with the various tradesmen whose 
work and profits may be affected by the 
rules of the cemetery. A perfectly 
honest concession to one who will not 
abuse the privilege is often the basis 
of a scandal. I suppose one has a right 
to select his personal friends from a 
source congenial to oneself, and yet it 
is better, if possible, to make the selec- 
tion from amongst those whose inter- 
ests are not likely to clash with those 
of the cemetery. Cemetery corpora- 
tions can help considerably in keeping 
their superintendents honest by paying 
proper and reasonable compensation, 
and when the innocent giving of a few 
addresses, where orders for work may 
be picked up, may add a thousand dol- 
lars or so to the salary, it would appear 
that the position is one surrounded with 
temptations, so it is well to have the 
salary of the superintendent sufficient 
to place him above these. I hope, more- 
over, that some of you gentlemen will 
live to see the day when men who have 
spent their best years in the work may 
look forward to retirement on a fair 
pension. 
Truthfulness is not confined to the 
spoken word, but is, in its essence, a 
condition of the mind. Perfect candor 
in dealing with proprietors of lots is, 
of course, understood. It is equally im- 
portant in dealing with members of 
Boards of Trustees. Where in a board 
there unfortunately happens to be a 
slight tinge of cemetery politics, or even 
a healthy difference of opinion on a 
subject, the superintendent should never 
forget that he is an executive officer. 
Wire-pulling, one of the lowest methods 
of attaining one’s end, is to be strictly 
avoided, and even giving minor aid, or 
comfort, to a particular faction should 
be condemned, and yet from his train- 
ing and experience the superintendent 
is better able to give an opinion on 
things relating to his own sphere than 
anyone else, so he should cultivate the 
habit of thinking aloud, in such a man- 
ner that on any question it will be 
known where to find him. 
No one should fill the position of 
superintendent of a cemetery; indeed, I 
think no one will fill it for any length 
of time unless abundantly endowed 
with Discretion. We see the seamy 
side of life to nauseation, and the de- 
cent man will often look the other way 
and fail to see certain things, or if your 
duty requires you to take cognizance of 
them, they should be held sacred as if 
under the seal of the confessional. 
Every man should try to fulfill his du- 
ties as a citizen ; indeed, he becomes 
narrow if he does otherwise, but no 
PARK AND C E M ET E R Y 
wise man will thrust his opinion on 
either religion or politics on those with 
whom he comes into official relations. 
There are many others, however, be- 
sides cemetery superintendents, who 
should cultivate the habit of doing busi- 
ness in a strictly business way, without 
attempts to dogmatize or proselytize. 
The mental qualities that go to the 
make-up of a cemetery superintendent 
are substantially those needed in mod- 
ern business methods, but with a broad- 
er technical training. In the larger 
cemeteries where the finances will per- 
mit the employment of experts at the 
head of the several departments, a good 
business man may succeed, but he needs 
to be a dynamo, for unless there is a 
central force maintaining a high volt- 
age, things are apt to slacken and show 
the effects of divided responsibility, al- 
ways a potent force for inefficiency. 
Something of legal knowledge is re- 
quired. The rights of the individual 
proprietor, as apart from those of the 
corporation, should be clearly under- 
stood, and in the old cemeteries where 
a considerable number of lots have 
changed ownership through inheritance, 
and in particular through the division 
of estates, the rights of the various 
parties in interest so often conflict that 
a knowledge of the state law and the 
general trend of decisions is requisite. 
The old saying that common sense is 
common law is not without justification, 
and when the law officer of the corpor- 
ation is not at one’s elbow, good com- 
mon sense, with a proper endowment 
of back-bone, will generally pull a man 
through. 
A superintendent, under any condi- 
tions, should not only know something 
of accounting, but should have a dis- 
tinct leaning towards it. When a man 
gets to the condition when he is care- 
less whether a given unit costs one 
dollar or one dollar and five cents, it 
is time for the auditor and efficiency 
engineer to get busy. 
Some knowledge of engineering is 
demanded. The days of grading by the 
eye, or by rule of thumb, are past. The 
elevation, curvature, and grades of the 
avenues and paths demand skill. A 
little skilful planning of sections and 
lots mean more valuable, saleable land, 
and more ornamental space, instead of 
space frittered away in odd, useless 
snips. Engineering skill is demanded 
in practically every department of a 
cemetery. Someone has said that the 
efficient engineer is the man who can 
do for one dollar what any lunk-head 
can do for two dollars, and that is also 
K;:> 
the measure between the efficient and 
the inefficient cemetery superintendent. 
Landscape gardening is said to cover, 
and include, engineering, but I am 
afraid it sometimes falls short in that 
direction. I feel somewhat diffident 
about discussing the gardening end of 
the profession, in the presence of so 
many distinguished gardeners. The man 
who has in his heart no love for trees, 
shrubs and plants is utterly out of place 
as a cemetery official. The pen of 
Dickens has made it impossible for the 
world to forget the character of its 
burial places of one hundred years ago. 
The hand of the gardener has trans- 
formed this “abomination of desolation" 
to the thing of beauty it now is. In the 
modern city the burial ground, thanks 
to the gardener’s art, rivals, and often 
outdoes, the public park as an effort 
and object of civic pride. It has done 
much to secure our cemeteries from the 
schemes of the innovator and the hand 
of the utilitarian vandal. The resting- 
places of the great and mighty owe 
their preservation, beyond all things 
else, to the setting provided for them 
by the gardener, so that whatever else 
the qualifications needed may be in the 
management of a cemetery, let us all 
take off our hats to the successor of 
Father Adam. 
These are but some of the require- 
ments for a successful superintendent. 
The speakers who are to follow will 
doubtless amplify these and call others 
to your attention. 
\ ou listen with attention to the pre- 
sentation by Bro. Creesy, of a review 
of a quarter of a century’s work by this 
Association. It is for us so to qualify 
ourselves for our individual work that 
not only those to whom we are imme- 
diately responsible, but the world at 
large may both know the uplifting char- 
acter of the Association’s efforts, and 
reap the harvest of them. 
Those of us who have made this pro- 
fession our life’s work have many 
trials, abundance of hard work and 
some disasters, but we have the com- 
pensating advantage of being able to 
write our individuality large on the spot 
to which all flesh must come, and which 
is present in every mind and heart 
where human affection dwells. Let us 
therefore rise to our opportunities; 
keep our lights shining a little ahead of 
yesterday. Life today does not admit 
of marking time. If we are not to re- 
treat we must keep our feet marching 
forward, in tune to the music of the 
world’s progress. 
