i89i 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
469 
The Law IVill Decide. 
JOHN LEWIS CHILDS VS. THE RURAL PUBLISH¬ 
ING COMPANY. 
What Is a Fraudulent Advertisement? 
[The R. N.-Y. promised to keep its readers fully Informed respecting 
the suit for libel brought against it by Mr. J. L. Childs. We, therefore, 
print here the legal complaint made by Mr. Childs, and the answer 
of the Rural Publishing Company. The next step must be taken by 
Mr. Childs, viz.: bringing tho case to trial. We are all ready for him to 
do so. The outcome of this suit will be looked for with great interest 
by all who have to do with cdvertlsements. It will go far towards es¬ 
tablishing a precedent and drawing a line at which exaggerated stories 
of the great merits of merchandise offered for sale must stop. For 
example, if It bo settled that Mr. Childs has stepped outside of truth 
or fair statement In an effort to deceive the people and induce them to 
buy goods that are not as he has represented, it is evident that some 
other advertisers offering patent medicines, tools or other goods, must 
change their stories or come within the law. Aside from every other 
consideration, it will be interesting to learn just what language or state¬ 
ments may be considered legal in an advertisement.! 
Mr. Childs Makes his Complaint. 
NEW YORK SUPREME COURT. 
Plaintiff desires 
trial to be had in 
the City and County 
of New York. 
John Lewis Childs, plaintiff in the above entitled ac¬ 
tion, by Birdseye, Cloyd & Bayliss, his attorneys, com¬ 
plains of the Rural Publishing Company, defendant there¬ 
in, and for cause of action alleges: 
I. —That plaintiff is, and at all the times hereinafter 
mentioned has been, engaged In the business of cultivating, 
propagating, growing and selling a very groat number 
and variety of seeds, bulbs, plants, vegetables, fruits and 
flowers, and that in said business he has invested very 
large sums of money, to-wlt: upwards of $350,000.00 and 
has his gardens and nurseries, farms, fields, houses, build¬ 
ings, establishment and plant at Floral Park, Queens 
County, New York. 
II. —On information and belief, that the defendant is and 
at all times hereinafter named, has been, a domestic corpora¬ 
tion duly incorporated under the Laws of the State of New 
York, and the publisher and proprietor of a weekly news¬ 
paper known as and entitled TnE Rural New Yorker. 
That said paper has a large and extensive circulation, in 
the United States of America and elsewhere, and especially 
among people employed, engaged and interested in agri¬ 
culture, horticulture and floriculture, and purchasers of 
and dealers in seeds, bulbs, plants, vegetables, fruits and 
flowers such as are cultivated, grown, produced, sold and 
dealt in by plaintiff in his said business. 
III. —That on or about tho 31st day of January, 1891, 
the defendant contriving and wicktdly and maliciously 
Intending to injure the plaintiff in his good name, fame 
and credit, and in and about his said business and prop- 
rety and to bring him into public scandal, infamy and dis¬ 
grace, and to cause it to be suspected and believed that 
plaintiff has been and was guilty of falsehoods, fraud and 
deceit hereinafter mentioned as made and charged upon 
him by defendant, and to vex, harass, injure and oppress 
him, did falsely, wickedly and maliciously publish and 
cause and procure to be published in its said newspaper, 
The Rural New-Yorker, of and concerning plaintiff, and 
of and concerning his said business a certain false, scan¬ 
dalous, malicious and defamatory libel, in a certain part 
of which said libel there is and was contained, amongst 
other things, the false, scandalous, malicious, defamatory 
and libelous matter following of and concerning this 
plaintiff and of and concerning his said business, that is 
to say: 
“ STILL AT IT. 
