Full opinion text
DELEHANT, Senior District Judge. The appellant (sole defendant in the district court and herein so designated) appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division, against it and in favor of the appellees (plaintiffs in the district court and herein so designated) for the sum of $115,-460.49, made and given September 24, 1963, upon the verdict of the jury found and returned on that date, in this action, which was then pending in the District Court between the parties. The amount of the judgment, supra, was arrived at by adding to the aggregate sum of the jury’s award, namely, $102,552.80, interest thereon in the stipulated and agreed sum of $12,907.69. The stipulation or agreement is operative only on the amount of the interest, if the jury’s award itself be allowed to stand. The action was instituted, and has been prosecuted to recover from the defendant, (a) sums of money alleged to be due and owing from it to the plaintiff (later, plaintiffs) under a policy of insurance executed and issued by the defendant to and in favor of both of the plaintiffs, and of sundry other named beneficiaries, as well as to and in favor of, still other described, but unnamed beneficiaries or “assureds,” vide infra, and (b) sums of money alleged to be due and owing from the defendant to the plaintiff (plaintiffs) in enforcement of Section 375.420 RSMo 1959, V.A.M.S., on the ground that the defendants’ denial and resistance of the claim was and is vexatious, within the meaning of that statute, infra. By the pleadings, it is agreed that the defendant is, and at all material times was, a corporation incorporated under the laws of Illinois, and qualified to do business in Missouri, by and through its agents located in Missouri, and engaged in the insurance business for hire in the City of St. Louis, Missouri, and registered in the Division of Insurance of the State of Missouri under the laws of Missouri applying to insurance companies. The case was commenced in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri, by the plaintiff, Norris Grain Company, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Tennessee, authorized to transact business within Missouri, whose general offices are located at Number 112 North 4th Street, St. Louis, Missouri, against the defendant. The defendant, timely thereafter, and on January 11, 1962, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division, its Petition and Bond for Removal to the latter court of the action so instituted, and timely thereafter gave due notice of the filing of such Petition and Bond for Removal. On March 5, 1962 the case was assigned to Court No. 1, Chief Judge Roy W. Harper presiding, under whose judicial supervision it has generally proceeded thereafter in the District Court. On May 18, 1962, with no change of, or addition to, parties, the original plaintiff, with leave therefor, filed an Amended Petition in the District Court. On June 4, 1962, the defendant filed in that court a motion to dismiss both of the then two counts of the Amended Petition for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted, in that the then plaintiff was not the “first named assured” in the contract of insurance, which “first named assured,” the motion asserted, alone “may act for itself and for each and all of the assureds for all purposes of the policy;” and to dismiss Count II of the Amended Petition for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted, upon the separately assigned bases, first, that such Count II was for recovery under the policy’s Insuring Agreement V for loss resulting from forgery, despite the exclusion from coverage under such Agreement V, of losses resulting from employee dishonesty, and secondly, that the then sole plaintiff was the assignee, only, of a claim for loss resulting from dishonesty of certain employees. On January 15, 1963, the trial court made and entered an Order overruling that Motion to Dismiss in all respects. On January 25, 1963, the defendant filed its answer to the Amended Petition and Demand for Trial by Jury. It also then filed request for admissions, to which, shortly thereafter, plaintiff filed objection, which objection was overruled on March 1, 1963. On February 7, 1963 (after the filing of its request for admissions), the defendant filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. Thereafter, and on February 20, 1963, the plaintiff moved for leave to file a Second Amended Petition, and therein and thereafter to add as another party plaintiff, Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation; and concurrently therewith “lodged” in the files, the proposed Second Amended Petition. On March 1, 1963, the trial court (in addition to its action overruling the objections to the defendant’s Request for Admissions, supra), took submission of, and denied and overruled, the defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, and also took submission of, and sustained and granted, plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to file Second Amended Petition, and to make Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, an additional party plaintiff. And the Second Amended Petition (theretofore marked as “lodged,” supra) was filed. On March 11, 1963, the defendant’s Answer to Plaintiff’s Second Amended Petition was filed. It is that Second Amended Petition and the Answer thereto which, ultimately, reflect the issues in the action, but with this reservation, namely, that on September 16, 1963, upon the opening of the trial of the action, the plaintiffs, by leave of court then granted, dismissed Count II of the Second Amended Petition. Therefore, the action proceeded to trial upon Count I of the Second Amended Petition, and the defendant’s Answer to such Count I. The foregoing admittedly extended recollection of the history of the pleadings in the action is probably not strictly necessary for the present purposes of this court. It is, nevertheless, offered, among other reasons, out of regard for its conceivable bearing upon the issues arising from the defendant’s contention that the judgment, supra, must be reversed, and the action — now Count I of the Second Amended Petition — must be dismissed for the asserted want of the timely participation in the prosecution of the claim in suit by the only party competent under the Policy to proceed as plaintiff herein, et supra, et infra. By Count I of that Second Amended Petition, the plaintiffs, first, allege the facts, and the States, of their respective incorporations, the authority for, and ac-uality of, their engagement, in the State of Missouri, and in the City of St. Louis therein, and elsewhere, “in the business of purchasing, selling and storing grains, soy beans and other related products;” and the defendant’s incorporation in Illinois, authorization to do, and actual doing of, business as an insurer for hire in the State of Missouri, and the City of St. Louis therein (all as already recited herein)» By paragraph 3 of such Second Amended Petition, they allege: “3. On or about the 15th day of December, 1956, in consideration of the payment to the defendant of the premium of Six Thousand Seven Hundred Seventy Two and 62/100 ($6,772.62), defendant issued and delivered to Norris Grain Company; Norris Grain Company, Ltd.; Bruce A. Norris; Arthur R. Kneibler, Jr.; Eleanor Norris Kneibler; Marguerite L. Norris; Marguerite Ann Norris and all subsidiary, related or affiliated companies now owned or controlled or which may hereafter