State ex rel. Poulson v. Grand Lodge of Missouri I.O.O.F.
| Decision Date | 16 December 1879 |
| Citation | 8 Mo.App. 148 |
| Parties | STATE OF MISSOURI, EX REL. JAMES P. POULSON ET AL., Appellant, v. GRAND LODGE OF MISSOURI, INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS, ET AL., Respondents. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
An incorporated lodge of Odd Fellows has the right, through its proper officers and in accordance with its established rules to determine who are not members thereof, and the courts will leave that question to be determined by the lodge itself through the judicial action of its proper officers regardless of whether the charter of the lodge in which membership is claimed gives, in express terms, such power to these officers.
APPEAL from the St. Louis Circuit Court.
Affirmed.
DAVID MURPHY, for the appellant: It is not a sufficient return to allege generally that the Cosmos Lodge has become inharmonious and factionable, to justify the first step made in this arbitrary exercise of " one-man power." -- High on Ex. Leg. Rem., sect. 467; Rex v. Burgesses of Doncaster, Ld. Raym. 1565; Roehler v. Mechanics' Aid Soc., 22 Mich. 86. Courts of law will inquire into the reasonableness of the by-laws of an incorporated society; also the regularity of the proceedings, and determine therefrom whether, or not, the relators have been duly expelled.-- Harwood v. Marshall, 10 Md. 451; Society v. The Commonwealth, 52 Pa.St. 125; The Commonwealth v. German Soc., 15 Pa.St. 251; Rex v. Liverpool, Burr. 723; The Commonwealth v. St. Patrick's Benevolent Soc., 2 Binn. 441; The State, ex rel. Kennedy, v. Union Merchants' Exchange, 2 Mo.App. 96; The People v. Medical Soc. of Erie, 32 N.Y. 187; Evans v. Philadelphia Club, 14 Wright (Pa.), 107; Ang. & Ames on Corp. (10th ed.) 439, 440, sects. 408-412; Id. 713, sect. 704. Want of notice, and where proceedings are characterized by irregularity and a spirit of malice on the part of the other corporators, and a predetermination to expel, a proper case is presented for the exercise of jurisdiction.-- De Lacy v. Neuse River Co., 1 Hawks 274; The State v. Georgia Medical Soc., 38 Ga. 608. The Grand lodge is a corporation, and subject to the rules of law applicable to other corporations.-- Barbaro v. Occidental Grove, 4 Mo.App. 429.
RUSSELL & WENDLING, for the respondents: Of the writ of mandamus. -- Mansfield v. Fuller, 50 Mo. 338; The State v. Bank, 10 Wend. 25; The State ex rel. v. St. Louis Circuit Court, 1 Mo.App. 543; The State ex rel. v. Trustees, 67 Mo. 155. Mandamus will not lie in this case.--High on Ex. Leg. Rem., sects. 302, 457; Burrows v. Society, 12 Cush. 482. The civil courts will not interfere to reverse the decisions and proceedings of voluntary charitable associations for the mere purpose of determining their jurisdiction, nor for the purpose of interfering with the discipline of its members.-- The People ex rel. v. Board of Trade, 80 Ill. 134; Third Church v. Wetheral, 3 Paige 296; Sawyer v. Cupperly, 7 Paige 281; Robertson v. Bullions, 9 Barb. 64; Dufendorf v. Church, 20 Johns 12; 3 Barr 282; Chase v. Cheney, 58 Ill. 536; Sherman v. Frost, 3 B. Mon. 258; Walker v. Wainwright, 16 Barb. 486. An Odd Fellows' lodge is such an association.-- Society v. The Commonwealth, 52 Pa.St. 125; The Commonwealth v. Society, 2 Binn. 441; The Commonwealth v. Society, 5 Binn. 486.
The petition of the four relators sets forth that the Independent Order of Odd Fellows is a benevolent association, existing in Missouri, and consisting of a parent organization incorporated under the name of the Grand Lodge of Missouri of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also of various subordinate lodges, the representatives of which constitute said Grand Lodge, and who make all the laws governing said order, with recognized authority to enforce all its laws and orders; that the relators were and are members in good standing of the order, having been admitted under the laws of the Grand Lodge into one of the subordinate lodges, called Cosmos Lodge 196, of said order, which is subject to the Grand Lodge; that defendants Fahey and Fisher are respectively the presiding officer and secretary of Cosmos Lodge, and, as such, agents and officers of the Grand Lodge; that the relators have always paid their dues and obeyed all the laws of the Grand Lodge; by reason of which they were and are entitled to their share of the relief-fund of Cosmos Lodge, amounting to $1,000, and also to their share of personal property of Cosmos Lodge, worth $500, and also to the privileges belonging to members of the order, which are of a value not to be estimated in money, but very valuable to the relators; that on November 10, 1876, while these facts existed, the Grand Lodge, unlawfully, without cause, and without trial or other lawful proceedings, deprived the relators of the right to work and meet as members of said order, carried away from Cosmos Lodge its property, and converted the same to the use of the Grand Lodge; and on August 7, 1877, the said Grand Lodge, in defiance of law, expelled the relators from membership of the order, without any notice; that the relators petitioned the Grand Lodge of Missouri that they might be permitted to enjoy the rights to which they were entitled, and tendered to defendants Fahey and Fisher all dues, and offered to do all that they might be legally required to do under the laws of the order, but that Fahey and Fisher refused to admit the relators to the rights of members, and drove them from the lodge-room. The relators pray a writ of mandamus directed to the defendants, commanding them to restore the relators to their rights as members of the Order of Odd Fellows.
The issuing of an alternative writ was waived, and the defendants filed an answer, to which the relators demurred. It was stipulated that the right of the relators to a peremptory writ should be determined upon the pleadings as thus made up.
The answer, which is very long, alleges in substance that the Grand Lodge of Missouri, by its constitution and by-laws recognizes that it derives its power from, and exercises them under, the Grand Lodge of the United States; that it is a voluntary charitable and benevolent organization for promoting social relations among its members, and not for any purposes of business; that Cosmos Lodge is not a body-corporate, and has no powers except those derived from the Grand Lodge of Missouri; that it was established by warrant of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, under a promise to obey all rules and orders of that Grand Lodge, in default of which its warrant may be suspended; that the relators, and every member of Cosmos Lodge, on offering themselves for initiation, subscribed a writing binding themselves to obey all rules of the lodge and of the order; that any property of Cosmos Lodge was subject, by the rules of the order and of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, to the absolute disposal of the Grand Lodge of Missouri; that such property, by the constitution of Cosmos Lodge, cannot be divided among the members, and by the constitution of the Grand Lodge such property, on the suppression of a subordinate lodge, reverts to the Grand Lodge; that by the constitution of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, any lodge violating the rules of the Grand Lodge of Missouri or of the Grand Lodge of the United States may be expelled, and the...
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