“ We have just received the catalogue of John Lewis 
Childs,”—meaning this plaintiff—“for 1891. It is at once 
the most captivating and presumptive of all the catalogues 
we have ever examined. Most of the successful mer¬ 
chants of to-day strive to make money, while at the same 
time they secure for themselves an increased future patron, 
age as the result of honorable dealings. * D-n the hon¬ 
orable dealings; I propose to make money,’ is evidently 
the motto of this too enterprising man,”—meaning this 
plaintiff. “ It may be that the good public * love to be 
humbugged,’ and that ere the humbug shall have lost its 
charm, our bold friend,”—thereby meaning this plaintiff— 
“ will have accomplished his ”—thereby meaning this 
plaintiff’s—“ purpose, and that in the security of aquickly 
made fortune, he”—meaning this plaintiff—“may smile at 
thecredulty of the public that hastens to buy his ”—mean¬ 
ing this plaintiff’s—‘specialties,’ many of which, though 
disguised by elaborate and cunning praise, are really as 
old as the hills. Let us say that a careful exami¬ 
nation of this masterpiece of captivating assump¬ 
tion reveals that the regular lists are simply those which 
are in plain language presented in other catalogues as the 
standard varieties of the times, while many of his”—there¬ 
by meaning plaintiff’s—“ alleged novelties are scarcely 
less than make-believes’’—thereby meaning that the an¬ 
nual catalogue issued by this plaintiff for the year 1891 
containing statements concerning the seeds, shrubs, 
plants, flowers and other articles cultivated, grown, 
propagated and sold by plaintiff was by him deliberately 
calculated and intended to cheat, defraud, deceive and 
mislead the public. “The R. N.-Y. has been accused of 
having a grudge against this man ’’—meaning this plaintiff 
—“ and of abusing its privileges as a widely circulated 
rural paper, to injure him”—meaning this plaintiff—“in 
any possible way. The truth is, however, that the writer 
of this note has never seen Mr. Childs”—meaning this 
plaintiff; “ that he is indebted to him ’’—meaning this 
plaintiff—“ for kindly words appreciative of his journal¬ 
istic work, and for a number of plants sent to the Rural 
Grounds for trial, with Mr. Childs’s”—meaning thi 3 
plaintiff’s—" compliments. The R. N.-Y. is working for 
the public good; that is to say, in the interests of those 
who buy plants or seeds, whether for pleasure, for the 
market or for a living. It is waging a war against the 
gross exaggerations of picture and text that are seen in 
too many of the catalogues that are issued by seedsmen 
and nurserymen who are conducting their business for 
quick profits and for an easy fortune, regardless of the 
interests of their Innocent patrons”—thereby meaning, 
insinuating and intending to be understood as alleging, 
and thereby Intending to have it understood and believed 
that this plaintiff is conducting his business regardless of 
the interests of his patrons and the public generally, and 
with the purpose and intent of misleading and defrauding 
them and obtaining quick profits and an easy fortune by 
untrue, incorrect, deceptive and misleading pictures and 
text in his said catalogue. And in another part of which 
said libel there is and was contained amongst other things 
the false, scandalous, malicious and defamatory matter 
following of and concerning this plaintiff and his said 
business, that Is to say: 
“ A man who goes to the grocery or dry goods store is 
supposed to know what he wants and to have a certain 
amount of knowledge to guide him. He sees and examines 
what he buys and accepts or rejects accordingly. Confi¬ 
dence in the seller has comparatively little to do with his 
selection and purchase. Not so with the country person 
who examines the catalogues for which he sends or which 
are gratuitously sent to him. He is prone to assume that 
the illustrations and descriptions, allowing a reasonable 
margin for undue praise, are moderately trustworthy and 
to measure their value according to the claims made. He 
makes out his order for plants or seeds or both, trusting to 
the honor of the individual or firm to which he sends. He 
pays in advance and is Ignorant of the quality of his plants 
or seeds; whether they are or are not true to name; 
whether they are dead or alive, until they are planted and 
grow or fail to grow. In the latter case, compensation 
rests wholly upon the Integrity of the seller. It is, in a 
sense, a one sided busine-s, and it is the sacred duty of all 
rural journals that assume to be the guardians of the 
husbandman’s interests, to see to it that justice is done. 
“ From careful investigation, TnE R. N.-Y. assumed a 
year and more ago that John Lewis Childs,”—meaning this 
plaintiff—“ was, with a rare shrewdness and ability, im¬ 
posing upon those who look to horticultural or farm 
papers for guidance in such matters. It took Mr. Childs” 
—meaning the plaintiff—" to task, first in a mild way ; 
then with some seriousness, and, finally, in the face of an 
arrogant assumption on his”—meaning plaintiff’s—" part, 
in dead earnest. Though the proof offered of his”—mean¬ 
ing this plaintiff’s—“ trickery was ample, not one of our 
brother contemporaries joined us in condemning him”— 
meaning this plaintiff—Thereby intending to state and 
allege, and to have it understood and believed, that this 
plaintiff had wilfully deceived, misled and imposed upon, 
and been guilty of fraud, deceit and trickery toward those 
who might obtain, or to whom he might send his said 
catalogue, and that the defendant had offered, stated and 
published ample proof of such alleged fraud, imposition 
deceit and trickery on the part of plaintiff. 