be acquired or controlled by the named assureds, its Policy No. F-54,200, and for a further premium to it paid in the sum of Two Thousand Seven Hundred Twenty-two and 26/100 ($2,722.26), defendant extended the term of said policy of Fidelity and Indemnity Insurance, a continuing insuring agreement nominated by the defendant generally as ‘Employee Dishonesty Coverage — Form A, Safe Deposit Box Coverage and Depositors Forgery Coverage,’ whereby defendant promised and agreed to indemnify and save harmless those designated in the policy as ‘the assured’ for all losses sustained by them during the period beginning the 15th day of December, 1956, and continuing as long thereafter as said policy should remain in force and effect according to the provisions of said policy and in the amounts therein limited as follows: “Insuring Agreement I, Employee Dishonesty Coverage — Form A, $500,000.00 caused by any fraudulent or dishonest act or acts committed anywhere by any of the employees of the assured acting alone or in collusion with others and including losses caused by the fraud or dishonesty of any one or more employees whom (sic) are unidentifiable. ” A copy of said Policy No. F-54,200, marked Exhibit A, is attached hereto and made a part hereof. Said policy was not cancelled or otherwise terminated and was in force and effect at the time of the losses herein complained of.” The exact language of the policy identifying the “Assureds” within its protection is contained in “Schedule A” attached to and incorporated into the policy in the following language: “SCHEDULE ‘A’ Norris Grain Company Norris Grain Company, Ltd. Bruce A. Norris Arthur R. Kneibler, Jr. Eleanor Norris Kneibler Marguerite L. Norris Marguerite Ann Norris, and all subsidiary, related or affiliated companies now owned or controlled or which may hereafter be acquired or controlled by the named Assureds. Signed, sealed and dated this 4th day of January, 1957. LUMBERMENS MUTUAL CASUALTY COMPANY By Jack R. Young, Jack R. Young, Attorney-in-Fact” Let it be observed that the policy itself, like the foregoing schedule A, was executed and dated, January 4, 1957, but it was expressly made effective from and after December 15, 1956. It is also recalled that by paragraph “D” of the policy’s GENERAL AGREEMENTS, it was provided, in part, that: “D. If more than one Assured is covered under this policy, the first named Assured shall act for itself and for each and all of the Assured for all of the purposes of this Policy.” In the several paragraphs of the Second Amended Petition following paragraph numbered 3 quoted above, the plaintiffs make allegations that are summarized briefly as follows: By Paragraph 4, the status, at all times mentioned in the Second Amended Petition, as an “Assured” under the policy, of the Norris Grain Corporation; the change of its name to Norris Grain Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri in June, 1960; and its action, on or. about June 30, 1960, in assigning its rights and interests in the policy to plaintiff Norris Grain Company, a Tennessee Corporation, as well as “All other business, assets, and liabilities of Norris Grain Corporation.” By Paragraph numbered 5, the allegation that, during the term of the policy, and, more specifically, during the period from December 1, 1959 to December 31, 1959, Norris Grain Corporation, subsequently Norris Grain Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri (supra), “was caused to suffer a loss of $85,800.00 by reason of the fraud and dishonesty of one or more of its employees, alone or in collusion with others, in the receiving of grains and beans at its facility at 4800 North Wharf, St. Louis, Missouri, and the false recording of said receipts for the purpose of authorizing and causing improper and excessive payments by plaintiff to those from whom said employee or employees falsely reported the receipts aforesaid.” By Paragraph numbered 6, the discovery of such loss in January, 1960, and the giving to the defendant on or about April 22, 1960 of due notice and proof of such loss, and that “said amount of loss has become due and payable for which demand has been made.” By Paragraph numbered 7, the furnishing thereafter by plaintiffs and both of them, to the defendant, of all information and material requested by the defendant in the course of its investigation; the acceptance and processing by the defendant of the proof of loss; the defendant’s denial on or about March 2, 1961 of liability under such policy for said loss, and its failure and refusal, and persistence therein, to pay such amount. By Paragraph numbered 8, the Assureds’ keeping and performance of, and compliance with, all of the terms, provisions and conditions of the policy since its execution, and furnishing to the defendant, under the terms, conditions and covenants of the policy, of due notice of such loss; and the failure by the defendant, at any time, to tender to the Assureds, any refund or return of the premiums paid by them to the defendant. And, by Paragraph numbered 9, the averment that the refusal of the defendant to pay the loss under the policy was and is vexatious and without reasonable cause; on account whereof, the Assureds are entitled to damages therefor in the sum of $8,580.00 and, as a reasonable sum as an attorneys fee, the sum of $20,000.00. And the Second Amended Petition was concluded by the plaintiffs with a prayer for judgment in the sum of $85,800.00, with interest thereon from December 31, 1959 at the rate of six per cent per an-num, and, in addition thereto, the further sum of $8.580.00 as damages, and $20,-000.00 as an attorney’s fee, together with costs. On March 11, 1963, the defendant filed its answer to the Second Amended Petition. In respect of Count I of such Second Amended Petition, that Answer undertook to, and did tender two separate defenses. The first such defense was the assertion that the “Second Amended Petition fails to state a claim against defendant upon which relief can be granted.” The second such defense responds entirely to the facts averred in the Second Amended Petition. In such second defense, the defendant, a) Admits in their entirety, (1) the allegations in the Second Amended Petition, of the defendant’s incorporation under the laws of Illinois, its qualification to do, and engagement in doing, business as an insurer for hire in the State of Missouri and in the City of St. Louis, Missouri and elsewhere, and its due registration in the Division of Insurance of the State of Missouri, all as alleged in the plaintiffs’ Second Amended Petition; and (2) the allegations of paragraph numbered 3 of the Second Amended Petition, all as already copied herein, supra; b) Alleges its lack of knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of (1) the allegations touching the facts and the status of the incorporation of the two several plaintiffs, the authority for, and actuality of, the engagement, in the State of Missouri, and in the City of St. Louis therein and elsewhere, by those two plaintiffs, “in the business of purchasing, selling and storing grains, soy beans and other related products;” and also alleges its lack of knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegations of Paragraph numbered 4 of Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Petition (which allegations have lately been summarized in this memorandum, supra); and thereby puts the plaintiffs upon proof of each such fact, in respect of which it thus professed such lack of knowledge