24 



The Florists' Review 



AuOGBT 22, 1912. 



Theodore Virth, 



I Vicc-prcsidcnt-elcct of tlu' Society of AiiUTlcaii Flol•l8t^^. i 



suggested Saratoga. W. F. Gude of- 

 fered the amendment that the matter 

 be left to the executive committee, and 

 this was about to be done when 

 it was pointed out that the new by- 

 laws specifically provide that the mat- 

 ter be settled by ballot on the evening 

 of the first day. As no evening session 

 had been planned, the president de- 

 clared that a motion to adjourn and 

 call an evening session five minutes 

 later would be in order. This motion 

 was made and carried, and on recon- 

 vening George Asmus took the floor to 

 urge the careful consideration of the 

 city for the next gathering, pointing 

 out that it has been made quite clear 

 that little if any entertaining is ex- 

 pected and that the best interests of 

 the society demand that the conven- 

 tion be held under certain essential con- 

 ditions. He nominated Minneapolis, 

 seconded by A. H. Langjahr. W. A. 

 Manda renewed the motion for Atlantic 

 City, but John Westcott and W. F. 

 Kasting pointed out that this resort 

 is no place for an August convention 

 requiring as much space as does the 

 S. A. F. meeting. 



On motion of H, A. Bunyard, the sec- 

 retary was instructed to cast the unani- 

 mous ballot of the convention for 

 Minneapolis and the motion prevailed. 



E. G. Hill offered the suggestion that 

 instead of hiring a hall the society buy 

 a big tent, which can be used year 

 after year. 



Golden Qate in 1915. 



If the society was without an invita- 

 tion for 1913, it was more fortunate 

 with respect to the year of the Panama- 

 Pacific Exposition. San Francisco was 

 represented at Chicago by the largest 

 delegation that ever had attended an 

 S. A. F. convention, and A. Rossi,, in 



behalf of the San Francisco florists, 

 invited the society to meet at the 

 Golden Gate in 1915, when the exposi- 

 tion will be in progress. The society 

 never before has been west of Omaha 

 and there were those who thought that, 

 much as the invitation is appreciated, 

 it is too long a journey. The body 

 of the society, however, apparently is 

 looking forward to the San Francisco 

 trip, as a resolution was adopted by 

 a large vote stating that it was the 

 sense of the meeting that the conven- 

 tion in 1915 should be held at San 

 Francisco. 



Secretary Still Elective. 



The executive committee proposed the 

 amendment of the constitution and by- 

 laws to make the secretaryship ap- 

 pointive instead of elective and to de- 

 prive the secretary of his vote in the 

 appointive body, the executive board. 

 Secretary Young read the amendment 

 and H. A. Bunyard moved its adop- 

 tion. Patrick O'Mara promptly took 

 the floor and made a sharp attack on 

 the executive committee for undertak- 

 ing the alteration of the organic law 

 under which that committee acts, assert- 

 ing his belief that this is a privilege 

 purely individual. He said he ob- 

 jected to the principle and believed that 

 in practice the proposed change would 

 work to the disadvantage of the so- 

 ciety, asserting that the aim should be 

 to distribute responsibility instead of 

 centralizing it, George Asmus de- 

 fended the executive body, pointing 

 out that it was instructed by the Bal- 

 timore convention to take the action it 

 did. Eobert Craig read the paragraph 

 providing for the amendment of the so- 

 ciety's by-laws and defended the regu- 

 larity of the procedure, but stated that 

 the change did not have his approval. 

 There followed a long exchange of ar- 



guments between the advocates of the 

 change and those who are opposed to 

 it, which ended when the entire mat- 

 ter was laid on the table for one year, 

 on motion of W. A. Manda, seconded 

 by W. E. Pierson. 



Pioneer Membership. 



An hour was devoted to thrashing out 

 the subject of a class of membership 

 to be known as the Pioneers. At the 

 twenty-fifth annual meeting President 

 Valentine recommended that those mem- 

 bers who had attended the first meet- 

 ing and who had paid their dues con- 

 tinuously for twenty-five years be 

 grouped as a special class to be known 

 as Pioneer members and to be there- 

 after exempt from the payment of dues. 

 The recommendation was adopted by the 

 society, but no record appeared in the 

 published stenographic report. The ex- 

 ecutive committee asked that the record 

 be corrected to provide clear authority 

 for the ofiicers to remit the dues of 

 those who have paid dues continuously 

 for twenty- five years. The request 

 brought out acrimonious discussion, 

 some members even going so far as to 

 say that no such action ever had been 

 taken. W. E. Pierson sought to bring 

 the debate to an end by moving to lay 

 on the table, but this was defeated and 

 the subject thrashed out. It was 

 brought out by Mr. Valentine that the 

 intention of his recommendation was 

 not that all members become exempt 

 from paying dues after twenty-five 

 years, but that those who attended the 

 first meeting be honored by being known 

 as Pioneers. In the end a motion by 

 P. O'Mara was adopted, giving Pioneer 

 membership only to those who were 

 present at the first convention and who 

 had maintained their membership 

 through the society's first quarter cen- 

 tury. 



Express Matters. 



William Gourlay, assistant general 

 manager of the American Express Co., 

 was introduced to talk on the subject 

 of the relations between the florists 

 and the express companies. He gave 

 an account of the special arrangements 

 made to handle the shipments of florists 

 and ventured the opinion that more and 

 better service is given to florists than 

 to shippers in any other line, asserting 

 his belief that the express companies 

 have done much to enlarge the business 

 done by florists. He said he thought 

 the present rates might be considered 

 fair and satisfactory to all parties. As 

 a suggestion, he pointed out the value 

 of having every shipment, especially if 

 C. O. D., carry instructions as to the 

 action to be taken in the case of in- 

 ability to deliver or refusal to pay the 

 C. 0. D. 



The speaker answered questions relat- 

 ing to details, put by John Young and 

 W. F. Gude, and was given a vote of 

 thanks. 



The President's Eecommendations. 



J. A. Valentine, for the committee 

 to which the president's address was 

 referred, presented a report which may 

 be summarized as follows: The com- 

 mittee endorsed the suggestion that 

 more weight would be given the recom- 

 mendations of the executive board if 

 the members were more fully advised 

 of the work of the board. The com- 

 mittee approved the suggestions for 

 the aflaiiation of trade organizations 

 and recommended that a committee be 

 appointed to report in 1913. The com- 



