The Supreme Council of Order of Chosen Friends v. Garrigus
| Citation | 3 N.E. 818,104 Ind. 133 |
| Decision Date | 08 December 1885 |
| Docket Number | 12,177 |
| Parties | The Supreme Council of the Order of Chosen Friends v. Garrigus |
| Court | Supreme Court of Indiana |
From the Marion Superior Court.
The judgment is affirmed, at appellant's cost.
F. M Finch and J. A. Finch, for appellant.
S. M Shepard, C. Martindale and L. C. Garrigus, for appellee.
Appellee brought this action to recover from appellant $ 1,500, which he claims is due him under the charter, constitution and by-laws of the order. The order was incorporated under section 3502, R. S. 1881. Some of its principal objects, as declared in the articles of incorporation, are to unite its members in bonds of fraternity, aid and protection, to improve the condition of the members morally, socially and materially, and to establish a relief fund, from which members, who have complied with all its rules and regulations, or persons by such members lawfully designated, or the legal heirs of such members, may receive a benefit in a sum not exceeding three thousand dollars, which shall be paid either when a member reaches the age of seventy-five years, or when, by reason of disease or accident, such member becomes permanently disabled from following his usual, or some other occupation, or upon satisfactory evidence of the death of such member, and when all the conditions regulating such payment have been complied with.
Among the general officers designated in the articles are a supreme councillor, a supreme recorder, a supreme treasurer, and a supreme medical examiner.
Among the powers named in the articles, it is declared that the association shall have power to make and change its own constitution and laws, and to grant, revoke and change constitutions for all grand and subordinate councils of the order, and to finally decide all matters and appeals pertaining to the order, which shall be properly presented to it.
The constitution adopted by the order provides for the same general officers, declares the same objects, and asserts the same powers. It is there declared that the order shall have power to grant charters for grand councils, in any State, Territory or country, not under the jurisdiction of a grand council; that it shall have exclusive power to grant charters to subordinate councils, which shall be, until the formation of a grand council, under the immediate and direct jurisdiction of the order--the Supreme Council of the Order of Chosen Friends.
There is another provision that the decisions of the supreme council on all matters pertaining to the order, and on all appeals properly presented, shall be final. The duties of the supreme medical examiner are defined as follows: It is further provided that grand councils shall have no control of the relief fund.
Among the committees provided for by the by-laws of the order is a committee on grievances. The duties and powers of this committee, as fixed by the by-laws, are as follows: "The committee on grievances and appeals shall examine all cases of grievances coming before the supreme council by appeal or otherwise, and report their opinion, together with a distinct statement of all questions at issue, to the supreme council."
The relief fund laws adopted by the order provide for the creation of a relief fund. One section of these laws provides that upon permanant disability one-half of the amount named in the relief fund certificate held by the member shall be paid to him at once.
Another section is as follows: "Should a member become permanently disabled from following his or her usual or other occupation, by reason of disease or accident, on receipt of the proper notice the supreme council shall order a board of three physicians (who shall be members of the order if possible) to be selected by the subordinate council, whose duty it shall be to make a careful examination of the member's condition, report as to the permanency of the disability, and upon their recommendation, and the approval of the supreme medical examiner, the member shall be entitled to one-half the benefit: Provided, That where the disability is caused by accident, and is patent to the eyes of all, the examination by the board of physicians may be dispensed with," etc.
Another section provides that upon the receipt of the proper notice of the permanent disability of a member, the supreme recorder shall draw an order on the supreme treasurer in favor of such member for the amount, and forward the same to the treasurer of the subordinate council of which the disabled person is a member.
Another section provides that the treasurer of the subordinate council shall deliver the order to the member, and receive from him his relief fund certificate.
Basing his claim upon these provisions of the articles of incorporation, the constitution, by-laws and relief fund laws, appellee charges in his complaint that the supreme council instituted and established a subordinate council in the State of Kentucky, known as Logan Council No. 12, of which he was and is a member, holding a relief fund certificate for $ 3,000; that in May, 1883, without any agency, fault or negligence on his part, he received a pistol-shot wound in the elbow, which permanently disabled him from following his usual or other occupation, and that his disability was and is patent to the eyes of all. He, however, through the Logan council, notified the supreme council, and it in turn notified the Logan council to appoint a board of physicians to examine the injury. The board was appointed and reported in favor of allowing and paying to appellee $ 1,500, the one-half of the amount named in his relief fund certificate. Appellant has refused and still refuses to pay the amount.
Appellant answered this complaint in four paragraphs, the first of which is a general denial. The second is based upon the theory that as there was no grand council in the State of Kentucky, Logan council No. 12 was under the immediate jurisdiction of the supreme council; that the provisions of ...
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