or information ; c) Admits, in relation to Paragraph numbered 6 of Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Petition, only that a proof of loss was filed with the defendant on or about April 22, 1960, making claim under the insurance policy which is the subject matter of the suit, but denies all of the further allegations of that paragraph of the Second Amended Petition, as summarized herein, supra; and, d) Denies each and all of the allegations contained in paragraphs numbered 5, 7, 8 and 9 of such Second Amended Petition (concerning the nature of which allegations thus denied, vide supra). The action came on for trial to the District Court with a jury, Chief Judge Harper presiding, on September 16,1963. Counsel for plaintiffs made an oral opening statement, at the close of which, the defendant filed and tendered a motion for a directed verdict in its behalf “upon the ground that the plaintiff (sic) has failed to state a cause of action in its opening statement upon which a claim can be based.” In its essence, that motion was a “demurrer to the opening statement.” The motion was submitted to the trial court, and, by that court, was denied and refused. Thereupon the trial proceeded and, with some intermissions, continued through several days. During it, the plaintiffs introduced evidence at considerable length and rested, after which, the defendant made and tendered a motion for a directed verdict in its behalf, and against the plaintiffs, which motion was then submitted to the trial court, by which ruling on such motion was reserved. The defendant, thereupon, introduced its evidence and rested. At the close of all of the evidence and testimony, the defendant again moved for a directed verdict in its behalf and against the plaintiffs. That motion was submitted to the court, by which ruling on the motion was reserved. The plaintiffs then also moved for a directed verdict in their behalf and against the defendant; and that motion was submitted to the court, and by the court was denied and overruled. Oral arguments of counsel' for the several parties were made. And the charge of the court was imparted to the jury. No exception was taken to the charge by any party to the suit. Concerning the substance of the charge, vide infra. Thereafter, the jury found and returned a verdict, whose language, omitting caption and signature, follows: “We, the jury in the above entitled cause, find the issues herein joined in favor of Norris Grain Company, a Tennessee Corporation and Norris Grain Company, a Illinois Corporation, and against the Defendant, Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company, a Corporation, and we assess Plaintiffs’ damage for loss sustained under the policy sued on in the sum of Eighty-Three Thousand Nine Hundred Ninety-Eight ($83,998.00) Dollars. “We further find that the Defendant has been guilty of vexatious delay in refusing to pay said loss. “We further find and assess against Defendant damages for vexatious delay in refusing to pay said loss in the sum of Eight Thousand Three Hundred Ninety-Nine and 80/100 ($8,399.80) Dollars. “And we further find and assess against Defendant, Plaintiffs’ Attorneys’ Fees for services in this cause in the sum of Ten Thousand One Hundred Fifty-Five ($10,155.00) Dollars. “Aggregating the total sum of One Hundred Two Thousand Five Hundred Fifty-Two and 80/100 ($102,-552.80) Dollars.” On the receipt of that verdict, the parties, by their counsel signed, executed and lodged with the clerk the following: “Memorandum for Clerk. “By leave and agreement, all parties hereto agree that interest on the judgment entered herein figured at 6% of (sic) $83,998 from March 2, 1961, to and including Sept. 24,1963, is and shall be $12,907.69.” That memorandum was signed by counsel for all litigants, and, by the trial judge, was endorsed “By Leave Filed. R.W.H.”, those capital letters being the initial letters of his name. Judgment was thereupon, and on September 24, 1963, made and given upon the verdict, along with such “Memorandum for Clerk,” in favor of the plaintiffs and against the defendant in the sum of $115,460.49. On October 4, 1963, the defendant filed in the District Court a motion to set aside such verdict and judgment, and to enter judgment in favor of the defendant, in accordance with its Motion for Directed Verdict, or, in the alternative, for a New Trial. As grounds for its primary motion to vacate the judgment and to enter judgment for defendant, the defendant, by such motion, advanced claims which are summarized thus: 1) No evidence was offered or received tending to prove a claim on which relief could be granted to plaintiffs; 2) No evidence was offered or received tending to prove the occurrence of a loss to plaintiffs during the interval from December 1, 1959 to December 31, 1959; 3) No evidence was offered or received which went beyond the point of creating a mere surmise or suspicion that the asserted loss was caused by the fraud or dishonesty of one or more of plaintiffs’ employees, identifiable or unidentifiable, acting alone or in collusion with others; 4) No evidence was offered or received which fairly and reasonably excluded all explanations for the asserted loss other than that it was caused by the fraud and dishonesty of one or more of plaintiffs’ employees, identifiable or unidentifiable, acting alone or in collusion with others; 5) Plaintiffs’ opening statement did not state facts which, if proved, would constitute a claim for which relief could be granted; 6) Plaintiffs’ opening statement did not state facts which, if proved, would constitute a claim for which damages for vexatious refusal to pay could be granted; 7) Plaintiffs’ opening statement did not include a demand for recovery of damages for vexatious refusal to pay; 8) No evidence was offered or received tending to prove that Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, complied with all of the terms and conditions of the policy of insurance introduced in evidence; 9) No evidence was offered or received tending to prove that Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, suffered a loss; and, 10) No evidence was offered or received which tended to prove that the petition filed by Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, was filed within two years after notification to that plaintiff of the alleged loss. As grounds for its alternative, or contingent, Motion for a New Trial, the defendant advanced claims which are summarized thus: 1) Error by the court in admitting incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial evidence offered by plaintiffs and over objection of defendant (not otherwise specified); 2) Error by the court in excluding competent, relevant and material evidence offered by defendant (not otherwise specified); 3) Error by the court in denying and overruling defendant’s motion for a directed verdict at the close of plaintiffs’ opening statement; 4) Error by the court in denying and overruling defendant’s motion for a directed verdict at the close of plaintiffs’ evidence; 5) Error by the court in denying and overruling defendant’s motion for a directed verdict at the close of all the evidence; 6) The verdict is against the evidence; 7) The verdict is against the greater weight of credible evidence; 8) The verdict is against the law under the evidence; 9) No credible evidence was offered or received, tending to prove that a loss occurred to plaintiffs during the interval from December 1, 1959 to December 31, 1959; 10) No