earlier cases necessitates a much more strict rule as to allowance of amendment of claims, and in concluding that "The salvation offered by earlier decisions to a creditor at fault is denied him by this statute obviously for the purpose of speeding up the proceeding to an expeditious conclusion." Though the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed, it did so because there was nothing before the court in the way of a claim justifying, under any circumstance, an order permitting an amendment; it said, concerning the application of the amended Act, "Whether the Chandler Act has established stricter requirements which make inapplicable cases involving amendment of claims under the statute as it formerly existed has not yet been authoritatively determined.
Proceeding in the matter of Strikalite, Limited, Incorporated, bankrupt, wherein Israel G. Halpert was appointed trustee in bankruptcy and wherein Jacob Avidon was a creditor. From an order, 54 F. Supp. 419, confirming an order of the referee denying the creditor's application for leave to file an amended proof of claim, Jacob Avidon appeals. Affirmed.
In any event, the 1938 amendment makes discussion of the point unnecessary, because it is clear that under the present law the petitioner has no basis for an amendment. In the case of In re Strikalite, Limited, Inc., D.C., 54 F. Supp. 419, 420, Judge Clancy, dealing with this problem, said: "Prior to the amendment of the Act in 1938, courts strained to sustain creditors' rights to a dividend by permitting amendment of claims that had the flimsiest forms after the statutory period for filing had elapsed.
These creditors rely upon the benevolent policy of many courts in allowing so-called amendments of that which could be recognized as claims only by the most expert penetration of disguise, antedating the 1938 amendment to the Act. These cases are referred to in Avidon v. Halpert, 2 Cir., 145 F.2d 884, in which the decision below, In re Strikalite, Ltd., D.C., 54 F. Supp. 419, of Judge Clancy, was affirmed. That too was a bankruptcy which started as an attempted arrangement, the adjudication following the petition at the end of five days. A corporate officer had testified in a 21a proceeding respecting unpaid salary items owing to him, but he did not attempt to file a claim until over six months had elapsed, following the first meeting of creditors.