The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-08-14

d1t1on of this particular company, but
by the general experience of a large
number of other like enterprises. Nor
is there the slightest foundation for
the charge that the defendant is in
solvent. On the contrary the record
shows that it's condition under the
changes which have been made has
steadily improved. This Is not only
established by the statements of the
company, but by the testimony Of en-
1nent actuaries, who are entitled to
speak with authority on such a sub
Ject. furthermore, it appears from the
record that this company is licensed
to do business In nearly all the leading
states Of the Union, after a careful In
vestigation Of it's affairs by the insur-
ance department of the several states.
These considerations leave not the
slightest ground for the charges of in
solvency.
Character of Complaint.
Before proceeding further with the
merits of this case, it may be proper
TO consider who the complainant in the
suit Is. The complainant Wright, is
without any standing in court. When
the changes In the company's methods
or doing business were adopted. he
elected, with full knowledge Of those
changes, to cancel his certificate and
demand return of the money which
he had paid This he did in writing:
so that there is no chance to question
the character of his action. Having
elected to cancel his policy and de-
mand back his money, that is the
remedy which he was bound to pur-
sue. If he is entitled to any relief, it
is to be found in an action at law for
the recovery of the money which he
demanded at the time of the decision.
His claim is therefore simply money
demand, which has not been reduced
to judgment. For this reason he has
no standing in court to maintain a suit
like the present. No other policy hold
ers have in fact joined with the COM
pla1nant in asking the relief demanded
in the bill. Mr.. Trubey is the only
complainant of record and he is en-
titled only to such redress as his own
rights would justify. My decision of
the case, however, would be in no way
changed II every person whom the
complainant claims to represent were
In fact party upon the record.
Two Vital Questions.
There remain for consideration two
questions: First, has the company de-
parted from the fundamental law of
its, being in manner forbidden eth
erS expressly or by implication by it's
IL
the company done anything to impair
the vested rights of the holders Of it's
certificates of insurance? 1t is not
claimed by counsel for the complainant
that the association has violated any
express provision Of it's charter. He
claims that the changes which are
made in it's method of doing business
are SO radical as to be forbidden by
implication. In determining the force
of that contention one must look care
fully to the charter itself. Many Of
the authorities which are cited by
counsel for complainant in support Of
his contention are based upon char
tiers which in themselves contain no
expE9ss reservation Of the right of
The charter Of the de-
PENDANT company specifically reserves
to the officers the power of amend
ment in every particular except one,
and it is not claimed that they have
made any amendment in that partic-
ular. The fact that the power to
amend was restricted in one particular
throws additional weight upon the
scope Of the power to amend in other
respects. Of course, the power to
did not invest the officers with
to launch this association in
to an entirely new business. For ex-
APPLE, it could give them no authority
to engage in the business of fire in
1t did, / think, however, re-
serve to them the power to make any
which was reasonably cal
culated to accomplish the purpose
which the association had in view at
the time of it's formation. Nothing
has been done by the officers which
violates this principle. The changes
which have been made relate entirely
to the manner of doing the business,
and not to it's character. Under the
old plan of assessment insurance the
members were required to make contri-
buttons from time to time sufficient
to meet the death losses. In the ear
ly stages of the association that was
found to be inadequate; but as the
average age of the members increased
and the death rate accordingly increas-
ed, the company was confronted with
the impossibility of getting in new.
This is the history of all
assessment insurance. AS soon as the
assessments become sufficient in
amount to make the charge for the
insurance approximately the same as
is necessary to secure old-line inSur-
ance, persons seeking insurance will
choose the certainty of an old-line
policy in preference to the uncertain
ties Of assessment insurance. An as
sessment company can only be kept
going by steady increase of it's men,
bership, and under the law that l have
just adyerted to it becomes impossible
to keep up the increase in member
ship. The defendant was required to
meet this emergency. Three alterna-
tives were presented. First, it could
frankly admit that the plan Of doing
business upon which it entered must
result in failure, and ask that it's af-
fairs be wound up and its assets dis
tributed. Second, 1t could pursue the
original plan until bankruptcy actual /
ly occurred; or, third, it could adopt
such method of doing business as
would perpetuate the life of the as
ISOLATION. The complainant frankly
says that the association was bound
to know the probable result of it's
methods of doing business when it
titled to have that plan of operation
either carried out until insolvency en-
sues, or wholly abandon it and have
the effects of the association distri-
buted. This contention wholly disre-
CARDS the power of amendment that
was reserved to the association.
The Whole Question.
The whole question is simply: How
shall the members be required to make
such contributions as will be adequate
to meet the death losses and continue
the company as going concern? I'm
der the assessment plan the pay
ments were made after the loss oc-
Cured Under the new method con-
tributions are made in advance Suf-
ficient under the established rules of
mortuary tables to provide for losses
as they shall occur in the future. The
change simply relates to the manner
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