60 Mo. App. 161 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1895
The plaintiff obtained a judgment upon default against the Grand Lodge of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, a foreign corporation, and caused the defendants to be summoned as garnishees of the corporation. The garnishees by
The statute, authorizing service on foreign corporations, doing business in this state, provides that such service shall be made by delivering a copy of the writ and petition to any officer or agent of such corporation in charge of any office or place of business, or, if it has no office or place of business, then to any officer, agent or employee in any county where such service may be obtained. The question for decision is, whether the service of the summons in this ease complies with the requirement of the statute.
The amended return of the service by the sheriff, on which this question arises, is in the following words: “Executed this writ in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1892, by delivering a copy of the writ and petition, as furnished by the clerk, to R. M. Cartwell, Master of .Future Great Lodge, Number 45, of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, the within named defendant, who was in its business office and had charge thereof at the time of said service; the president or any higher chief officer could not be found in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, at the time of said service.” The objection made to this return is that it nowhere appears therein that the service was made either on an officer, agent or employee of the defendant, or that it was made upon any officer or agent of the- defendant in charge of any office or place of business which the defendant had in this state.
When the statute provides for constructive service, the terms and conditions of such service must be strictly
We have cited these eases, and might cite many others, to show that a return of constructive service can not in this state be aided by intendment. Words contained in it, which make its import doubtful, can not be rejected as surplusage, nor can words omitted therein be supplied. If the return does not follow the language of the statute, and its terms can receive a reasonable interpretation which makes the return insuf-ficient, that interpretation must prevail and not one which with equal reason would make the return sufficient. A defendant brought in on constructive service should not be placed in a position, where the officer’s return can be read one way to uphold the judgment, and another way when the officer is sued for a false return. The meaning of the return should not depend on its punctuation, so as to make its reading depend on the exigencies of the case like that of the oracular answer, “Ibis redibis nunquam per bella peribis.”
When we apply these views in determining the sufficiency of the return in the case at bar, we must adjudge it insufficient. It does not follow the language of the statute. It fails to show that the defendant had
It is argued in opposition to this view that we ought to take judicial notice of the fact that the office-of “Master” is a well known office in these lodges, and that a subordinate lodge is the agent of a grand lodge. The case of Borgraefe v. Knights of Honor, 22 Mo. App. 127, is cited in support of the second contention. The argument loses sight of the fact that in the Borgraefe case the record disclosed the exact relation existing between the subordinate lodges and- the grand lodge. What was said on that subject in that case was based upon the record before the court, and not upon judicial notice. The argument made is one asking us to help the return by intendment, which, as above seen, can not be done. Any argument based upon the statute of jeofails is inadmissible, since the very provision of that statute, which is now invoked in aid of the judgment, was in force when the cases above set out were decided.
It results that the judgment must be reversed and the cause remanded. So ordered.