And in another part of the said libel there was and is 
contained amongst other things the false, scandalous, 
malicious and libelous matter following of and concerning 
this plaintiff and his said business, that is to say : 
“ Ills,”—meaning plaintiff’s—“ catalogue for 1891 is no 
less open to condemnation than its 1890 predecessor. Its 
135 pages are alive with superlative, wily exaggerations 
that, while sickening to the experienced gardener or 
farmer, will yet deceive the confiding mass of those who, 
influenced by their love of the new, the wonderful and 
beautiful, and unguarded by the repeated disappoint¬ 
ments which the experienced may have undergone, will 
order confidingly and hopefully of the wonders so glow¬ 
ingly set forth.” Thereby meaning and intending to aver, 
state, charge and allege, and to have it understood and be¬ 
lieved that the said catalogue of plaintiff for the year 1891 
was full of wily exaggerations, sickening to the experi¬ 
enced gardener or farmer and intending to deceive the con¬ 
fiding and those who, relying upon the same, might order 
seeds, plants, shrubs and other articles from plaintiff, and 
that they would be misled, defrauded and deceived 
thereby. 
And in another part of which said libel there was and 
is contained amongst other things, the false, scandalous, 
malicious, defamatory and libelous matter following of 
and concerning said plaintiff and his said business, that is 
to say : 
“This much in a general way for Mr. Childs’s”—meaning 
this plaintiff’s—“new catalogue. Specifically, let us enter 
into a few details: 
“ It will be remembered that The R. N.-Y. exposed the 
falsity of several of the claims which he ’’—meaning this 
plaintiff—" made in regard to what he ’’—meaning this 
plaintiff—“was pleased to call ‘ Childs’s Great New Japan 
Wineberry.’ In his”—meaning plaintiff’s—“new cata¬ 
logue he”—meaning plaintiff—“ has moderated some of 
his ’’—meaning plaintiff’s—" claims, of necessity. But he” 
—meaning plaintiff—“ has put forth others equally false, 
to be moderated not until, if at all, he ’’—meaning plain¬ 
tiff—" may deem it wise to do so. For example he ”— 
meaning plaintiff—" now says that he”—meaning plaintiff 
—“paid $1,000 for the variety— not $1,000 for each plant, as 
previously stated.” Thereby meaning, stating and al¬ 
leging, and intending to have it understood and believed 
that plaintiff had not only prior to his said catalogue of 
1891, made false claims in relation to the said New Japan 
Wineberry, but in his said catalogue of 1891 made certain 
other alleged equally false claims In relation thereto. 
John Lewis Childs 
V8. 
The Rural Publishing Co. 
And in another part of which said libel there was and is 
contained, amongst other things, the false, scandalous, 
malicious, defamatory and libelous matter following of 
and concerning the said plaintiff, and his said business, that 
is to say: 
“Again, he”—meaning plaintiff—“admits that it is a 
variety of the Rubrus (sic) jPhoonicolasius and that ‘a few 
scraggly specimens’ were growing in this country when 
he”—meaning plaintiff—“ made his”—meaning plain¬ 
tiff’s—“purchase. But he”—meaning plaintiff—“adds— 
and herein we see the man’s (meaning plaintiff’s) persist¬ 
ent disregard for the truth—that these previously existing 
plants were ‘entirely worthless as a fruit.’ Again, he—” 
meaning plaintiff—“says, ‘it cannot compare with the 
true seedling variety.’ And what is the ‘ true seedling va¬ 
riety ?’ Mr. Childs”—meaning plaintiff—" admits obvious¬ 
ly [obliviously was the word used.— Eds. R. N.-Y.] with¬ 
out doubt, in a previous paragraph that his”—mean¬ 
ing plaintiff’s—“ plants are grown not from one seed 
but from many seeds sent from Japan by Professor 
Georgeson and his ”—meaning plaintiff’s—“plants were 
propagated from these seedlings. He ’’—meaning plain¬ 
tiff—“further ignores the fact that a fruiting branch sent 
to the writer by Ellwanger & Barry bore as mauy berries 
and berries of as large a siz9 and of as good quality as did 
the plants he himself”—meaning plaintiff—“sent to the 
Rural Grounds or authorized Mr. Lovett to send. In his” 
meaning plaintiff’s—“1890 catalogue he”—meaning plain¬ 
tiff—“says : ‘Strong, well rooted plants $1 each, six for $5. 
