151 Mo. App. 622 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1910
This action was brought in the circuit court of Greene county, and, on change of venue, sent to Barton county. The action is one by injunction by which plaintiff seeks to enjoin the defendant, Easter Division No. 321, Order of Railway Conductors, and its oflicers, from refusing plaintiff admission to the
The Easter Division No. 321, O'. R. C., is a local society in a secret order known as the Order of Railway Conductors of America, and plaintiff claims to be a member of said local division, No. 321. The Order of Railway Conductors has connected with it an insurance feature and plaintiff holds a policy issued by it. This insurance department is incorporated under the laws of the state of Iowa and has its headquarters at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It issues a policy to its members by which it agrees to pay, under certain conditions, certain benefits to the holder of the policy, and on the death of the policy holder, to the beneficiary named therein, a sum of money therein specified. The policy held by plaintiff was for two thousand dollars, and. it is conceded that the policy would become void in case he should cease to be a member of the order by whose authority the policy was issued. The supreme authority of the lodge is vested in what is known as a G-rand Division, and its headquarters were at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The subordinate lodges are known as divisions and are given numbers, the one made defendant in this ease being No. 321.
The facts out of which this litigation grew may be briefly stated as follows: The plaintiff was a member of division No. 30, O. R. C. On December 29, 1906', the charter of division No. 30 was arrested by the president of the grand division. Under the laws of the order, upon the charter of division No. 30 being arrested, all the members in good standing of division No. 30 at that time became and were members of the grand division, and remained so until the end of the year following the year in which the charter was arrested, unless within that time they had become members of another local division. If they failed to become mem
The case was tried, and at the close of the testimony the court found for the defendant and dismissed the plaintiff’s bill, and plaintiff has appealed. This being an action in equity this court, while deferring to
It will be seen from the statement of facts above set out that plaintiff seeks the relief asked in this case in order to protect his policy of insurance, and the questions for our determination are whether, on the facts proven, he is entitled to the relief, and whether he has proceeded in the right way to secure the relief. Plaintiff’s contention is that he was duly elected a member of local division No. 321 on May 10', 1909', and this being true, local division No. 151, located at Mo-nett, Missouri, could acquire no jurisdiction to try him, and, hence, the proceedings of that lodge by which he was expelled from the order were null and void. If it be true, as claimed by plaintiff, that he was made a member of local division No. 321, on May 101,1909', then his conclusion that the Monett lodge was without jurisdiction to try him is well taken, for the laws of the order provide thaj; a member must be tried in the division of which he is a member. There is a provision, however, that when the charter of a local division shall be arrested the president of .the order may grant a dispensation to another local division to try one who was a member of the division whose charter had been arrested, and it was under authority of that provision that the Monett lodge was directed to try this plaintiff, so that this controversy, so far as the validity of plaintiff’s expulsion and his standing as a member of local division No. 321 is concerned, rests upon the validity of the action of the president of the order in declaring the proceedings of local division No. 321 on May 10, 1909, void. „ If the president had authority to annul these proceedings then the plaintiff was properly expelled by the Monett lodge. If the president did not have such authority then the expulsion was void and
Tbe courts will not undertake to regulate tbe internal affairs of voluntary associations. It is only when property rights are involved that tbe courts take jurisdiction at all, and in tbe exercise of that jurisdiction will only pass upon questions affecting tbe internal affairs of the association in so far as it becomes necessary to protect tbe property rights directly involved, and if it shall appear that tbe party has a complete remedy within tbe society as provided by its laws, either by appeal or otherwise, tbe courts will not undertake to adjudicate those matters until be has exhausted bis remedy within tbe association. [Mulroy v. Knights of Honor, 28 Mo. App. 463; Mead v. Sterling, 62 Conn. 586, 23 L. R. A. 227; McAlees v. Supreme Sitting Order of the Iron Hall (Pa.), 13 Atl. 755.]
In this case tbe property rights of tbe plaintiff were not directly involved. If tbe president’s action in annulling tbe proceedings of division No. 321 were wrong, plaintiff was not, by said action, deprived of bis policy or any property rights therein. If tbe president was acting without jurisdiction so that bis action and tbe action of tbe lodge following it in refusing* to recognize plaintiff as a member were entirely void and of no effect, then plaintiff was, and still is, a member of local division No. 321, and all be would have to do to protect bis rights in bis insurance policy would be to tender bis dues to tbe local division and offer to pay any assessments that might be made by tbe insurance department. Had be done this bis policy could have been kept alive indefinitely, and it was not necessary for him to go into court to force local division No. 321 to permit him to participate in the lodge meetings and
The judgment is for the right party and will be affirmed.