Ancient Order of United Workmen v. Shober

Citations

• 16 S.D. 513
• 94 N.W. 405
• 1903 S.D. LEXIS 115

Syllabus

<p>Laws 1890, p. 139. c. 51, § 53, provides that every mutual benefit association or insurance company, as a condition precedent to its right to do business, shall pay to the state 2 per cent, of the gross amount of assessments received by it in the state during the prec.eeding year, provided “that nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to ' secret, benevolent,, or fraternal societies who pay sick or death benefits to the widows, orphans, heirs, or relatives of deceased members.” Held, that the Ancient Order of United Workmen, organized to unite its members into a fraternal brotherhood, and improve their moral and social condition, to create funds to aid them during sickness or disability, to pay a stipulated sum to the members’ beneficiaries at death, and possessed of secret ritual, was a secret fraternal society, within such section, and not liable to the payment of the tax as a condition to its right to do business within the state.</p>