Supreme Tent of Knights of Maccabees of the World v. Cox

• Decision Date: 06 February 1901
• Citation: 60 S.W. 971
• Parties: SUPREME TENT OF KNIGHTS OF MACCABEES OF THE WORLD v. COX.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

60 S.W. 971

SUPREME TENT OF KNIGHTS OF MACCABEES OF THE WORLD v. COX.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas.

February 6, 1901.

Appeal from district court, Hull county; J. M. Hall, Judge.

Action by James M. Cox against the Supreme Tent of the Knights of the Maccabees of the World. From a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, defendant appeals. Affirmed in part and reversed in part.

L. C. Penry and Vaughan & Works, for appellant. A. W. Cunningham and Wear, Morrow & Smithdeal, for appellee.

NEILL, J.

This suit was brought by the appellee, James M. Cox, on May 3, 1899, against appellant, a mutual benefit society, upon a benefit certificate issued by the latter to the former on the 14th day of June, 1897, to recover the sum of $3,000. The original petition alleged that on the 26th day of July, 1897, appellee was totally and permanently disabled, and that by reason of the certificate issued and the laws of the order, which are set out in our conclusions of fact, appellant became liable and promised to pay appellee $3,000 as a liquidated sum, in annual installments of $300 each, until the whole sum of $3,000 should be paid, etc.; that appellee is entitled to have a judgment declaring the entire sum due and payable; but, in the event he is mistaken as to such right, that he is entitled to the sum due on said certificate at date of trial, and to a judgment requiring appellant to pay said annual installment to him during life, and at his death any unpaid balance to his wife and child. On March 22, 1900, the appellee filed a trial amendment, in which, after reiterating the facts pleaded in his original petition, he alleged appellant had breached its contract, to his damage in the sum of $3,000, for which amount he prayed judgment. The appellant answered by general and special exceptions and a general denial. The case was tried before a jury, to whom special issues were submitted, and the trial resulted in favor of appellee for the amount sued for, as to $647.60 of which, it being the amount past due on the contract, with interest, the judgment provided execution should issue forthwith, and that the balance, to wit, $2,400, should be payable in annual installments of $300 each, and that for such installments the appellee might have his execution against appellant for $300 not earlier than July 28 1900, and execution for the remaining installments of $300 each nor earlier than the 28th of July in each succeeding year, until the judgment is satisfied.

Conclusions of Fact.

On the 14th day of July, 1897, the appellant issued to appellee, as a member of its order, the benefit certificate sued on, entitling him to all the rights, benefits, and privileges of membership in said order. It provides that at appellee's death one assessment on the membership, not exceeding in amount the sum of $3,000, will be paid as a benefit to Alice and William, his wife and son, upon proper proof of appellee's death, together with the surrender of the certificate, provided he shall in every particular comply with the laws of the order in force, etc. Section 188 of the laws of the association provides that any member holding a benefit certificate, who shall become totally and permanently disabled, from any cause not the result of his own illegal act, to perform or direct any and all kinds of labor or business, or who shall arrive at the age of 70 years, and who has paid all legal dues and assessments since the date of his initiation to the date of such disability or period in life, shall be relieved from the payment of any further dues or assessments levied under these laws, or the by-laws of the tent of which he is a member, and shall be entitled to receive from the disability fund, annually, one-tenth part of the sum for which his benefit certificate was issued; provided, however, that the aggregate of such installments received by him shall in no case exceed the sum specified in such certificate; and provided, further, that any holder of a benefit certificate claiming the benefits of this section on the ground of disability shall submit to the supreme medical examiner such claim, accompanied by the affidavit of at least two reputable physicians, showing such disability to be total and permanent as aforesaid. Section 196 provides that on the 1st days of January, April, July, and October in each year the supreme finance keeper shall set aside from the general fund in his hands all money in excess of $2,000 over and above its liabilities at such date, said money to constitute a fund for the payment of total and permanent disability benefits, whether the same arise from disease, accident, or old age, and to be used for such purposes only. The supreme finance keeper shall open an account in the records of his office, to be known as the "Disability Benefit Fund," and all money so set aside from the general fund, as above provided, shall be by him credited to said fund, and all warrants issued in payment of total and permanent disability benefits after July 1, 1893, shall be drawn upon and paid out of such fund, so long as there shall be money enough therein to pay such warrants, and, if at any time there should not be enough money in said fund to pay said warrants, they shall in such case be paid from the life benefit funds in the hands of the supreme finance keeper. On July 28, 1897, the appellee, while engaged at his work as a railroad brakeman, sustained injuries, not the result of his own...