18 



The Florists^ Review 



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August 30, 1917. 



CREDITS AND COLLECTIONS 



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FOE twenty years the question of 

 credits has been exceedingly im- 

 portant and of great interest to the 

 commercial growers of horticultural 

 products in this country. It is now 

 not considered a reflection on a mer- 

 chant 's honesty or business ability if he 

 is asked for a statement of his finances; 

 he realizes such information enables 

 business men to conduct their affairs 

 intelligently. 



Attempts have been made to estab- 

 lish local agencies where a limited num- 

 ber of houses doing business in a re- 

 stricted way have agreed among them- 

 selves to list those with whom they do 

 business, and in some cities this method 

 has proved successful, as shown by the 

 experience of the New York Wholesale 

 Protective Association, the American 

 Association of Nurserymen and the 

 American Seed Trade Association, all of 

 which have in successful operation 

 credit and collection bureaus under 

 their own auspices. 



The statisticians claim that ninety 

 per cent of the business concerns of the 

 country fail or are liquidated at some 

 period of their existence. It is some- 

 times hard to anticipate these losses, 

 but it seems reasonable to suppose that 

 many losses experienced by our people 

 might be avoided if only the proper pre- 

 cautions were taken. 



I believe that three per cent of the 

 total sales within the last ten years 

 have been lost to the horticultural in- 

 terests by bad debts. No more impor- 

 tant question can come before us at 

 this time than that of evolving ways 

 and means by which this drain on our 

 resources may be reduced to a minimum. 



To Strive for the Ideal. 



It may be assumed that men in busi- 

 ness will pay their debts if they can, 

 with no reference to honesty. Every 

 man must make a living and most men 

 are ambitious to make more than a 

 mere living. Every man has chosen a 

 particular line of business in which he 

 can make profit with the least effort. 

 He simply cannot afford to fail. And 

 he knows that he can continue in busi- 

 ness only on condition that he pays his 

 creditors, and that he must do this with 

 a reasonable degree of promptness. 



It is rarely that a man enters busi- 

 ness with the intention of being dis- 

 honest. We have had few of them, I am 

 pleased to say, in our business. The 

 few that there have been, however, have 

 brought about in the past, and others 

 may bring about in the future, most 

 disastrous results to those engaged in 

 floriculture in this country. 



The time has com6 When we are 

 obliged to promote such business prin- 

 ciples that our trade may be conducted 

 on honorable and equitable lines. To 

 accomplish this we must place more 

 stress on the dispensation of credit. 

 The idea that credit is cheap has taken 

 a firm root among the business men of 

 our country. 



If we expect to change the credit con- 

 ditions practiced at present in our work, 

 we can do it only by united action and 

 by intelligent, organized efforts on the 

 part of those engaged in horticulture in 

 this country. We can preserve our own 

 business and can compete fairly, hon- 

 estly and honorably with others in the 

 same profession without keeping to our- 

 selves as a trade secret all that we 

 know, for our personal advantage. We 

 should unite for commercial purposes 

 to eliminate all trade abuses, cancella- 

 tions, excessive and uncalled-for ' dis- 

 counts and all other unbusinejlSTlike 

 practices on the part of customelfs aiid 

 ourselves. * j^**' 



Form of Organization. ' ^\.;X 



Let us try to bring about a better 

 understanding among the men engaged 

 in our business, strengthen confidence 

 in the spoken and written woud and 

 make men realize the absolute necessity 

 of fidelity to their promises. We must 

 organize for the purpose of simplifying 

 safe credit and to rid the country of 

 everything that acts as an obstacle to 

 the exchange of our products. Let us 

 establish the principles once and for all 

 developed in the individual whose word 

 is as good as his bond. No higher trait 

 than this can be sought. 



The sentiment in favor of adopting 

 ways and means by which this move- 

 ment can be made a national affair, is 

 markedly strong at present, as has 

 been proven by statements made by 

 men having large interests involved. 



