May seize false weight, etc. Hindering, etc., penalty. Unlawful to impersonate. Sections repealed. SEC. 8. The superintendent of weights and measures, his deputy, inspectors, and the county and city sealers of weights and measures are hereby made special policemen, and are authorized to seize, for use as evidence and without formal warrant any false or unsealed weight, measure or weighing or measuring device or package or amounts of commodities, found to be used, retained or offered or exposed for sale or sold in violation of law. SEC. 9. Any person who shall hinder or obstruct in any way, the superintendent of weights and measures, his deputy, or inspectors, or any county or city sealer, in the performance of his official duties shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished upon conviction thereof, in any court of competent jurisdiction, by a fine of not less than two nor more than two hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than ninety days or by both such fine and imprisonment. SEC. 10. Any person who shall impersonate in any way the superintendent of weights and measures, his deputies, inspectors, or any county or city sealer, by use of his seal or otherwise, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than ninety days or by both such fine and imprisonment. SEC. 11. Sections four thousand eight hundred eightytwo, four thousand eight hundred eighty three, four thousand eight hundred eighty-four, four thousand eight hundred eighty-five, four thousand eight hundred eighty-six, four thousand eight hundred eighty-seven, four thousand eight hundred eighty-eight, four thousand eight hundred eightynine, four thousand eight hundred ninety, four thousand eight hundred ninety-one, four thousand eight hundred ninety-two, four thousand eight hundred ninety-three, four thousand eight hundred ninety-four, four thousand eight hundred ninety-five, four thousand eight hundred ninety-six and four thousand eight hundred ninety-seven of the compiled laws of eighteen hundred ninety-seven, relative to weights and measures, are hereby repealed. Approved May 2, 1913. [No. 169.] AN ACT to define what shall constitute fraternal beneficiary societies, orders or associations; to provide for their incorporation and the regulation of their business, and for the punishment for violations of this act, and to repeal all existing acts or parts of acts inconsistent therewith. benefit The People of the State of Michigan enact: SECTION 1. Fraternal benefit societies defined. Any cor- Fraternal poration, society, order or voluntary association, without societies. capital stock, organized and carried on solely for the mutual benefit of its members and their beneficiaries, and not for profit, and having a lodge system with ritualistic form of work and representative form of government, and which shall make provision for the payment of benefits in accordance with section five hereof, is hereby declared to be a fraternal benefit society: Provided, That the provision of this sec- Proviso. tion requiring a ritualistic form of work shall not apply to any society heretofore organized under the provisions of act number one hundred nineteen of the public acts of eighteen hundred ninety-three, as amended. SEC. 2. Lodge system defined. Any society having a Lodge system supreme governing or legislative body and subordinate lodges defined. or branches by whatever name known, into which members shall be elected, initiated and admitted in accordance with its constitution, laws, rules, regulations and prescribed ritualistic ceremonies, which subordinate lodges or branches shall be required by the laws of such society to hold regular or stated meetings at least once in each month, shall be deemed to be operating on the lodge system. government SEC. 3. Representative form of government defined. Any Representasuch society shall be deemed to have a representative form tive form of of government when it shall provide in its constitution and defined. laws for a supreme legislative or governing body, composed of representatives elected either by the members or by delegates elected directly or indirectly by the members, together with such other members as may be prescribed by its constitution and laws: Provided, That the elective members Proviso. shall constitute a majority in number and have not less than two-thirds of the votes, nor less than the votes required to amend its constitution and laws: And Provided further, Further That the meetings of the supreme or governing body, and proviso. the election of officers, representatives or delegates shall be held as often as once in four years. The members, officers, representatives or delegates of a fraternal benefit society. shall not vote by proxy. SEC. 4. Exemptions. Except as herein provided, such Exemptions. societies shall be governed by this act, and shall be exempt from all provisions of the insurance laws of this State, not Benefits. Proviso. Proviso. Proviso. Paid-up pro may grant. only in governmental relations with the State, but for every other purpose, and no law hereafter enacted shall apply to them, unless they be expressly designated therein. SEC. 5. Benefits. Sub. 1. Every society transacting business under this act shall provide for the payment of death benefits, and may provide for the payment of benefits in case of temporary or permanent physical disability, either as the result of disease, accident or old age: Provided, The period of life at which the payment of benefits for disability on account of old age shall commence, shall not be under seventy years, and may provide for monuments or tombstones to the memory of its deceased members, and for the payment of last sickness and funeral benefits. Such society shall have the power to give a member, when permanently disabled or on attaining the age of seventy, all, or such portion of the face value of his certificate as the laws of the society may provide: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to prevent the issuing of benefit certificates for a term of years less than the whole of life which are payable upon the death or disability of the member occurring within the term for which the benefit certificate may be issued. Such society shall, upon written application of the member, have the power to accept a part of the periodical contributions in cash, and charge the remainder, not exceeding one-half of the periodical contribution, against the certificate with interest payable or compounded annually at a rate not lower than