Lloyd v. Supreme Lodge Knights of Pythias

• Decision Date: 01 December 1899
• Docket Number: 623.
• Citation: 98 F. 66
• Parties: LLOYD v. SUPREME LODGE KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

98 F. 66

LLOYD v. SUPREME LODGE KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS.

No. 623.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

December 1, 1899

The plaintiff in error, Jane Wiley Lloyd, was plaintiff below in an action of assumpsit founded on a certificate of membership and policy of life insurance issued by the defendant, Supreme Lodge Knights of Pythias, to her husband, Walter C. Lloyd who died March 15, 1897. The certificate was issued June 15 1889, in the form adopted by the order for life insurance, is designated 'fourth class,' and for the sum of $3,000. It names the plaintiff as the beneficiary; and liability, in the event of death of the assured, is conditional, among other requirements, upon the payment of the admission fee and 'of all assessments as required,' and 'full compliance with all the laws governing this rank now in force, or that may hereafter be enacted, and shall be in good standing under said laws. ' The application of the assured is made a part of the contract, and states that the contract 'shall be governed by all the laws, rules, and regulations of the order governing the rank, now in force, or that may hereafter be enacted by the supreme lodge. ' With the application the assured further states that he uses intoxicating liquors 'very moderately,' and that he has always been temperate in their use. The testimony is undisputed that the immediate cause of death of the assured was 'cirrhosis of liver,' and it was conceded on behalf of the plaintiff that 'the cause of death was superinduced by alcohol. ' There is testimony in the record tending to show that this disease was contracted as early as the summer of 1894; that the attending physician then regarded it as chronic, and incurable, and in such view that it would 'terminate fatally sooner or later.' The habitual use of intoxicating liquor by the assured appears both before and after 1894, but, so far as there is direct proof of immoderate use, it relates to the last year of his life. The following by-law was introduced on behalf of the defendant, as an enactment by the supreme lodge on September 1, 1896, taking effect sixty days thereafter pursuant to the constitution: 'Art. 6. Beneficiaries Conditions of Payment, Contract, etc. If the death of any member of endowment rank heretofore admitted into the first second, third, or fourth classes, or hereafter admitted shall result from suicide, either voluntary or involuntary, whether such member shall be sane or insane at the time, or if such death shall be caused or superinduced by the use of intoxicating liquors, narcotics, or opiates, or in consequence of a duel, or at the hands of justice, or in violation or attempted violation of any criminal law, then the amount to be paid upon such member's certificate shall be a sum only in proportion to the whole amount as the matured life expectancy is to the entire expectancy at date of admission to the endowment rank, the expectation of life based upon the American experience table of mortality in force at the time of such death to govern. ' The plaintiff objected to this by-law (1) as not adopted in accordance with the constitution; (2) as 'void, because retroactive'; (3) as unreasonable; (4) as not adopted by the supreme lodge; (5) as not, in terms and effect, retroactive; and (6) as not properly entitled. Exceptions were preserved to the admission of the by-law and to subsequent refusal to exclude it from consideration by the jury. The plaintiff offered the following provisions of the so-called 'Constitution of the Supreme Lodge Knights of Pythias,' being in fact a mere regulation adopted by the supreme lodge: Section 12: 'All laws enacted by the supreme lodge shall be of general application, shall be formulated as statutes, and shall be styled 'supreme statutes' and when introduced and while under consideration shall be styled 'propositions.' ' Section 13: 'A proposition shall embrace not more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title. ' Section 15: 'No proposition shall become a statute until it shall have passed three successive readings, the second and third of which shall be had on the same calendar day. ' Section 18: 'The enacting clause of every proposition shall be as follows: 'Be it enacted by the Supreme Lodge, Knights of Pythias,' and shall precede or be a part of the first section of such proposition. ' Section 19: 'All statutes shall take effect sixty days after final passage, unless otherwise provided. ' And in reference to the action of the supreme lodge, on which the adoption of the above by-law was asserted, the record of the proceedings was introduced, showing the submission of the by-law, with others, for enactment, on August 29, 1896; that 'the report was read a first and second time by title and passed' on August 31, 1896; that 'the general laws, rules, and regulations of the endowment rank as proposed by the committee, having been read a third time, were enacted' by vote as recited. The defendant produced as a witness the president of the board of control, who identified a by-law contained in a printed book, and stated that it was introduced by him at a meeting of the supreme lodge, held in August or September, 1894, and was adopted by the supreme lodge; that it continued in force 'ever since, and was amended in 1896. ' This testimony was received under objection as incompetent and immaterial, and the following by-law, so referred to, was then received under objection and exception: 'If the death of any member of the endowment rank heretofore admitted into the first, second, third, or fourth classes or hereafter admitted, shall result from self-destruction, either voluntary or involuntary, whether such member shall be sane or insane at the time, or if such death shall be caused or superinduced by the use of intoxicating liquors, narcotics, or opiates or in consequence of a duel, or at the hands of justice, or in violation or attempted violation of any criminal law, then, in such case, the certificate issued to such member and all claims against said endowment rank on account of such membership shall be forfeited. ' At the close of the testimony the plaintiff renewed the objections to the by-law of 1896, and, the jury being excused, arguments were heard upon the question of its validity and effect, in the course of which counsel for plaintiff made substantially the following statements: That the proof is uncontroverted that the death of the assured resulted from cirrhosis of the liver, which was caused by the use of alcoholic liquors; that it is a question of law whether the by-law is valid and controlling, and whether it applies to the defense, and if so held, 'that is the end of the case,' except the question whether there was an intemperate use of intoxicating liquors; that, even if the by-law is held valid, its application should be limited 'to those cases where the insured could, by governing themselves in their conduct, avoid the results of the by-law,' and in such view plaintiff is entitled to recover $3,000; and, finally: 'It is a question of law. I do not suppose there will be any necessity much for the jury, except to return such verdict as...