3U 



HORTICULTURE 



September 3, 1910 



THE FLORISTS' TELEGRAPH DE- 

 LIVERY. 



Editor -HORTICULTURE," 

 Dear Sir: — 



It the convention at Rochestfr did 

 nothing but complete the organization 

 of the "Florists' Telegraph Delivery," 

 in my humble opinion the time was 

 well spent and I am son-y we did not 

 have more of the retail store men there 

 to add to our charter list. 



I am enclosing a copy of our by- 

 laws and just wish to call your atten- 

 tion to a few of the fundamental prin- 

 ciples of the new organization. The 

 first is the object of the Association. 

 You will notice that the Association 

 has the power to take any money that 

 has been deposited by a debtor and 

 send it to another florist who has an 

 account against him. 



Under the present way of doing busi- 

 ness, if I receive an order from an 

 out-of-town florist whom I do not 

 know, I take my chances toward get- 

 ting the money, providing the one 

 sending the order has no commercial 

 standing. The new way will obviate 

 all this because the Association will 

 pay the bill, providing the debtor is a 

 member of the organization and I can- 

 not for the life of me see why we can- 

 not get .50 per cent of the florists in 

 thi.s country and Canada to join, if the 

 proposition is explained to them in the 

 right way. 



The trustee fund is the best idea I 

 ever saw to accomplish the right re- 

 sult, and Mr. Valentine is to be con- 

 gratulated upon the originality of the 

 idea. 



The annual dues, as you will notice, 

 are 10 per cent of the amount a florist 

 places in the trusti'e fund: for exam- 

 ple, if one florist in Albany would join 

 at the present time his dues would be 

 10 per cent of $30 or $3, while if three 

 would join each one of their dues 

 would be $1 per year. The idea is to 

 make the large centers of population 

 stand the brunt of the expense as the 

 florists in these cities get the most ben- 

 efit in the proposition. Of all the out- 

 of-town orders I have had in the past 

 year nine-tenths of them were for New 

 York City. Of course, it will be no 

 more in proportion in the large cities 

 because there are so many more flor- 

 ists there. Where we could get four 

 or five to join in Albany we ought to 

 be able to get fifty or sixty in New 

 York City. If we got fifty in New 

 York, it would cost them about $14 

 each at the rate suggested, $700. Why, 

 one New York florist at the convention 

 said he would give $1,000 cash to be 

 the exclusive member from that city. 

 His proposition was, of course, not lis- 

 tened to because the idea is to get 

 every good florist we can and not have 

 any exclusive stores in any city. 



Another very vital point in these 

 by-laws is the clause that a florist 

 may be dropped from the organization 

 at any time by the directors without 

 any cause being given as to why he 

 was dropped. This is a good point. A 

 lot of complaints might come against 

 a florist saying that he was not giving 

 the orders sent him proper attention ; 

 the florists who made the complaints, 

 however, would not, for obvious rea- 

 sons, like to have their names men- 

 tioned. The florist complained of could 

 be dropped from the rolls without any 

 reason being assigned and any money 



to his credit in the trustee fund would 

 be returned to him. 



Another point that I wish to call at- 

 tention to is the fact that the directors 

 can vote on a question by mail with- 

 out the formality of holding a meet- 

 ing. This is explained in the by-laws 

 vtry explicitly. 



Mr. J. A. Valentine of Denver, Colo., 

 is the sponsor for the new organiza- 

 tion, and I must say that the florists 

 all over the country owe him a vote of 

 thanks. Yours very truly, 



WM. C. GLOECKNER. 



Albany, N. Y. 



Extract from the By-Laws of the 

 new organization: 



OIJ.IKCTS. 



TUf fi.NcLaugiug of orders between Retail 

 l-'lerists in illftereut cities auU tlie adop- 

 tion of such rules and regulations as will 

 insure suib orders l>eiug properly filled 

 and the enforeeiui'iit i*t prompt pa.vmeut 

 of all liills due from one member to an- 

 other; also the paj-ment liy this Associa- 

 tion of delinquent bills due from one of 

 its members to another of its members, 

 for goods delivered to a retail customer. 



In order to carry out these objec-ts, this 

 Association shall iiave power t(» appl.y to 

 the payment of delinquent bills any money 

 deposited with this Association by the de- 

 linquent debtor and to punish any mem- 

 ber b.v suspension or expulsion for reasons 

 stated or not stated, provided such action 

 is in accordance with the Constitution 

 and By-Laws of this Association as here- 

 in set out, or as hereafter amended or 

 added to. 



MEMBERSHIP. 



Membership in this Association shall be 

 confined to liorists who are proprietors of 

 retail flower stores and who are members 

 of the Societ.A- of American Florists and 

 Ornamental Horticulturists, and not de- 

 linquent in their dues to that Society. 



TRUSTEE FUND AND MEMBERSHIP 

 FEE. 



Before any person eligible can become 

 a member of this Association, he shall 

 pay to the Secretary tor deposit iu the 

 Trustees Fund, such a sum of money as 

 shall be due that fund from any new 

 member from the city where the applicant 

 conducts his business. What sum is so 

 due shall be determined in .tecordance with 

 the rules of this Association which are in 

 force when such payment is tendered. 



In addition to the payment to the Trus- 

 tee Fund, as above set out, the applicant 

 shall pay to the Secretary a membership 

 fee of five dollars. 



ANNUAL DUBS. 



The annual dues from each member 

 shall be a sum equal to one-tenth of the 

 amount on deposit to his credit in the 

 Trustee Fund, but in no ease less than one 

 dollar. 



ANNUAL MEETING. 



The annual meeting shall be held in the 

 city where the Society of American Florists 

 and Ornamental Horticulturists holds its 

 annual convention, and it shall begin on 

 the second day of said convention. 