credible evidence was offered or received, which fairly and reasonably excluded all explanations for the alleged loss other than its causation by the fraud and dishonesty of one or more of plaintiffs’ employees, identifiable or unidentifiable, acting alone or in collusion with others; 11) No credible evidence was offered or received, which tended to prove that Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, complied with all the terms and conditions of the policy of insurance introduced into evidence; 12) No evidence was offered or received which tended to prove that Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, suffered a loss; 13) No evidence was offered or received which tended to prove that the petition filed by Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, was filed within two years after notification to such plaintiff of the alleged loss; and, 14) No evidence was offered or received which tended to prove that Norris Grain Company, a Tennessee corporation, was the first named insured under the insuring agreement. On February 4, 1964, upon due submission, the trial court made and entered an order denying such consolidated motion for the vacation and setting aside of the verdict and judgment, or, alternatively, for a new trial, in its entirety, and in its separate demands. Notice of Appeal herein was filed in the trial court on February 27, 1964. In its brief filed in this court in support of its appeal, the defendant, as appellant, presents and argues only these points: “I. “In support of plaintiffs’ claim for recovery for alleged loss due to employee dishonesty under the policy of insurance subject of this action, plaintiffs failed to introduce any direct evidence that one or more employees of plaintiffs were responsible for the alleged loss, and, in absence of such direct proof, plaintiffs further failed to fairly and reasonably exclude all other explanations for the alleged loss than that it was caused by the dishonest act or acts of an employee or employees. “II. “No evidence of any probative value was introduced to prove that a loss in the amount claimed was incurred by plaintiffs during the month of December, 1959. “III. “No evidence was presented in behalf of plaintiffs to prove that the refusal by defendant to pay plaintiffs’ claim was in fact vexatious as required by the Missouri statute under which imposition of a penalty for vexatious refusal to pay is authorized. “IV. “The first named assured in the policy of insurance upon which plaintiffs bring this action, did not bring suit until well after the expiration of the two year limitation provided in that policy and plaintiffs are thereby barred of recovery.” Plaintiffs, likewise, tender responsive argument upon the same points, and in like sequence. This court has, therefore, approached its consideration of the issues before it, principally in the light of that manner of submission. It pursues that course the more readily in the persuasion that the defendant’s “statement of points,” supra, adequately and concisely draws to this court’s attention all of the issues reflected in the record on appeal, and even those not explicitly argued questions tendered in and by the motion for vacation of Judgment and for judgment in defendant’s behalf notwithstanding the verdict, or, alternatively, for a new trial, supra. However, this court’s consideration of the argued points, supra, proceeds in an altered, yet logical, sequence. It deals, first, with Point IY, then with Points I and II, and, finally, with Point III, all supra. Reverting, now, to “Schedule A” of the policy in suit already copied herein, it is recalled that the entity first named in that list of “assureds” under the policy is identified, without greater particularity, simply as “Norris Grain Company.” But, during the trial and on September 23, 1963, it was stipulated in open court that “Norris Grain Company, the name in the face of this policy, the first named assured here, is the plaintiff known as Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation.” Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, at all times involved in this litigation, was the sole owner of the capital stock, both common and preferred, of Norris Grain Company, a Tennessee corporation.The corporation just named is and at least since July 20, 1955, has been a corporation organized under the laws of Tennessee; and it is, and throughout all times mentioned herein was, authorized to do business in Missouri. Also within the meaning of “all subsidiary, related or affiliated companies now owned or controlled * * * by the named assureds” as set out in Schedule A of the policy in. suit, at the time of the issuance of such policy, and at all times material herein, was a corporation existing originally under the name “Norris Grain Corporation,” which was located at St. Louis, Missouri. Subsequent to its incorporation, its corporate name was changed to “Norris Grain Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri.” It operated the elevator in St. Louis, Missouri, and it sustained the loss for which the claim of plaintiffs herein is made. On June 27, 1960, thus after the occurrence of the alleged loss, at a special meeting of its stockholders, by a resolution duly adopted, Norris Grain Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri, assigned all of its “debts (sic), obligations (sic), business and assets of every nature whatsoever” to “Norris Grain Company, a Tennessee Corporation;” and under date of June 30, 1960, Norris Grain Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri, as assignor, and by way of implementation of that resolution, assigned “all right, title and interest of the assignor” in and to the claim here in suit to “Norris Grain Company, a Tennessee corporation.” And Norris Grain Company, a Tennessee Corporation, the assignee in and under that instrument, instituted this action in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, vide swpra. The action was so filed in the first instance by Norris Grain Company, a Tennessee Corporation, the corporate assignee, therefore, the sole owner, of the claim in suit, which was also a wholly owned subsidiary of Norris Grain Company, an Illinois Corporation. It is also recognized that, by Paragraph D of the General Agreements of the policy in suit, it was provided, inter alia, and in addition to the sentence already quoted above from such Paragraph D, that: “* * * Payment by the Company” (i. e., the defendant herein) “to the first named Assured of any loss under this Policy shall fully release the Company on account of such loss. If the first named Assured ceases for any reason to be covered under this Policy, then the Assured next named shall thereafter be considered as the first named Assured for all the purposes of this Policy.” Norris Grain Company, an Illinois Corporation, and the Assured first named in the policy, as the record discloses, prosecuted investigation of the loss, notified defendant of the loss, and filed with the defendant a proof of loss, dated April 22, I960. By Section 6 of the policy’s CONDITIONS AND LIMITATIONS, it is provided concerning legal proceedings under the policy, among other things, that: “No suit to recover on account of loss under this Policy shall be brought until ninety days after proof of loss as required herein shall have been furnished, nor at all unless commenced within two years from the date upon which the loss was discovered by the Assured. If any limitation of time for notice of loss