THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
271 
have made the quarantine feature most prominent, and in 
fact immediately the Bill became a law, placed a quarantine 
on all Europe, preventing the importation of White, as well 
as on several other varieties of Pines, and recently extended 
the list to include all five needled Pines. 
Even the father of the bill. Dr. Howard and his Assistant, 
Mr. Marlatt, had given up all hope of its passage. Dr. 
Howard having left for Europe and Mr. Marlatt being in 
San Francisco on the point of leaving the country on an 
extended trip, when the bill was unexpectedly brought up in 
Congress, passed and became a law on the 20th of August last. 
I mention this as indicating the influences which our 
Association can exert and successfully control as a body, 
for the good of the nursery industry as a whole. I feel 
certain, and in fact have it upon good authority from friends 
of the bill in Washington, that had there not been a division 
in the ranks of the nurserymen, that this bill could not have 
been passed until certain features objectionable to your 
Legislative Committee had either been modified or entirely 
eliminated. 
The duty of carrying out the provisions of this law is 
vested in a Horticultural Board which was appointed by 
the Secretary of Agriculture. The gentlemen comprising 
this Board have been untiring in their efforts to carry out 
their rules and regulations to avoid as far as possible any 
delay or loss on imported stock, but the magnitude of their 
work, I believe, was greater than was ever contemplated 
by those who advocated the passage of the bill and on this 
account, as well as the confusion incident to the first opera¬ 
tion of any law, has caused more or less of the misunder¬ 
standing or delay which may have occurred in any shipments 
this year. 
With the experience gained through the operation of the 
law during practiaclly its first year, much of the red tape has 
recently been eliminated and some of the rules and regulations 
so modified as to do away with some of the unnecessary work 
heretofore required. 
The sudden and unexpected death of our late treasurer, 
Charles L. Yates, most forcibly brought to my attention the 
weakness of our Constitution and By-Laws, inasmuch as 
they make no provision for the appointment by the President 
or Executive Committee of any officer to fill a vacancy 
pending an election at the annual meeting. 
The funds of the Association were deposited in the Union 
Trust Company, Rochester, New York, in the name of the 
American Association of Nurserymen, Charles L. Yates, 
Treasurer. As I deemed it necessary to appoint a tem¬ 
porary treasurer, that the accumulating bills might be 
promptly paid, I appointed Charles J. Maloy, of Rochester, 
New York to that position, after first receiving the approval 
of the Executive Committee. 
The Union Trust Company, however, refused to transfer 
the funds of the Association to him, until they were given a 
certified copy of the minutes of a meeting of the Association, 
showing the election of Mr. Maloy, as Treasurer, this being 
their authority to transfer the account to his name. 
After explaining the situation and the impossibility of 
furnishing such authority at that time, they agreed to accept 
a certified copy of the by-laws, as showing the authority 
given to the President or Executive Committee to make 
such appointment in the event of a vacancy. 
An examination of the Constitution and By-Laws, much 
to my surprise, failed to show any authority for cither the 
President or Executive Committee to make an appointment 
of any officer, should a vacancy occur before a meeting of 
the Association. 
After a correspondence, lasting nearly six weeks, the 
Trust Company finally agreed to accept as authority. Section 
I, —of the by-laws, which reads “The President shall preside 
at all meetings of the Society and have a general supervision 
of its affairs,” and Section 5, which says “The Executive 
Committee shall have general supervision of the affairs of 
the Society, auditing all bills, contracting for the publication 
of the Annual Report and carr> 4 ng out the purpose of the 
Society.” 
I am free to admit that to my mind, the authority to 
appoint a temporary treasurer or any officer, under these 
two sections is not very definite, and evidently the Trust 
Company thought so too, for it was some time before they 
decided to accept them in that light, and then only with 
the understanding that the appointment should be approved 
in writing by all the members of the Executive Committee. 
This was promptly furnished them, and the funds trans¬ 
ferred to an account opened in the same Trust Company, 
under the name of the American Association of Nurserymen, 
Charles J. Maloy, Treasurer. 
I also appointed Secretary Hall and Marsden B. Fox, as a 
committee to audit the account of the late Treasurer, which 
they did and reported to me that his books, accounts and 
vouchers were found to be correct, and that they had given 
a receipt in full to the executors of Mr. Yates’ estate. 
The Surety Bond of the late treasurer would have ex¬ 
pired on the 31st day of December 1912. I therefore, 
suggested to Mr. Maloy that he procure from the same 
company a new bond to cover the period from the first of 
November 1912 to July 1913. This was likewise accom¬ 
plished, the Company allowing a credit for the two months 
which the old bond had still to run until its expiration. 
The adjusting of these matters pertaining to the surety, 
brought to light the fact that the Treasurer of our Associa¬ 
tion carries at nearly all times a balance of approximately 
$5000 but is only under $2500 bond. While the Associa¬ 
tion has always been fortunate in selecting for its treasurer, 
men of unquestioned integrity, it seems to me that the 
amount of the bond is too small, and that when a new one 
is made, it should be at least for four if not five thousand 
dollars. 
To properly safeguard the funds of the Association, it 
would seem to be entirely proper that the Secretary should 
also be bonded. The Treasurer is the custodian of the funds, 
yet he only holds such as may be turned over to him by the 
Secretary, by whose hands all moneys are collected. 
It has been suggested to me, during the past year, that 
the office of the Secretary and Treasurer should be one, and 
if this idea could be carried out the funds of the Association 
would be amply protected by one bond of sufficient amount 
to cover the usual balance in the treasury which is approxi¬ 
mately $5000. This suggestion I urge for your consideration. 
