Arkwright Club of City of New York v. United States, No. 50065.
| Court | Court of Federal Claims |
| Writing for the Court | JONES, , and LITTLETON, WHITAKER and MADDEN |
| Citation | 127 Ct. Cl. 247,117 F. Supp. 411 |
| Parties | ARKWRIGHT CLUB OF CITY OF NEW YORK, Inc. v. UNITED STATES. |
| Docket Number | No. 50065. |
| Decision Date | 05 January 1954 |
117 F. Supp. 411
127 Ct. Cl. 247
ARKWRIGHT CLUB OF CITY OF NEW YORK, Inc.
v.
UNITED STATES.
No. 50065.
United States Court of Claims.
January 5, 1954.
John C. Reid, Washington, D. C., for plaintiff. Ivins, Phillips & Barker, Washington, D. C., were on the briefs.
A. Barr Comstock, Washington, D. C., with whom was H. Brian Holland, Asst. Atty. Gen., for defendant. Ellis N. Slack and Andrew D. Sharpe, Washington, D. C., were on the brief.
Before JONES, Chief Judge, and LITTLETON, WHITAKER and MADDEN, Judges.
WHITAKER, Judge.
The question presented here is whether the members of this club are members of a social club and, therefore, subject to tax on initiation fees and dues paid to the club. The test is whether the social features of the club are a material purpose of its organization and maintenance or whether they are only incidental to a predominant purpose not social, such as religion, the arts, sciences, or business.
In its certificate of incorporation the incorporators stated that the objects for which the club was being formed were "the social and mutual benefit of the members thereof and to provide for such members a pleasant place of common resort for entertainment." If the club continued to seek these objects it was certainly a social club.
However, in 1944, some 51 years later, the club adopted bylaws which read in part:
"The purpose of the Club shall be to establish and maintain quarters
and accessories wherein its members, their associates, clients and business friends may obtain their meals and have available private rooms suitable for business conferences."
If these bylaws expressed the only purpose of the club, it would seem that its social features were only incidental, but, as we shall later see, this was not the only purpose of the club.
Any male person, twenty-one years of age and of good character, was eligible to membership in the club, but all of its 1,088 members, resident and nonresident, except 67, were connected with the textile industry. It was used primarily at the luncheon hour, and to a much lesser extent in the late afternoon. Members met for luncheon either to discuss business or for social intercourse, as they might choose. Members met in the afternoon either for business or for social intercourse.
Ladies were admitted to the club, but there were no private quarters for them other than a powder room.
The club had five standing committees: house, finance, membership, affiliations, and entertainment. The extent of the activities of the entertainment committee is not shown, but this committee was one of the five standing committees, and it was continued...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Epstein v. United States, No. 20-63.
...Furniture Club of America v. United States, 67 F.Supp. 764 (N.D.Ill., 1946); Arkwright Club of City of New York v. United States, 117 F.Supp. 411, 127 Ct.Cl. 247 (1954); Gould v. United States, 187 F.Supp. 337, 340 (D.Colo., 1960). In this light, the evidence as a whole leads to these concl......
-
Breeze Corporations v. United States, No. 49453.
...remained uncertain until settlement of the dispute in 1949. We therefore conclude that the accrual in 1945 of any amount believed due 117 F. Supp. 411 on the Bosch claim would have been erroneous because the plaintiff did not have a fixed, determined and enforceable right to a reasonably as......
-
Gould v. United States, Civ. No. 6131
...pertinent evidence. Fleming v. Reinecke, 7 Cir., 1931, 52 F.2d 449; Arkwright Club of City of New York, Inc. v. United States, 1954, 117 F.Supp. 411, 127 Ct.Cl. The idea of the 3 R was conceived by Frank H. Ricketson, Jr., to acquaint the residents and friends of Colorado and the tourists w......
-
Rockefeller Center Luncheon Club v. Johnson
...823, 70 S.Ct. 70, 94 L.Ed. 500. 20 Note 19, supra. 21 166 F.2d 877, 883. 22 Arkwright Club of City of New York v. United States, 1954, 117 F.Supp. 411, 127 Ct.Cl. 247; Railroad-Machinery Club of N. Y. v. United States, 1951, 95 F.Supp. 822, 118 Ct.Cl. 542; Uptown Club of Manhattan, supra, n......
-
Epstein v. United States, No. 20-63.
...Furniture Club of America v. United States, 67 F.Supp. 764 (N.D.Ill., 1946); Arkwright Club of City of New York v. United States, 117 F.Supp. 411, 127 Ct.Cl. 247 (1954); Gould v. United States, 187 F.Supp. 337, 340 (D.Colo., 1960). In this light, the evidence as a whole leads to these concl......
-
Breeze Corporations v. United States, No. 49453.
...remained uncertain until settlement of the dispute in 1949. We therefore conclude that the accrual in 1945 of any amount believed due 117 F. Supp. 411 on the Bosch claim would have been erroneous because the plaintiff did not have a fixed, determined and enforceable right to a reasonably as......
-
Gould v. United States, Civ. No. 6131
...pertinent evidence. Fleming v. Reinecke, 7 Cir., 1931, 52 F.2d 449; Arkwright Club of City of New York, Inc. v. United States, 1954, 117 F.Supp. 411, 127 Ct.Cl. The idea of the 3 R was conceived by Frank H. Ricketson, Jr., to acquaint the residents and friends of Colorado and the tourists w......
-
Rockefeller Center Luncheon Club v. Johnson
...823, 70 S.Ct. 70, 94 L.Ed. 500. 20 Note 19, supra. 21 166 F.2d 877, 883. 22 Arkwright Club of City of New York v. United States, 1954, 117 F.Supp. 411, 127 Ct.Cl. 247; Railroad-Machinery Club of N. Y. v. United States, 1951, 95 F.Supp. 822, 118 Ct.Cl. 542; Uptown Club of Manhattan, supra, n......