or any legal proceeding herein contained is shorter than that permitted to be fixed by agreement under any statute controlling the construction of this Policy, the shortest permissible statutory limit of time shall govern and shall supersede any condition of this Policy inconsistent therewith.” This court now turns to the consideration of item IV of the points argued in the present appeal, supra. Shortly stated, it contends for the dismissal of this action because (a) Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, and “the first named assured” in the policy, did not formally become a party to this suit until March 1, 1963, thus, as the defendant contends, more than three years after the alleged loss, and (b) that date was more than two years after “the date upon which the loss was discovered by the assured.” That point is premised, and, in supporting it, the defendant relies, upon both the initial sentence of paragraph D of the policy’s GENERAL AGREEMENTS, supra, and the more lately quoted excerpt from section 6 of its CONDITIONS AND LIMITATIONS, in combination, supra. In the existing context, this court considers, as did the trial judge, that the critical language, “No suit to recover on account of loss under this Policy shall be brought * * * at all unless commenced within two years from the date upon which the loss was discovered by the Assured,” may not be allowed to defeat recovery herein. What the defendant seeks by the contention is not the enforcement of a legislatively erected statute of limitations, but rather the frustration of Missouri’s legislatively enacted statute of limitations by the interposition of a contractual provision in derogation of it. The attempt is not well conceived. If it be granted, as, from the evidence appears to be the fact, that during December, 1959 or early in January, 1960, the corporate operator of the Norris elevator in St. Louis, Missouri became suspicious of a shortage in its inventory of soybeans, and, upon the basis of actual inventories and accounting procedures, arrived at a reasonably reliable understanding of the actual existence and the extent, of such shortage by January 31, 1960, even, in one view of the evidence by January 8, 1960, it should be held to have “discovered the loss” no later than January 31, 1960, and, as this court thinks, by January 8, 1960. Proof of loss was made by Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, the “first named Assured,” under date of April 25, I960, thus well within the limit therefor prescribed in the policy. That is unquestioned. The defendant conducted its own examination into the loss, to some extent before, but largely after its receipt of the proof of loss. On March 2, 1961, the defendant in writing, infra, categorically rejected the claim and denied liability therefor. This action was instituted in the state court, supra, on December 15, 1961, by the filing therein of the Petition of the then sole plaintiff, and the issuance on that date of an original summons, of which, on December 22, 1961, service was made on the Superintendent of the Division of Insurance, Department of Business and Administration of the State of Missouri. On the issue of the timeliness of the suit, it is at once recognized that the defendant does not — and could not with any support — assert that the action is barred by the pertinent statute of limitations of Missouri, even if the date of its effective institution be held to be March 1, 1963 when Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, formally became a party plaintiff to it, rather than the much earlier date, supra, of its commencement in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis. Deferring briefly the question of the operative date of institution, the impact upon the case of the attempted contractual interception of a suit to recover for loss under the policy, “unless commenced within two years from the date upon which the loss was discovered by the Assured,” has first consideration. The defendant, in its attempt by that provision of the-policy, to defeat recovery rests heavily-upon Riddlesbarger v. Hartford Insurance Company, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 386, 19 L.Ed. 257, and the cases, both in the courts of the United States and in those of some of the states which have concurred in its reasoning. In the Riddlesbarger case, which arose out of the destruction by fire of an insured building located in Kansas City, Missouri, and which was instituted in a Missouri state trial court and transferred to the United States Circuit Court for the District of Missouri, the Supreme Court, speaking through Mr. Justice Field, in December, 1868, thus during the long dominance of Swift v. Tyson, 16 Pet. 1, 10 L.Ed. 865, in affirming the Circuit Court’s judgment of dismissal upon general demurrer, declared that a condition in a policy of fire insurance that no action against the insurers for the recovery of any claim upon the policy shall be sustained unless commenced within twelve months after the loss shall have occurred, and that the lapse of such period shall be conclusive evidence against the validity of any claim asserted if an action for its enforcement be subsequently commenced, is not against the policy of the statute of limitations, and is valid, (emphasis added) The opinion claimed the support of cited earlier opinions by the courts of several states and at least one federal circuit court. Interestingly, the writer of the opinion, in reasoning to the ruling of his court, also declared that “the contract of insurance is a voluntary one, and the insurers have a right to designate the terms upon which they will be responsible for losses.” He may, on the basis of his perspective and background, be pardoned for -his formulation thereby of a declaration which intervening legal development, both legislative and judicial, has repudiated. However, the ruling was accepted and followed in many opinions and in several states. Some of those deliverances are cited in the brief here of the defendant. But, almost certainly in consequence of the Riddlesbarger opinion and its progeny, and of the aggression of the insurance enterprise and the ingenuity of its counsel, “the policy of the statute of limitations,” on whose tolerance Mr. Justice Field relied, supra, historically underwent a substantial reformation, largely political and legislative, but, substantially also, judicial. Directly applicable here and of a pattern common to much of the change producing legislation, the legislature of Missouri in 1887 enacted a statute which, unaltered through the intervening revisions and compilations of the state’s statutes, is now Section 431.030, Yernon’s Annotated Missouri Statutes. Its language follows: “All parts of any contract or agreement hereafter made or entered into which either directly or indirectly limit or tend to limit the time in which any suit or action may be instituted, shall be null and void.” The comprehensive reach of that sentence need not, probably could not, be emphasized. By the words, “any contract,” it repels the supposition that it applies only to policies of insurance, yet manifestly includes them within its ambit. And it “nullifies and avoids,” all parts of any contract or agreement made and entered into after its enactment, i. e. after 1887, which either directly or indirectly limit or tend to limit "the time in which any suit or action may be instituted. Its remedial character and entitlement to liberal construction in furtherance