56 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
that the taxation if imposed could not be 
collected ; that the trustees, who in most 
instances served without pay, would resign 
their offices and abandon the cemeteries if 
taxes were imposed which the cemeteries 
could not pay, especially if by any possi- 
bility the trustees could be held individ- 
ually liable for the debt. The present 
Membership Law of New York, of which 
the cemetery law is a part, imposes in- 
dividual liabilities upon directors of such 
corporations. 
In recent years a number of cemetery 
stock corporations have been formed to 
make profits, and there is a general belief 
that these cemeteries have been profitable. 
The sentiment seems to be that such cor- 
porations ought to be taxed, but that those 
cemeteries which are operated as quasi 
public institutions and without profit ought 
not to be taxed. 
In Pennsylvania there is a bill before 
the Legislature prohibiting cemeteries from 
excluding outside gardeners from working 
on cemetery lots. The trouble apparently 
had its inception in Philadelphia in the 
enforcement at the first of the year of the 
rule against outside gardeners at Mount 
Peace Cemetery, a burial ground con- 
trolled by the Order of Odd Fellows. A 
bill now before the Legislature reads as 
follows : 
NO. 1693— SESSION OF 1913. 
An Act prohibiting corporation, co-partnerships 
or companies conducting a cemetery from ex- 
cluding persons duly authorized by lot holders 
in said cemeteries to enter said cemeteries to 
do gardening work and decorations on lots 
therein, and providing 1 a penalty for violation 
of said act by officers, managers, agents or 
employes of said corporations, co-partnerships 
or companies. 
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and 
House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is 
hereby enacted by the authority of the same, 
CONVENTION 
Editor Park and Cemetery : The 
Twelfth Annual Convention of the Ohio 
Association of Cemetery Superintendents 
and Officials will be held at East Liverpool 
and Steubenville, June 25th and 26th, with 
headquarters at the Travelers Hotel, East 
Liverpool, the meetings to be held in the 
Y. M. C. A. building. 
A very interesting program has been pre- 
pared and it is the duty of every superin- 
tendent in the state to be there and see 
if they can make this one of the best meet- 
ings that the association has ever had. 
The program is as follows : 
First Day — Morning Session. 
10 a. m., meeting called to order. 
Prayer, Rev. Edwin M. Curby. 
Welcome Address, Mayor R. J. Marshall. 
Response, G. E. Whitaker, Youngstown, 
Ohio. 
Roll call. 
Application of new members and recep- 
tion of same. 
That on and after the passage of this act it shall 
be unlawful for any corporation, co-partnership or 
company engaged in conducting a cemetery to ex- 
clude from the said cemetery any person or persons 
lawfully authorized by any lot-holder in the ceme- 
tery conducted by said corporation, co-partnership 
or company to enter the said cemetery and to 
perform such gardening work and decoration in and 
about the said lot as said person may be duly 
authorized to perform by said lot-holder; provided, 
that said person so doing the work shall comply 
with the general regulations of the said corporation, 
co-partnership or company with respect to said 
gardening work and decorations. 
Sec. 2. Any corporation, co-partnership or com- 
pany, or any superintendent, officer, manager, agent 
or employe of said corporation co-partnership or 
company violating any of the provisions of this act 
shall be guilty of misdemeanor and subject to a fine 
of five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each and 
every offense. 
The bill passed first reading in the 
House April 7, and a public hearing was 
given on it April 22. W. B. Jones, super- 
intendent of the Highwood Cemetery, and 
William Falconer, superintendent of the 
Allegheny Cemetery, led a delegation of 
Western Pennsylvania cemetery superin- 
tendents that appeared against the bill. 
Mr. Jones, in an interview in a Pittsburgh 
paper, says of the proposed measure : 
“Such a bill if enacted not only would do 
harm but would be an entering wedge 
for other bills to permit grave diggers 
from outside to come into cemeteries and 
finally do away entirely with the power 
of superintendents to supervise their own 
cemeteries. Looking at it from a financial 
viewpoint, the cemetery authorities would 
be responsible for the cleaning up of the 
litter left by the outside contractors and 
yet would receive no compensation for 
their care.” 
William H. R. Lukens, a Philadelphia 
attorney, defended the action of the Mount 
Peace management, which also control the 
other cemeteries of the Odd Fellows at 
Twenty-third and Diamond streets, and 
OF OHIO CE 
President’s Address, Fred I. Sloane, 
Ironton, Ohio. 
Secretary’s Report and Communications. 
Payment of fees and dues. 
Paper, “Tree Surgery in Parks and 
Cemeteries,” E. A. Sloan, Marion, Ohio. 
Discussion of Same, Fred Green, Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 
Report of Delegate to National Conven- 
tion, Geo. Gossard, Washington, C. H. 
Question Box. 
Appointing Committees on Auditing, 
Location, Resolutions. 
First Day — Afternoon Session. 
1 :30 p. m., take cars for Riverside 
Cemetery. 
Inspection of Grounds. 
3 :00 p. m., meeting called to order at 
G. A. R. chapel. 
Paper, “Mausoleums,” L. Y. Stephens, 
Columbus, Ohio. 
Discussion of Same, J. C. Cline, Day- 
ton, Ohio. 
Lawn View, in the suburbs of Philadel- 
phia. 
The lots having all been sold in the 
old Odd Fellows’ Cemetery and nearly all 
in Mount Peace, Mr. Lukens said, the 
cemetery officials found it necessary to 
derive an income from lot care-taking in 
order to pay expense of maintenance. He 
said that it had been the intention to make 
the order barring outside gardeners opera- 
tive on January 1, 1912, but owing to the 
requests of lot holders it had been put 
off a year. 
Attorney Charles S. Townsend, of Phil- 
adelphia, spoke on behalf of Northmont 
Cemetery, and Robert T. Corson spoke 
for Oakmont Cemetery. William Fal- 
coner, superintendent of the Allegheny 
Cemetery also opposed the bill, as did Wil- 
liam Cavanaugh, superintendent of garden- 
ing at Laurel Hill; former Representative 
John Connell and former Councilman 
Charles Connell, who are interested in 
Mount Moriah Cemetery, Philadelphia, 
founded by their fathers. 
On behalf of the cemetery companies 
it was maintained that the ten per cent 
of the price of each lot which must be 
set aside for the maintenance of such lots 
is not sufficient to keep them in good con- 
dition. 
Representatives of lot holders were on 
hand to uphold the bill. 
John Monaghan, as counsel for a com- 
mittee headed by Samuel B. Jones, P. J. 
Kelly and Michael Drennan, of Philadel- 
phia, made a speech in favor of the bill 
in which he made a loose appeal to anti- 
trust sentiment by denouncing what he 
termed “a cemetery trust, a graveyard 
trust, if you please.” 
The bill has not yet been acted on by the 
Legislature. 
METERY MEN 
Question Box. 
Unfinished business, new business. 
First Day — Evening Session. 
8 :00 p. m., banquet at Y. M. C. A. hall. 
Special music and speeches. 
Second Day — Morning Session. 
9:50 a. m., take cars for Steubenville 
where carriages will be in waiting to go 
to the Union Cemetery. 
Inspection of grounds. 
Return to city. 
Lunch at , Y. M. C. A. hall. 
Second Day — Afternoon Session. 
Paper, “Renovating Old Lawns,” J. A. 
Reed, Canton, Ohio. 
Report of committees. 
Officers of Association. 
President, Fred I. Sloane, Ironton, Ohio. 
Vice Pres., R. E. Gifford, Ravenna, Ohio. 
Sec’y and Treas., G. C. Anderson, Sid- 
ney, Ohio. 
