THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
59 
the National Association as 1 have been, I do not want to 
tire you or myself with its preachment. If I had had 
any doubts of the need of some such organization as will 
be linally considered at Chicago in June, the events of 
the past few months would have dispelled same, for the 
more 1 know of the nurserymen’s problems, and each day 
brings new ones, the more delinitely I conclude how im- 
j)ossible it is to meet those problems with our present 
organization. 
Last August I received President Stark’s resignation, 
and while, after consultation with the Executive Com¬ 
mittee, it was determined that he continue as President 
during his term of office, I have, under the constitution, 
discharged the duties of the olfice as Vice-President since 
this date. 
Under our present organization the President is chief 
executive, and I believe any man who has filled the office 
will agree with me when I say that no man with largo 
affairs of his own can as efficiently as should be desired 
dscharge the duties encumbent upon this office. Members 
of American Association of Nurserymen report a total 
business for year ending June, 1917, of approximately 
twelve to fifteen million dollars, which, because of condi¬ 
tions, was decidedly below normal. The combined in¬ 
vestment of the membership aggregates a large amount 
in money and in service to this country, and such an or¬ 
ganization as is now before the Association is to my mind 
broad enough in its possibilities to serve efficiently the in¬ 
terests this organization will represent. 
I need not at this time speak in detail of the work this 
proposed organization would attempt, for before Associa¬ 
tion meeting and through the trade papers the matter has 
been presented in detail for the past two years, hence 1 
am sure that each of us has a fairly correct knowledge of 
what will be attempted. I feel inclined rather to at¬ 
tempt to answer some questions that have come to me, not 
exactly in the form of critiesim, but some honest ques¬ 
tions that are pertinent and which deserve to be answered, 
and to show you how necessary it is at this particular 
time to meet some real business problems that each hour 
are becoming more acute. I have said before, and I re¬ 
peat here, that if the plan proposed is not practical, or if 
any member has a better plan of organization, it is en¬ 
tirely in order to adopt it in lieu of the plan made the first 
order of business for our next annual meeting, but until 
some one offers something better, our policy as a na¬ 
tional association will be to accept or reject the organi¬ 
zation I have the honor of presenting, and acting upon an 
order of the Philadelphia convention, this will be the first 
order of business at Chicago next June. I shall, then, if 
you please, discuss three questions which, by the way, 
constitute the only criticism I can now recall, and leave 
to you to judge whether these questions are, after all, 
serious. 
QUESTION NO. 1. 
The resolution which provides for this contemplated 
organization directs the Executive Committee “to estab¬ 
lish within some centrally located city which in their 
judgment best meets the needs, a general office for hand¬ 
ling the affairs of the Association.” Personally, I think 
this would be a capital thing to do, but someone has raised 
the (juestion, “If this office is established in Chicago will 
the balance of the country prove loyal to the organiza¬ 
tion?” This is question No. 1, and is worthy of consid- 
eiation. 1 can speak for only one member, but for that 
member 1 can say that there is not a drop of sectional 
blood coursing through his veins, and if there were, he 
would let it out if the process bled him to death. I 
cannot imagine any man big enough to belong to the 
American Association of Nurserymen whose petty sec¬ 
tional prejudice would prove a seiious obstacle in estab¬ 
lishing general offices for the Association where the best 
interests of all w ould be served, and in speaking on tlijs 
question before, I invited any man present to indicate it 
if this, in his opinion, would be a serious objection. 
Now, I can understand why one would reason that our 
general office should be centrally located. The matter 
of communication between members and the ollice 
should, as nearly as possible, be equalized. It takes de¬ 
cidedly more time to carry a letter from Texas to Boston 
than it would to St. Louis, Chicago, or Detroit, and it 
likewise costs inore to send a telegram. Therefore, I 
think that this provision of the resolution is fair and just. 
Do not you? I do not think that the location of this office, 
unless manifestly unfair to a large majority of the mem¬ 
bers, would prove a bone of contention. Do you? 
QUESTION NO. 2. 
Referring again to resolution, the Executive Committee 
is directed, after establishing a central office, to “place 
in charge of said office the most capable man to be found, 
and preferably one who knows the needs of the nursery¬ 
men, who shall be Secretary-Manager.” Everyone be¬ 
lieves that this would prove a most salutaiy policy— “if a 
man can be found,” and this is question No. 2. That 
can only be answered by trying the matter out. I have 
never doubted and do not now doubt but that when the 
committee has been directed to lind the man, that one 
entirely capable of filling this important position will be 
found. To be sure, the man is not available until the 
job is ready. That is a matter we can determine when 
we get to it, and certainly not before. 
QUESTION NO. 3. 
“Will Ihe niembership live up to the spirit of fettow- 
ship and co-operation which is the ground, work of the 
whole plan?” No, not all of them; yes, a large majority 
of them. I believe in my fellow-man. I believe in his 
manhood, in his honesty, in his continuous striving to get 
on higher ground. I understand his frailties because I 
am frail—I understand his selfishness because I am sel¬ 
fish—but I believe in him nevertheless, and I know that 
he is constantly striving to make this world a belter place 
in which to live. If we were deterred from going for¬ 
ward in an organized way by the fear that all would not 
be true to the spirit of fellowship and co-oi)eration, all 
progress would cease; society would be chaotic. In 
church, politics, society, eveiywhere, there are men and 
women untrue, men and w omen w bo do not live up to 
their obligations or opportunities, but because this is true 
we do not abandon these institutions. In the Church of 
Jesus Christ there arc many communicants untrue to the 
vow^s taken, but regardless of this fact the church is the 
greatest factor for righteousness in the world to-day. 
Christ himself could not choose twelve men who w(‘re 
true—but who would think of Ihe one who proved false 
when eleven were true. 
Why can’t we be optimists rather than pessimists! 
