194 Mass. 527 | Mass. | 1907
The defendant having been organized under the St. of 1899, c. 442, subsequently R. L. c. 119, as a fraternal
While conceding this construction it is the plaintiff’s contention that the reference covers only so much of the application as related to the bodily health and physical history of the applicant. But this clause cannot be thus narrowed without violating the sense in which the parties used the language. The condition upon which the certificate is issued rests upon two distinct considerations. They are, the general statements of the insured, and those given by him to the physician. The context that the statements are accepted as being full and true, without any suppression of material facts, while evidently referring to answers contained in the medical examination, do not limit his express offer found in the declaration or statement following the examination that “ I also consent and agree, that, if a certificate or policy is granted on this application, the same shall not cover . . . death by suicide, whether sane or insane.” Besides, under the by-laws of the defendant then in force it was provided that “ each certificate shall be expressed to be void in the event of suicide, whether the member be sane or insane,” and the last clause of the certificate stipulates that it “ shall be governed by,
So ordered.