of its manifest objective are obvious. And it has been characterized as reflective of “the public policy of Missouri,” in numerous cases, of which citation may suggestively but not exhaustively be made of Karnes v. American Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia, 144 Mo. 413, 46 S.W. 166; Cobble v. Royal Neighbors of America, 291 Mo. 125, 236 S.W. 306, 21 A.L.R. 1346 (wherein the contractual limitation attempted to erect a period of limitations longer than that of the statute); Le-Grand v. Security Benefit Association (Springfield, Mo. App.) 210 Mo.App. 700, 240 S.W. 852; Brucker v. Georgia Casualty Company, 326 Mo. 856, 32 S.W.2d 1088; Asel v. Order of United Commercial Travelers, 355 Mo. 658, 197 S.W.2d 639, affirming Asel v. United Commercial Travelers of America (Kansas City, Mo. App.) 193 S.W.2d 74. To like effect, in application of the recently quoted language from the Act of 1887, but in relation to a shipping contract, see Richardson v. Chicago and Alton Railway Company, 149 Mo. 311, 50 S.W. 782. Among decisions, identically enforcing that statute, which have been made by this court or by Federal District Courts within Missouri, mention is made of Order of United Commercial Travelers v. Meinsen (8 Cir.) 131 F.2d 176, and of the ruling therein affirmed, Meinsen v. Order of United Commercial Travelers (D.C.W.D.Mo.) 43 F.Supp. 756. The writer of the opinion most recently cited was the late Judge John Caskie Collet, earlier a justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri, and, after his service as a judge of the United States District Court, a judge of this court. The following language is quoted from Order of United Commercial Travelers v. Mein-sen, supra, 131 F.2d at p. 181: “In none of the decisions of the appellate courts of Missouri relied upon by the appellant did the court cite the Karnes case, supra, or refer to the established rule in Missouri that the courts will not enforce a foreign contract if to do so would be contrary to the public policy of Missouri. The appellate courts considered only the public policy of the lex loci. “Since it is for a state to say whether a contract contrary to such a statute as § 3351 of Missouri is so repugnant to its public policy as to require its courts to refuse to enforce it (Griffin v. McCoach, 313 U.S. 498, 61 S.Ct. 1023, 85 L.Ed. 1481, supra), the district court was required to appraise the Missouri law and determine whether there was convincing evidence that the Supreme Court of Missouri would not follow the decisions of the appellate courts but would decide differently (Stoner v. New York Life Ins. Co., 311 U.S. 464, 61 S.Ct. 336, 85 L.Ed. 284, supra). The district court in a carefully considered opinion, after reviewing the Missouri cases, concluded that the Supreme Court of Missouri would, if the question involved here were presented to it, decide according to the public policy of Missouri as declared by the legislature in the statute supra. “We cannot say that the court erred in so holding. To reverse on this ground would require this court to say that the Supreme Court of Missouri did not mean what the plain import of its language in the Karnes case, supra, states with force and emphasis. That court said unequivocally that ‘The legislature determined that a sound public policy demands that the courts of the state shall remain open to litigants as long as their claims are not barred by the statute of limitations’; that the ‘legislature * * * established, as the policy of this state, a uniform regulation of the time within which suits may be brought, and declared that this should not be changed by agreement * * * and * * * it is the duty of the courts to enforce it (this rule).’ There are no qualifying or limiting phrases in this pronouncement. “The language used by the Supreme Court of Missouri in the Brucker case, supra, supports the decision of the district court with equal force. It was there said that a contract which provided that ‘suit must be brought within one year * * * is in direct conflict with section 2166, Revised Statutes 1919 [now § 3351, Mo.R.S.A.], because it attempts to limit the period in which an action may be brought, contrary to our Statute of Limitations’, and ‘that no contract which attempts to oust the courts of jurisdiction can be enforced’ ; that ‘a contract by the assured that any one who may acquire his rights under the contract cannot bring suit anywhere, is an attempt to oust the courts of this state of jurisdiction.’ Compare Union Central Life Ins. Co. v. Spinks, 119 Ky. 261, 83 S.W. 615, 617, 84 S.W. 1160, 69 L.R.A. 264, 7 Ann.Cas. 913; Reich-ard v. Manhattan Life Ins. Co., 31 Mo. 518; First Nat. Bank v. White, 220 Mo. 717, 120 S.W. 36, 132 Am. St.Rep. 612, 16 Ann.Cas. 889; Le-Grand v. Security Benefit Ass’n, 210 Mo.App. 700, 240 S.W. 852. “It thus appears that the decisions of the appellate courts relied upon by the appellant are based upon a rule of comity, while the decisions of the Supreme Court relied upon by the district court are predicated upon a rule of public policy declared by the legislature and held to be binding upon the courts. The conclusion that the Supreme Court would apply this rule to a foreign contract is strengthened by its holding that an attempt to limit by contract the period in which an action may be brought is an invasion of the jurisdiction of the courts.” See also comparable discussion in Asel v. Order of United Commercial Travelers, supra, 193 S.W.2d 74 at pp. 79, 80, and Asel v. Order of United Commercial Travelers, supra, 355 Mo. 658, 197 S.W. 2d 639, point 4 at pp. 643, 645, 646. From the opinions already cited to the instant point, as well as from numerous other Missouri authorities, it is manifest that the Supreme Court of Missouri, under the mandate of the state’s cited statute (both above and next hereafter) holds that contracts repugnant to what is now Section 431.030, Vernon’s Annotated Missouri Statutes, supra, are viola-tive of the legislatively declared public policy of Missouri, and will not be enforced in and by the courts of Missouri. For the evident purpose of obviating the consequence of those decisions, the defendant asserts in. its brief before this court that the policy of insurance whereon this action is brought is an Illinois contract, that it is to be construed and applied in like manner as it would be construed and applied under the law of Illinois, that by such Illinois law the contractual limitation upon the time to institute suit, upon which it relies, is valid and enforceable, and that it should, therefore, be held to be valid and enforceable here, at least in this action. In the first place, this court considers that the place of execution of the policy is not explicitly pleaded, and its status as an Illinois contract is not put directly in issue. It is true that the defendant is alleged to be a corporation organized under the laws of Illinois, but also authorized to do business, and doing business, in Missouri; and that Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, “the first named assured,” is also an Illinois corporation, authorized to do, and' actually doing, business in Missouri. The copy of the policy annexed to the Amended Petition “agrees with Norris Grain Company and all other assureds listed in Schedule A attached hereto and made a part hereof whose principal address is Chicago, Illinois,” etc. But, even then, “Norris Grain Corporation” was a Missouri — not an Illinois — corporation and it was an Assured under the