four per cent per annum: Provided, That this privilege shall not be granted except to societies which have readjusted or may hereafter readjust their rates of contributions, and to contracts affected by such readjustment. Sub. 2. Any society which shall show by the annual tection, when valuation hereinafter provided for that it is accumulating and maintaining the reserve not lower than the usual reserve computed by the American Experience Table and four per cent interest, may grant to its members extended and paid-up protection, or such withdrawal equities as its constitution and laws may provide: Provided, That such grants shall in no case exceed in value the portion of the reserve to the credit of such members to whom they are made. Proviso. Beneficiaries. Proviso. SEC. 6. Beneficiaries. The payment of death benefits shall be confined to wife, husband, relative by blood to the fourth degree, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepchildren, children by legal adoption or to a person or persons dependent upon the member: Provided, That if after the issuance of the original certificate the member shall become dependent upon an incorporated charitable institution, he shall have the privilege with the consent of the society to make such institution his beneficiary. Within the above restrictions each member shall have the right to designate his beneficiary, and, from time to time, have the same changed in accordance with the laws, rules or regulations of the society, and no beneficiary shall have or obtain any vested interest in the said benefit until the same has become due and payable upon the death of the said member: Provided, That any society Proviso. 'may by its laws limit the scope of beneficiaries within the above classes: Provided further, That where an applicant Further or member has no relative, as above provided, to whom he proviso. may make his certificate payable, in such case he may designate any other person or make his estate his beneficiary. SEC. 7. Qualifications for membership. Any society may Membership admit to beneficial membership any person not less than qualifications. sixteen and not more than sixty years of age, who has been examined by a legally qualified physician, and whose examination has been supervised and approved in accordance with the laws of the society: Provided, That any bene- Proviso. ficiary member of such society who shall apply for a certificate providing for disability benefits, need not be required to pass an additional medical examination therefor. Nothing herein contained shall prevent such society from accepting general or social members. SEC. 8. Certificate. Every certificate issued by any such Certificate. society shall specify the amount of benefit provided thereby, and shall provide that the certificate, the charter or articles of incorporation, or, if a voluntary association, the articles of association, the constitution and laws of the society and the application for membership and and medical examination, signed by the applicant, and all amendments to each thereof, shall constitute the agreement between the society and the member, and copies of the same certified by the secretary of the society, or corresponding officer, shall be received in evidence of the terms and conditions thereof, and any changes, additions or amendments to said charter or articles of incorporation, or articles of association, if a voluntary association, constitution or laws duly made or enacted subsequent to the issuance of the benefit certificate shall bind the member and his beneficiaries, and shall govern and control the agreement in all respects the same as though such changes, additions or amendments had been made prior to and were in force at the time of the application for membership. SEC. 9. Funds. Sub. 1. Any society may create, main- Funds. tain, invest, disburse and apply an emergency, surplus or other similar fund in accordance with its laws. Unless otherwise provided in the contract, such funds shall be held, invested, and disbursed for the use and benefit of the society, and no member or beneficiary shall have or acquire individual rights therein or become entitled to any apportionment. or the surrender of any part thereof, except as provided in subsection two of section five of this act. The funds from which benefits shall be paid and the funds from which the expenses of the society shall be defrayed shall be derived from periodical or other payments by the members of Proviso, mortuary obligations. Fixed liabilities, what considered as. Investments. Proviso, foreign society. Distribution of funds. Number may organize. Name. the society and accretions of said funds: Provided, That no Sub. 2. Deferred payments or installments of claims shall be considered as fixed liabilities on the happening of the contingency upon which such payments or installments are thereafter to be paid. Such liability shall be the present value of such future payments or installments upon the rate of interest and mortality assumed by the society for valuation, and every society shall maintain a fund sufficient to meet such liability regardless of proposed future collections to meet any such liabilities. SEC. 10. Investments. Every society shall invest its funds only in securities permitted by the laws of this State for the investment of the assets of life insurance companies: Provided, That any foreign society permitted or seeking to do business in this State, which invests its funds in accordance with the laws of the State in which it is incorporated, shall be held to meet the requirements of this act for the investment of funds. SEC. 11. Distribution of funds. Every provision of the laws of the society for payment by members of such society, in whatever form made, shall distinctly state the purpose of the same and the proportion thereof which may be used for expenses, and no part of the money collected for mortuary or disability purposes or the net accretions of either or any of said funds shall be used for expenses. SEC. 12. Organization. Seven or more persons, citizens of the United States, and a majority of whom are citizens of this State, who desire to form a fraternal benefit society as defined by this act, may make and sign (giving their addresses) and acknowledge before some officer competent to take acknowledgment of deeds, articles of incorporation, in which shall be stated: First, The proposed corporate name of the society, which shall not so closely resemble the name of any society or in |