The Florists* Review 



Januab; 5. 1922 



The florists whose cards appear on the pages carrying this head, are prepared to fill o rders 

 *""' from other florists for local delivery on the usual basis. *~ 



LOS ANGELES 



Members Florists* Telegraph Delivery 



WOLFSKILL'S and MORRIS GOLDENSON 



229 West Third Street 



\ 



is'lotion and 



Le5^ Decision 



CEMETERIES AS FLOBISTS. 



Legal Status Questioned. 



The extent of a cemetery association's 

 right to compete with florists is to be 

 determined in a suit brought in Minne- 

 apolis by the attorney-general of the 

 state against the Lakewood Cemetery 

 Association. 



The complaint filed by the attorney- 

 general states that the defendant asso- 

 ciation has for several years operated 

 a general florists' business, although 

 it was organized to operate a cemetery. 

 The ob.iections of the state appear to 

 be twofold, one being that the asso- 

 ciation is conducting a business beyond 

 its corporate powers, and the other 

 that the exemption from taxation 

 granted by the state on the theory that 

 the association's property is devoted to 

 burial purposes is unfairly used so far 

 as the property is devoted to the florists' 

 business. 



The outcome of the suit will be 

 awaited with particular interest, be- 

 cause it seems that the questions in- 

 volved have not been squarely decided 

 by any court of last resort. At least a 

 diligent search discloses but one de- 

 cision bearing closely on the subject 

 and that, strangely enough, was ren- 

 dered by the Minnesota Supreme court 

 in another case brought by the state 

 against the same cemetery association — 

 State vs. Lakewood Cemetery Associa- 

 tion, 93 Minnesota Reports, 191; 101 

 Northwestern Reporter, 161. 



Not Yet Squarely Decided. 



In the cited case it was decided that 

 land acquired by the association for 

 future use for burial purposes was not 

 rendered subject to taxation by reason 

 of the fact that it was presently used 

 for conducting a greenhouse for the pur- 

 pose of growing flowers and plants to be 

 used in beautifying the grounds, al- 

 though a small surplus of flowers, etc., 



had been sold to outsiders. The court 

 said: 



"The use of a small portion thereof 

 for a greenhouse for the purpose of 

 growing flowers and plants to be used 

 in beautifying the grounds, clearly, in 

 our judgment, falls within the authority 

 conferred upon appellant [the cemetery 

 association]. It is a matter of common 

 knowledge that greenhouses are main- 

 tained by many of the large cemetery 

 associations throughout the country and 

 the sale of a small amount of the sur- 

 plus stock is but an incident to the 

 general management. We are of the 

 opinion the land so acquired is exempt 

 from taxation." 



Some Logical Conclusions. 



Considering this case and fundamental 

 principles of corporation law, the law 

 editor of The Review conceives these 

 conclusions to be well-nigh unavoidable: 

 (1) A cemetery association is entitled 

 to grow all the flowers it may deem ap- 

 propriate to the ornamentation of its 

 grounds at large. (2) If in a good 

 faith effort to provide only so many 

 flowers, etc., as are deemed necessary 

 for this purpose, a surplus results, there 

 is no obligation to waste the surplus; 

 that may be disposed of to the best ad- 

 vantage of the association, the same as 

 a florist might dispose of a surplus of 

 fuel accumulating beyond his needs, 

 despite his efforts to lay in a supply 

 only approximately sufficient for his 

 actual needs. But we believe that it is 

 equally clear, as a legal proposition, 

 that the association has no right de- 

 liberately to create a surplus for the 

 purpose of disposing of it for use out- 

 side the cemetery. In doing that it en- 

 gages in the general florists' business 

 just as much as the general florist would 

 engage in the coal business, were he 

 deliberately to buy at wholesale three 

 business and then go about soliciting 

 times as much fuel as needed in his 



retail orders for the purchase of his 

 surplus. 



But a third question and, seemingly, 

 the most important one is, is it a legiti- 

 mate incident to the operation of a 

 cemetery greenhouse to sell flowers to 

 lot owners for placing in . urns and on 

 graves, etc. That question is not neces- 

 sarily answered by the Minnesota Su- 

 preme court decision above referred to, 

 because it will be noted that the state- 

 ment of the court concerning "the pur- 

 pose of growing flowers and plants to 

 be used in beautifying the grounds" 

 docs not show whether the court refers 

 to only such flowers, etc., as are used 

 by the cemetery association itself in 

 ornamenting the grounds at large, or 

 whether it includes those sold to lot 

 owners for decorating graves, etc. 



Of course, a decision taking the view 

 that the association may only grow 

 flowers for the first stated purpose would 

 favor the general florist. But it need 

 occasion no particular surprise should 

 the courts determine that selling flowers 

 to lot owners for use in the cemetery 

 is a legitimate purpose incidental to the 

 operation of the cemetery. Yet to reach 

 this result it is quite clear that a court 

 must indicate some sound ground for it. 

 And, if such ground exists, it seems that 

 it must rest on the generally recognized 

 right of a cemetery association to control 

 matters affecting its general scheme for 

 the embellishment of the grounds. As 

 bearing on this subject, we cite the case 

 of Cedar Hill Cemetery Co. vs. Lees, 

 22 Pennsylvania Superior Court Reports, 

 405, where it appeared that the cemetery 

 company adopted a rule declaring that 

 "to prevent confusion," the trustees 

 had arranged to have all "planting of 

 flowers, shrubbery, and trimming of the 

 same, etc., performed under the direc- 

 tion of the superintendent at moderate 

 prices." Upholding the validity of the 

 regulation, the court said: 



Outside Bounds? 



"Ordinarily, a cemetery is laid out 

 and planned according to a fixed scheme 

 as to improvement, the character of 

 trees and shrubbery to be planted, and 

 ornamentation in general. Anything 

 which interferes with this general 

 scheme is not only detrimental and in- 

 jurious to the scheme itself, but to every 

 lot which enters into the combination. 

 It is of first importance, therefore, that 