generalized description of “Assureds,”, already quoted herein. And it alone sustained the loss for which recovery is here sought, and after the loss sold and assigned its assets, including the claim for the loss, to Norris Grain Company, a Tennessee corporation. Thus, the loss was sustained at St. Louis, Missouri, by a Missouri assured, which shortly assigned its claim for the injury to the Tennessee corporation, which, alone, later filed the petition in this case in the Missouri state court. This court recognizes that, if it be granted, or determined, that allegation is made that the policy is legally “an Illinois contract,” the party relying on the provision of the Illinois law need not expressly plead that Illinois law. That is particularly true in cases tried in the courts of the United States, before which no state of the United States is a “foreign state.” Moreover, there appears to be no controversy between the parties but that Illinois regards as valid contractual provisions of the character here involved. On the other hand, as has already been concluded herein, Missouri, as a matter of statutory public policy, rejects such provisions as null and void. Confronted by that aspect of Missouri’s law, the defendant demands that the law of Illinois be administered in this case. A problem in conflict of laws thus confronts the court. The argument of the defendant is not persuasive. It does convincingly support the proposition that “a contractual limitation of time for bringing suit has consistently been approved by the Illinois courts.” It also cites authority in support of the validity of such a provision in California, Louisiana and New York, a question not now before the court. It commends the opinion in the Riddlesbarger case, upon which, incidentally, most of the cases sustaining contractual provisions limiting the allowable time for the bringing of suit ultimately rest. As to Missouri it merely (a) reminds the court that the Riddlesbarger opinion was delivered in a suit brought upon a Missouri fire insurance policy, and (b) alludes to “a line of * * * decisions including Asel v. Order of United Commercial Travelers of America (S.Ct.1946) [355 Mo. 658], 197 S.W.2d 639, which refuse to construe a foreign insurance policy according to the law of the state in which the contract was entered into.” That “line of cases,” otherwise unidentified, it puts aside with this observation, “In all of these cases the decision is grounded upon a public policy to the protection of the citizens of Missouri. There is no such policy existing in the instant case, since both parties were Illinois citizens.” However, the two sentences last quoted seem to involve, first, an oversimplification, secondly, an inexact factual declaration, advanced in undoubted sincerity. While it is true that many, in fact, most, of the mentioned, though not otherwise identified, “line of * * * (Missouri) decisions” disclose the presence of an insured Missouri citizen, and such citizenship appears in some of the opinions as at least a "make weight” factor guiding the decision, that citizenship is not the keystone of the “line of decisions.” It is rather a “public policy” arising, it may be granted, out of the practice of abuse, sometimes, too, of concealment, on the part of insurers. And here it is inexact inflexibly to declare that “both parties are Illinois citizens.” That is true as to the defendant and the “first named insured.” It is not correctly declared in respect of the corporate assured which actually sustained the loss, or of its as-signee, the initial sole plaintiff. And it is of interest, too, that the loss in suit is alleged and proved to have occurred entirely in Missouri, the corporate domicile of the entity which directly suffered that loss. If, therefore, it were true, as the defendant appears to contend that the protection of Missouri litigants and industry lies at the root of the considered hostility of Missouri’s legislature and courts towards insurance policy clauses such as the one before us, then the setting of the present case would be ample warrant for the application of that policy. Without unnecessary discussion, it is further observed that the administration by this court in the present action of Missouri’s inhospitality to the contractual limitation of the time for suit is warranted, if it be not actually compelled, by the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States in Erie Railroad Company v. Tompkins, (April 25, 1938) 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188, and even more pointedly by the opinions of the same court concurrently delivered on June 2, 1941 in Klaxon Company v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing Company, Inc., 313 U.S. 487, 61 S.Ct. 1020, 85 L.Ed. 1477 and Griffin v. McCoach, 313 U.S. 498, 61 S.Ct. 1023, 85 L.Ed. 1481. The last two cases, amplifying and applying the Erie Railroad Company ruling, declare, as is asserted in the syllabus of the Klaxon Company case, that: “In diversity of citizenship cases, the federal courts, when deciding questions of conflict of laws, must follow the rules prevailing in the States where they sit.” See also Guaranty Trust Company v. York (1945) 326 U.S. 99, 65 S.Ct. 1464, 89 L.Ed. 2079, Pink v. A.A.A. Highway Express, (1941) 314 U.S. 201, 62 S.Ct. 241, 86 L.Ed. 152. Mention is now made of the fact that, in support of the position respecting the policy’s contractual limitation of time for suit now advanced by the defendant, reliance was placed for some years on cases of which representative citations are Tuthill v. Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland (Mo.App.) 119 S.W.2d 468; Roberts v. Modern Woodmen of America, 133 Mo.App. 207, 113 S.W. 726, and Dolan v. Royal Neighbors, 123 Mo. App. 147, 100 S.W. 498. That those opinions tend to support the view for which they were so cited may be granted. But it is also to be observed that, upon that precise issue, they have been held unworthy of acceptance in and by Missouri courts. Brucker v. Georgia Casualty Company, 326 Mo. 856, 32 S.W.2d 1088, and Order of United Commercial Travelers v. Meinsen (8 Cir.) 131 F.2d 176, 181, and Asel v. Order of United Commercial Travelers (Mo.App.) 193 S.W.2d 74, 80, 85 (affirmed by the Missouri Supreme Court, 355 Mo. 658, 197 S.W.2d 639). Discussion of the policy’s contractual limitation of the time for the institution of suit upon it might be extended to much greater length, and supported by far more extensive judicial authority. But it is not believed that its prolongation would serve any practical purpose. It is now simply declared that the application of such contractual limitation with the result of the defeat herein of the plaintiffs’ claim would be repugnant to the public policy of Missouri as reflected in its pertinent cited statute, and judicial deliverances, supra, and must not be allowed. But an identical conclusion is also compelled by a further facet of the defendant’s argument in support of its point IV. In that behalf, the defendant contends, first, that Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, is the “first named Assured” in the policy; and, secondly, that Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, did not join as a named plaintiff in the institution of this action on December 15, 1961 in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri, or at all until the filing of the Second Amended Petition on March 1, 1963, after the removal of the case to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Thus