109 F. 278 | U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern New York | 1901
Interesting and intricate questions arise upon this application. It must be conceded that in some particulars the court has not succeeded in finding in the papers submitted any sufficient explanation of some of the transactions which are not disputed. Thus, the so-called Shields resolution does not appear to warrant any depletion of the old reserve fund below the amount accumulated in it when such resolution was passed; and, although defendants’ argument touching complainant’s interest is based in part upon the proposition that complainant belongs to a particular class (the “fifteen-year class*’), neither the application, the policy, nor the constitution seems to make any such classification; but, on the contrary, the language of the policy evidently contemplates a single class, — the entire membership, — containing persons of all ages and of all durations of membership; each member, however, paying, when assessed, into the common death fund of that single class, amounts differing according to their ages. It may be that evidence may change this situation at final hearing. The question now before the court, however, lies within a narrower field than do those presented by the pleadings. It is really this: Can the status quo be preserved,, with no risk of irreparable injury to plaintiff, without grant