 TRUSTEE FUND. 



For each city or town from which one 

 or more members are admitted, there shall 

 be deposited with the Secretary a sum of 

 money to form a part of what shall be 

 known as the Trustee B'und. 



The amount so to be paid in shall de- 

 pend upon the population of the city or 

 town as follows; 



For the purpose of determining the popu- 

 lation of any place, the Secretary shall use 

 the reports of the United States <"ensus 

 for the year IWAi, until otherwise directed 

 l)y a vote of the members at any annual 

 meeting. 



The money deposited in the Trustee 

 Fund shall not be deemed to be the 

 property of this Association, but shall be 

 held in' trust for the original contributors 

 in projioition to their respective contribu- 

 tions. sub.iect however, to the following 

 <-onditions; 



'i'he interest derived from such Fund 

 shall be the property of this Association. 

 .\ccounts adjudged to be due from any 

 member to any other member may be paid 

 by the Association and charged against 

 his- deposit. The money deposited in the 

 Trustee Fund by any member shall be re- 

 tiivned to bini within six months after he 

 ceases to be a mcnilier. whether he resigns 

 or is expelled, except that any bills due 



from him to any other member of the 

 Association may be first paid and deducted 

 from his deposit. 



The interest from the Trustee Fund and 

 all of the memljership fees, shall until 

 after the annual meeting, in the summer 

 of IDlij, be placed in a spi'cial fund to tie 

 known as the guarantee fund, and when 

 bills are ordered paid to members under 

 the guarantee of this Association, such 

 payment shall be nuide from this guar- 

 antee fund and this fund shall be reim- 

 bursed by the transfer to it from the Trus- 

 tee Fund of a like amount received into 

 the Trustee Fund from the delinquent 

 debtor up to the full amount so deposited 

 by such member but not more. 



The .\rbitratJou Committee may. by a 

 two-thirds vote, recommend U) the Board 

 of Directors the dismissal of any member 

 and by an affirmative vote of not less 

 tlian six Directors, such member shall be 

 dismisseil w-jthout any cause being as- 

 signed. When a member is so dismissed, 

 bis deposit to the Trustee Fund, his mem- 

 bership fei' and one year's dues shall be 

 returncil t<t him in full, unless accounts 

 lia^'e liceu tiled against him. and ordered 

 paid by the .Arbitration Committee. In 

 which c;ise the amounts so ordered to be 

 paid shall be deducted from the money to 

 be i-eturncd to the dismissed member, as 

 herein bcfiu-e provicled. 



Where prices are stated in orders, these 

 prices shall be understood to be retail 

 prices and shall be subject to a discount 

 of twent.v per cent., unless otherwise 

 stated. offci-ing or allowing a larger dis- 

 count than twent.v per i-ent. shall lie con- 

 strued as evidence at exorbitant prices or 

 of inferior service, and the offender may 

 be [innisbed li.v expulsion. 



This shall not apply to accounts which 

 are disputed and adjusted in accordance 

 witli the order of a Committee of this 

 .\ssociation. 



Bills f<ir goods delivered shall be mailed 

 within ten days and remittance shall be 

 made within tiiirt.v days from date of de- 

 liver.v. A^'hen an account is not paid with- 

 in thirty days it shall be the duty of the 

 creditor to mail such ilelinqnent bill to the 

 Secretary of this .Association. 



The Secretary shall at once notify the 

 delinquent delitor that such bill has been 

 Hied with him and shall keep a record of 

 each account so filed with him. If the 

 debtor disputes the account he shall at 

 once remit to the Secretary the amount 

 claimed as due, and ask to have the mat- 

 ter referreil to the Arbitration Committee. 

 If there is only a portion of the amount 

 in dispute, the uncontested portion shall 

 be remitted to the claimant by the Sec- 

 retary and the balance held to' await the 

 award of the Committee. 



If any member fails to remit to the 

 Secretary as provided above, within ten 

 days after the mailing of such notice by 

 the Secretary, the account presented shall 

 be paid by the Association and deducted 

 from the trustee deposit of the debtor. 



The delinquent debtor shall be notified 

 of the [layment made and that his mem- 

 bership iu the .Association is forfeited. 



After the expiration of six months from 

 such notice, if there Is still an unused 

 balance in the trustee deposit of such de- 

 linquent debtor, such balance shall be re- 

 turned to him. When any accounts are 

 paid by the A.s.sociation to 'any member as 

 above, such member shall assign such 

 account to this As.sociation. or its nomi- 

 nee, with such form of assignment as 

 shall he a guarantee of the correctness of 

 the account, and when, in the judgment 

 of the President, it is best to do so, he 

 shall cause suit to be brought to recover 

 such account for the benefit of this .Asso- 

 ciation. 



Any member whose menibci-ship h.is been 

 so forfeited aS above may appeal to the 

 Board of Directors and if thev reverse the 

 action of the .Arbitration Committee, such 

 memher shnll be reinstated upon making 

 good his trustee deposit and naying any 

 dues that inav have become due in the 

 interim. 



The Roanl of Dirccto?-s m.iv order the 

 original creditor to rofond to the original 

 debtor any sum thev find to have been paid 

 on account of the erroneous award of the 

 .Arbitration Committee. 



RuggestiniK.- as to pavnients due to the 

 Trn..tee Fund: 



Cities less than 2.'i<XI0 .$5.00 



Cities over 2.'i,(100 and less than 



•W.ono 10.00 



Cities over .lO.OOO and less than 



lOO.OOn '>O0O 



Cities 100,fif)n to l.W.OnO 30.00 



and at the rate of 20 cents for each ad- 

 ditional 1.000 population, eliminating frac- 

 tional parts of $5.00. This would bring 

 New York up to about $700.00. 



