Hassey

This is an action originally commenced by the plaintiff as the administrator of the estate of F. A. Hassey, deceased, against A. B. Ruggles and a number of other persons comprising the membership of the San Francisco Stock and Exchange Board, an unincorporated association, to recover the sum of four thousand dollars.

The facts out of which this alleged indebtedness arose are substantially undisputed. The San Francisco Stock and Exchange Board was organized in the year 1862 by the voluntary association of its members for the purpose of mutually facilitating the business in which they were severally engaged. Articles of agreement creating the association were adopted which formed, and still form, its constitution and by-laws, and set forth the object and functions of the association, the powers and duties of its officers, and the rights and privileges of its membership. By the terms of these articles of agreement it was provided that the legal title and ownership of all the property, effects, and assets of the association should vest in its officers in trust for the benefit and enjoyment of its members; that no member under any circumstances should be deemed to have or claim or…