This price will probably staud for two or three years, and 
no reduction will be made on any account, 1 etc. In this 
year’s catalogue’’—thereby meaning plaintiff’s catalogue 
for 1891—“ the price is given thus; ‘Strong and vigorous 
plants 50 cents each or $5 per dozen.’ ” Thereby meaning 
and intending to have it understood and believed that 
plaintiff had been willingly and purposely guilty of false, 
untrue and unwarranted statements and representations 
In his said catalogue of 1890 and 1891, and had wilfully and 
purposely intended to mislead, deceive and defraud the 
public, and those who might become, by means of such 
publications, his customers and patrons. 
And in another part of which said libel there is and was 
contained amongst other things, the false, scandalous, 
malicious, defamatory and libelous matter following of 
and concerning said plaintiff and his said business, that is 
to say : 
“ If anything further were needed to prove that Mr. 
Childs”—meaning this plaintiff—“ does not care a rap 
for his”—meaning plaintiff’s—“good name, if, to secure 
it, his”—meaning plaintiff’s—“sales were to be lessened, 
we may mention the fact that he”—meaning plaintiff—“ re¬ 
marked to several mutual acquaintances that The Rural 
New-Yorker’s condemnation of his”—meaning plain¬ 
tiff’s—“ Wineberry was the best advertisement he”—mean¬ 
ing plaintiff—“ever had!” Well, Mr. Childs”—meaning 
plaintiff—" let us see just how long this sort of advertising 
will pay you”—meaning plaintiff. “The Wineberry is 
really a plant of merit and The R. N-Y. did not spare its 
praise. No wonder your”—meaning plaintiff’s—“ sales 
were largely increased, for while our brother journalists 
quoted our praise of the plant, they in the kindness of 
their hearts, spared you”— meaning plaintiff. Thereby in¬ 
tending to state and allege, and to have it understood and 
believed, that plaintiff had no care or regard whatever for 
his good name, fame or reputation, and would and did 
sacrifice the same and was guilty of fraud and deceit, and 
would seek to, and would mislead, cheat and defraud 
plaintiff’s customers and the public at large if thereby he 
might secure large and increased sales or procure the defen¬ 
dant to publish a condemnation of such alleged conduct 
on the part of plaintiff and the condemnation of said New 
Japan Wineberry produced and sold by him; and that 
other journals and publications had quoted the defendant’s 
alleged praise of the said wineberry plant but had not pub¬ 
lished the said statements, allegations and insinuations of 
the defendant concerning plaintiff, and by such failure 
had spared plaintiff from statements which tfiey might 
well have made to the effect that plaintiff had no care for 
his good name providing his disregard in that respect 
would secure large and increased sales in his business. 
And in another part of which said libel there was con¬ 
tained among other things, the false, scandalous, mali¬ 
cious, defamatory and libelous matter following of and 
concerning the said plaintiff and his said business, that 
is to say: 
“ If we desired merely to enthuse any one to engage in floral 
or horticultural pursuits, we should first of all hand him 
the catalogue of John Lewis Childs”—meaning this plain¬ 
tiff. “If we were to advise as to the selection and purchase 
of seeds and plants, his ’’—meaning plaintiff’s—" name 
would never occur to us except as one to be avoided.” 
Thereby meaning and intending to have it understood 
and believed that this plaintiff was untrustworthy, unre¬ 
liable and untrue in his representations and statements 
concerning the seeds and plants referred to in his said cat¬ 
alogue, and for sale by him, and that he in his said busi¬ 
ness should be avoided, and that defendant advised those 
engaged in floral or horticultural pursuits to avoid plain¬ 
tiff in the selection and purchasing of seeds and plants 
which they would or might need and desire to purchase or 
procure. 
Second.—A nd as for a second, separate and further 
cause of action this plaintiff further complaining of the 
said defendant, herein and hereby reaverring the first and 
second paragraphs of this complaint, alleges : 
IV.—That on or about the 7th day of February, 1891, the 
defendant contriving and wickedly and maliciously intend¬ 
ing to injure the plaintiff in his good name, fame and 
credit, and in and about his said business and property, and 
to bring him into public scandal, infamy and disgrace, and 
to vex, harass, injure and oppress him, did falsely, wicked¬ 
ly and maliciously publish, and cause and procure to be 
published in its said newspaper, The Rural New-Yorker, 