The committee has taken up the ques- 

 tion of ways and means and found it 

 necessary to consider which of two 

 plans is more advisable: Whether three 

 or more members of the society may in- 

 corporate under the laws of any of the 

 states for the express purpose of creat- 

 ing a national bureau of credits and col- 

 lections, or whether it would be more 



practical and fully as useful to our 

 members for the work to be done by a 

 commercial agency already operating 

 in Chicago, New York and Boston and 

 providing its members with such in- 

 formation as might be sought relative 

 to the financial standing of any busi- 

 ness concern on its list. 



If an Organization of Florists. 



If we should organize a corporation, 

 as stated above, it should be capitalized 

 for at least $50,000, in 1,000 shares of 

 $50 each. The officers should consist 

 of a president, secretary, treasurer and 

 board of directors, having an office in 

 any of the cities, and sufficient office 

 force, all subject to the jurisdiction of 

 the board of directors. 



The duties of the officers and their 

 compensation can be defined more in 

 detail at a future meeting. 



The annual dues to be paid by sub- 

 scribers should be at least $25. 



It would be necessary to dispose of 

 at' least 500 shares to insure sufficient 

 capital before the work could proceed- 



The by-laws • should provide that no 

 person can purchase more than one 

 shiare of stock. 



Each subscriber would be entitled to 

 a certain number of reports, to be 

 agreed upon lat^r. 



Such an organization, while serving 

 a useful purpose, would necessarily have 

 to acquire its credit inforiyiation slowly; 

 its growth would be a healthy one and 

 eventually we would have a credit or- 

 ganization of our own which would be 

 practical and, in time, self-supporting. 



If we adopt the second method, of 

 indorsing any of the established asso- 

 ciations to conduct this branch of our 

 business, it is quite probable that the 

 information furnished by them would 

 be more or less limited, due to their ter- 

 ritorial, rather than national, scope. 



Having embodied as thoroughly as 

 possible in this short report the neces- 

 sity of instituting such a bureau and 

 the courses which can be pursued to the 

 desired end, it is now incumbent upon 

 the members of the society to determine 

 which method they consider best 

 adapted to meet the situation, as pre- 

 sented here. 



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Extracts from the statemont of Patrick Welch, 

 chairman, at a meftinK of the S. A. F. commit- 

 tee on credits and collections bureau, at New 

 York, August 20. . . ,, 



Another convention of the S. A. F. 

 has passed into history. In quality of 

 attendance and exhibits, it left nothing 

 to be desired. It carried one back to 

 the time when, at the suggestion of the 

 late William Scott, the first trade ex- 

 hibit, consisting of ferns, was set up at 

 the Buffalo convention by Henry A. 

 Dreer, Inc. The varieties grown at that 

 time were well done, but vastly superior 

 ones are now seen, although many of the 

 older and popular kinds are yet in com- 

 merce. 



The exhibits of decorative plants 

 proved the assertion that home-grown 

 stock is preferable, and the exigencies 

 of the situation have brought out the 

 best efforts of the grower, with the re- 

 sult that possibly finer stock was 

 seji^O.inj if ever, seen at any trade, or 

 evien flower, show. That there were not 

 more buyers oir .visitors to show appreci- 



ation is to be deplored, but the fact 

 seemingly remains that to roach the 

 purchaser today it is necessary to do 

 so by means of a pen picture via the 

 route of the trade press. The display of 

 florists' supplies was the acme of per- 

 fection, absolutely nothing lacking that 

 is demanded by the floral artist in these 

 modern times. 



The absence of Dutch bulbs was no- 

 ticed, and the reason for this is well 

 understood. It was announced, how- 

 ever, that a shipment had left a Hol- 

 land port, so that there may be enough 

 for the seedsmen to supply their retail 

 trade. Otherwise this loss alone will be 

 far more serious than that of the 

 grower. 



As the social features in the main 

 were eliminated, there was afforded 

 many of the old guard an opportunity 

 for reminiscences, and one ran across 



