LEGAL PHASES OF COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS. 57 
them, he is in no position to complain because he is required to com- 
ply with the rules and regulations of the association to which he 
agreed or because he is expelled from the association in accordance 
with them. 
In a New York case involving the New York Stock Exchange, 
in which it appeared that a former member had been expelled for 
cause, the court of appeals of that State said: 
The interest of each member in the property of the association is equal, but 
it is subject to the constitution and by-laws, which are the basis on which is 
founded the association. They express the contract by which each member has 
consented to be bound and which measures his duties, rights, and privileges 
as such. It Seems most clear to me that this constitution and the by-laws 
derive a binding force from the fact that they are signed by all members and 
that they are conclusive upon each of them in respect to the regulations of 
the mode of transaction of his business and of his rights to continue to be a 
member. 
In another case * it was said: 
The San Francisco Stock and Exchange Board is a voluntary association. 
The members had a right to associate themselves upon such terms as they saw 
fit to prescribe, so long as there was nothing immoral or contrary to public 
policy or in contravention of the law of the land in the terms and conditions 
adopted. No man was under any obligation to become a member unless he 
saw fit to do so, and when he did and subscribed to the constitution and by- 
laws, thereby accepting and assenting to the conditions prescribed, he acquired 
just such rights, with such limitations and no others, as the articles of asso- 
ciation provided for. 
ADMISSION OF MEMBERS. 
It has been previously stated that an unincorporated association 
may prescribe the qualifications of members. It can not be compelled 
to admit as members persons whom it chooses to exclude.®* In other 
words, the whole matter of the admission of members rests with the 
association. ‘This is well illustrated in the case of Farmers’ tele- 
phone lines. The question of whether membership can be sold with 
the farm in such instances has arisen. It is held that an association 
has the right to control its membership, and a purchaser of a farm 
merely by virtue of his warranty deed does not become a member of 
such a telephone company.” 
MEMBERSHIP NONTRANSFERABLE, 
Membership in an unincorporated association is not transferable 
unless the constitution or by-laws provide that it shall be.*° The 
& State v. Seattle Baseball Assn., 61 Wash. 79, 111 Pac. 1055. 
% Belton v. Hatch, 109 N. Y. 593, 17 N. E. 225. 
& Hyde v. Wood, (U. S.) 2 Saw. 655. 
® Richardson v. Francestown Union Cong. Soc., 59 N. H. 187. 
® Cantrill v. Telephone Co. v. Fisher, 157 Ia. 203, 138 N. W. 436. 
7 Moore v. Telephone Co., 171 Mich. 388, 137 N. W. 241; McMahon v. Rauhr, 47 
mY. G7. 
