" '.^i V 



MARCH 11, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



23 



cific coast early in December, Mr. Burn- 

 liam expressed a wish to the directors 

 that a profit-sharing plan bo formulated 

 •it the earliest possible date, to take 

 effect January 1, 1920. Since leaving, 

 he has been in constant communication 

 with the officers of the above companies 

 regarding this matter, and, after going 

 over several plans, one was adopted at 

 the regular monthly meetings of the 

 board of directors March 3 and 4. 



The same profit-sharing plan has been 

 ;id()i)ted by the Lord & Burnham Co. of 

 Illinois and^the Lord & Burnham Co., 

 Ltd., .of Canada. 



Provisions of Plan. 



This plan is being printed in pam- 

 ]ililet form for distribution among em- 

 ployees. Its provisions allow the com- 

 pany seven per cent annual interest on 

 its investment before any distribution 

 is made. Then the remainder will be 

 divided between the company and the 

 employees, each receiving one-half. 

 The employees' share is to be divided 

 according to the proportion the amount 

 of the annual wage of the individual 

 hears to the total amount of the com- 

 jijiny's annual pay roll. 



The amount due each individual will 

 ])e credited on the company's books. 

 The employees having such credit will 

 1)C entitled to common stock of the com- 

 ])aiiy at its book value. The company, 

 ill case it cannot furnish common stock, 

 may pay in preferred stock or cash, as 

 it elects. If an employee's share of 

 ])rofita at a year's end is not sufficient 

 to pay for one share of stock, the 

 amount will be carried on the company's 

 hooka at four per cent until the value 

 of one share is earned. The wages of 

 enijiloyeoa are paid just as befor?. 



APPLY FOR EXPRESS COMBINE. 



Plans for Improved Service. 



The American Railway Express Co. 

 is preparing to file application with the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission for 

 permission to continue as a combine 

 after the test period provided under the 

 terms of the new railroad law. The 

 express company officials believe such 

 action is needed to accomplish the im- 

 provement in service that its patrons 

 expect. 



It is confidently expected that the 

 application for permission to consolidate 

 will be granted after the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission has had a chance 

 to review the matter. The American 

 Railway Express Co. as it now stands is 

 believed to be a more efficient and 

 stronger organization than the four 

 <'<»nipanies which were combined to 

 make it. These four concerns were: 

 American Express Co., Wells-Fargo Ex- 

 press Co., Southern Express Co. and Ad- 

 ams Exi)ress Co. The capitalization is 

 •'stiniated at approximately $33,000,000. 



The belief was expressed that greater 

 efficiency in the labor personnel will 

 soon be secured. Officials of the com- 

 pany are out to eliminate the whole- 

 f^ale pilferage which has been common 

 •luring government control. Confidence 

 was expressed that under private opera- 

 I'on this aim can be realized. 



Increased Rates Coming. 



The problem of increased rates will 

 soon be thrashed out before the Inter- 

 state Commerce Commission. Regard- 

 ing the exact amount of increase which 





-v>J.\i',i'/;y 



A.I- , 





mid Sunshine 



CTlake rkswers bloom precisely 



An hundreds of greenEouses Abont 

 Chicago, where the maturity of flow- 

 ers has been retarded for moothB on 

 account of continuous cold and dark 

 weather, flowers are now blooming 

 in abundance. Tlie extreme scarci^ 

 is at an end. 



YOUR FLORIST and every florist in 

 and around Chicago has plenty of 

 flowers now and will offer unusual 

 values all this week. 



Affied Florffte* An*B 

 of Dlinois 



Sou itvukfJUnifti:^ 



Oae-third Page Space Used by Chicago Florists to Clear Market. 



is desired in the rate scale it is stated 

 that nothing definite can be decided 

 upon until the position of the rail car- 

 riers has been determined by the com- 

 mission. It was conceded that the in- 

 crease will have to be considerable to 

 afford the combine sufficient funds to 

 meet expenses. The American Railway 

 Express Co. is said to be operating at a 

 deficit of something like $24,000,000 

 each year. 



Officials state that increases in the 

 rates form the only solution to the 

 present problem. It is pointed out that 

 during government control the railroad 

 administration allowed three separate 

 increases in the wage scale to express 

 company employees. Operating expenses 

 are reported as materially higher than 

 those obtaining before control started. 



fteneraliy speaking, the situation is not 

 considered satisfactory, but with higher 

 rates, the legal power to continue as a 

 combination and success in eliminating 

 stealing, it is hoped by the officials that 

 ways will be found to put the Ameri- 

 can Railway Express Co. on a firmer 

 footing and to establish service more 

 satisfactory to shippers than that under 

 the government regime. 



"More business is being handled by 

 express today than at any time in the 

 history of the business," stated an ex- 

 ecutive of the company in this cqnnec- 

 tion. "We calculate that at least 1,000,- 

 000 packages a day are shipped by ex- 

 press, and we are constantly urged to 

 give more service than we are physicallj 

 able to. 



"As a single organization we have 



