IMPORTANT TO FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2202, 14 May 1896, Page 23

IMPORTANT TO FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

At Masterton last week Mr Hutchison, 5. 31., gave judgment in the case in which C. Payne sued Court Enterprise, A.O.F, for £39 sick pay, which had been refwssd him on tha ground that .he was unfiaanoial when the olaim arose. The Wtirarapa Times thus reports tho judgment :— His Worship eaid that tiro question* were raised in defence ; the one tbat tne Magintr*t«'si Court had do jurwd'cHon to heur and determine a casn of the kind, and the ofcbtr wai that the plaintiff had no claim on the merit* of fact. The first question was one of law. The general principle admitted of no dispute, his Worahip thought, m it was the undoubted right of every man to go to the judicial courts of his country for the redress of his grievance*. It had been sought to show by defendants' counsel, by appeal to " The Friendly Sooietiss Act. 1882 " that plaintiff had no legal right, bub he did not think any of the society's rales sap* ported the contention. The rules provided for dWiog with dispute* bet wet n mtatber and member (rules 91, 92, and 93), but did out purport; to dual a ion a dispute between.' a member and the society as a body. Rule 93 only operated upsrj rules 91 and 92, wad h«s wr.3 of opinion that plaintiff waa entitled to ap^ly to the Magistrate's Court, and the objection' to jurisdiction therefore failed. With rrg*td to the facts a den.l of evidence had beeu given. Counsel had agreed that the qu«<tions of fact might be reduced to two— (1) Did PAyne pay the £1 as alleged, and (2) did the 29s owiax by him make him " uofluanciftl " ? With regwd to the payment of tbe £1 the weight of evidence was in plain.i ds favour. Two officers of the order had held an investigation into plaintiff's financial position in refererica to the society, and reported that he was " justly returned unfhiauoial," his arrears in December 1894 being £2 9a, but even if this finding could ba raid to be in any way binding on plaintiff the court could, not regard it as evidence. There w&s no doubt cast on the hona fidts of the gentlem.n making the inquiry, but it had been conducted ou no recognisable legal principle, and was in f^ct bated entirely upon an intspaolion of the books of the society, which, with the secretary's explanation, were apparently takea as conclusive. With regard % the""uhflnaucial n aspect, whether the 29s due in December by the pla-intift" made him unflnaticial, the matter resolved itself into the f urfchei question whether or not the contributions for the incidental expanses were to be taken into jwcount ia deoiding whether a member was unfinancial or not. 'I he wording of rain 158 was very obscure, bufc, looking at the priaotples and objects of the Boci«fcy and tha liberal oonetrnctic>n of its l&ws enjoiued, he thought it might be reasonably interpreted as ref&rriag to ordinary coutribuiions. On the whole case, then, judgment wou'd be for plaintiff for £39 claimed, with costs (£5 19s). In concluding his judgment hia Worship »&?d it was a pity tha case had ever been brought into cornet, as it wa3 evident ib had led to stcife and bitterness of spirit and 'word amoagefe members.