far, the defendant is on solid factual ground. However, it proceeds further and contends that, under the policy, Norris Grain Company, an Illinois corporation, alone, was entitled to institute such an action, and, upon that premise, all that occurred in the litigation prior to March 1, 1963, must be disregarded, and March 1, 1963 must be held to be the day on which the suit was started. The record, however, discloses the institution of this very action on December 15, 1961 in the state court, timely service of process therein on the defendant, and its removal of the action to the federal court on January 11, 1962, and the defendant’s very active participation in the case in the federal district court and this court continuously since its removal. It is also proved and unquestioned that the initial sole original plaintiff in the action was Norris Grain Company, a Tennessee corporation, and that Norris Grain Company, a Tennessee corporation, through earlier assignment in writing to it from Norris Grain Corporation, the unnamed — but an actual — assured, which had sustained the loss for which suit was brought, was, at the time of the institution of the suit in the state court, the sole owner of the claim against the defendant. It was, accordingly, the “real party in interest” within the meaning of that term. By Section 507.010, Vernon’s Annotated Missouri Statutes, provision is made that; “Every action shall be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest, but an executor, administrator, guardian, curator, trustee of an express trust, a party with whom or in whose name a contract has been made for the benefit of another, or a party authorized by statute may sue in his own name in such representative capacity without joining with him the party for whose benefit the action is brought; and when a statute so provides, an action for the use or benefit of another shall be brought in the name of the state of Missouri.” It will be observed that the immediately foregoing section of the statutes of Missouri, with only trivial departures, is identical with Rule 17(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The rule is not now quoted, because its application is not presently and directly involved. However, occasion is taken to advert to instructive construction of provisions in it indistinguishable from language to like effect in the Missouri statute. Construing and applying the recently quoted section 507.010 of the Annotated Missouri statutes, this court is of the opinion that its provision that, “Every action shall be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest,” declares the legislative will that such manner of prosecution is to be preferred in all circumstances where* it is possible. What follows in the section, supra, is reflective of legislative permissive allowance of prosecution by another, or by others, than the real party in interest in circumstances which render prosecution by the real party in interest either impossible or palpably inconvenient or impracticable. But nowhere, and by no language, does the permissive verbiage . of the section proceed beyond permission, or bar the real party in interest from instituting or prosecuting an action upon a claim of which he is the actual owner. It is, therefore, believed that, except as is provided in the concluding twenty-six words of the section, which are mandatory, one who is the real party in interest in respect of a claim has the unchallengeable right personally, and in his name, to institute and prosecute a suit to recover upon such claim, even in those instances in which someone else in a representative or fiduciary capacity may proceed, for either the disclosed or the undisclosed benefit of the real party in interest. And let it be remembered that the sole and unrestricted assignee of an entire claim of the present character, upon his receipt of the assignment becomes as to the assigned claim, the real party in interest, and, in that right, entitled to institute suit upon the claim. Guerney V. Moore, 131 Mo. 650, 32 S.W. 1132; Roth v. Continental Wire Company, 94 Mo.App. 236, 68 S.W. 594; Milliken-Helm Commission Company v. C. H. Albers Commission Company, 244 Mo. 38, 147 S.W. 1065; Bullock v. E. B. Gee Land Company, 347 Mo. 721, 148 S.W.2d 565; Rosecrans v. William S. Lozier, Inc. (8 Cir.) 142 F.2d 118, 124; Prudential Insurance Company of America v. Bohlken (D.C.Mo.) 40 F.Supp. 494. Though admittedly in a context somewhat different from the present one, the basic issues now under consideration were discussed by the Supreme Court of Missouri in Brucker v. Georgia Casualty Company, 326 Mo. 856, 32 S.W.2d 1088. At page 1091 of that opinion, the court, in language which both disclosed its setting and declared the Supreme Court’s position touching the position now taken by the defendant, said: “There is another reason why the garnishment proceeding in this case is sound. Condition D in the policy provides that no action shall be brought except in the name of the assured after final judgment and after the assured has paid the judgment, and the suit must be brought within one year. That is in direct conflict with section 2166, Revised Statutes 1919, because it attempts to limit the period in which an action may be brought, contrary to our Statute of Limitations (Rev.St.1919, § 1316). If the assured should assign his claim, the assignee could not sue on it, although he paid full value for it and his title were perfect; the assured could not sue on it because under section 1155, Revised Statutes, 1919, every suit must be brought in the name of the real party in interest. In that case to enforce a perfect right, nobody could sue. “If the assured should die before his claim for loss were paid, his administrator or executor could not sue for this just debt due the decedent’s estate, nor could a purchaser at an administrator’s sale. Thus the no-action clause attempts to say that certain persons who have perfect causes of action can not sue in the courts to enforce them. “This is contrary to the principle that no contract which attempts to oust the courts of jurisdiction can be enforced.” In New Amsterdam Casualty Company v. W. D. Felder and Company (5 Cir.) 214 F.2d 825, 826, an action which arose in the Northern District of Texas, the court was confronted with a claim comparable to the one now before this court, and with a defense which appears to be indistinguishable from the contention of the present defendant to the effect that the “first named insured” had the right to sue — to the exclusion of an insured under the policy there in suit, not the “first named insured” under the policy, but the insured which sustained the loss and brought the suit. The Court of Appeals, in affirming a judgment of the District Court without a jury, rejected that position, and, among other things, said: “[1] (1) It is contended the trial court erred in ruling that plaintiff, who is not the first named assured in the bond sued upon, had the right to maintain the action because of provisions in the bond to that effect. Rule 17(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A., provides that ‘Every action shall be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest’, subject to certain exceptions not pertinent here. Appellee suggests that the purpose of inserting the above provision in the bond might have been for the convenience of insurer in connection with collection of premiums and mailing of notices and that it was not inserted for the p