Firemen's Benevolent Ass'n v. A. H. Phillips Co.
Firemen's Benevolent Ass'n v. A. H. Phillips Co.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The declaration in this case is framed upon the act regulating foreign insurance com-
The grounds of demurrer argued before us are limited to an attack upon the corporate existence of the plaintiff association.
The declaration avers that the plaintiff is a corporation of this state, duly incorporated under an act of the legislature entitled “An act concerning firemen’s relief associations,” approved March 25th, 1885 (Gen. Stat., p. 1494), and that it is composed solely of members of the Atlantic City paid fire department, created and existing under and in pursuance of an ordinance of that municipality entitled “An ordinance to establish, maintain, -regulate and control a paid fire department in the city of Atlantic City,” which was passed on the 28th day of March, 1904, and became operative on the day of its date. It then sets out that the validity of this ordinance has been questioned by third persons and that it has been removed by certiorari proceedings into the Supreme Court, where its legality is now under consideration. The first contention made by the demurrants is that the act of March 25th, 1885, under which the plaintiff avers that it is incorporated, permits the formation of firemen’s relief asso
The only other ground of demurrer argued before us is that the plaintiff is not legally incorporated because its title or corporate name does not .comply with the requirements of the act of March 25th, 1885, which provides that such associations shall be incorporated under and by the name of “The ---Firemen’s Relief Association.” This contention is based upon a careless reading of the act. The provision in this regard is that the association shall be incorporated under and by the name of “The Firemen’s Relief Association, or any other name which shall indicate the object of such association, using the name of the city, town, * * * in
The statutory requirement with relation to the payment of these percentages seems to be in the nature of a license tax imposed upon foreign fire insurance companies doing business in this state, and it may well be doubted whether an action on contract will lie for the non-payment of such percentages, especially in view of the fact that the statute expressly declares the penalty which shall follow such nonpayment. This question, however, is not raised by the specifications of causes of demurrer, and therefore is not presented to us for determination.
The plaintiff is entitled to judgment on the demurrer.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- FIREMEN'S BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF ATLANTIC CITY v. THE A. H. PHILLIPS COMPANY
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published