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THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
WILLIAM PITKIN HONORED. 
Governor Hughes of New York, recently honored a 
prominent nurseryman of Rochester, Mr. William Pitkin, by 
appointing him one of the State Fair Commissioners. 
Under the new state law the number of commissioners 
has been reduced from eleven to seven of which number 
two receive appointment by virtue of their State offices. 
This leaves five men to be actually appointed and to be 
chosen is now even a greater honor than before. 
Mr. Pitkin is the Treasurer of the Chase Brother’s Nur¬ 
sery Company of Rochester. New York, and is well known 
in nursery circles. Both by his work and character is he 
deserving of his appointment. 
INDEPENDENCE. 
Speaking of the need of political workers with inde¬ 
pendent means of support. President Hadley, of Yale, 
in a recent address before the New York School of Philan¬ 
thropy, spoke of the value of the emergency worker and also 
of the man who votes upon his honest convictions. 
“Now we come to what, after all, must be the largest 
influence in the politics of the country—people who do 
not aspire to leadership, regular or even occasional, but 
whose votes and opinions and moral judgments are what 
make the country what it is. What obligation should be 
emphasized in their code of political ethics? What can 
they do for political morals? 
“First, they can vote independently. Next, they can 
give their ideas on questions of public morals—a rarer 
thing than is generally supposed. Finally, they can get 
a judicial habit of mind in dealing with public questions 
and in judging a political act with an intelligent regard 
to its public consequences. 
“The final test, of our ability as a nation to stand rests 
upon the power of our people to judge of evidence quietly 
and accept, the operations of the law even when it works 
to their own hurt, and to get ideals of success that will 
preserve the nation instead of those that will destroy it. 
“Every man who publishes a newspaper which appeals 
to the emotions rather than to the intelligence of its readers, 
and to a less extent, every man who lightly believes the 
statements that exist in such a newspaper, hurts our politi¬ 
cal life at a most vulnerable point. 
“Every man who admires a public officer for success 
in serving himself rather than for success in serving others 
—who respects the man for getting office rather than for 
deserving office, or for the making of money instead of the 
wise use of it—shows himself to that extent unfit to be a 
member of a self-governing nation.” 
DON’T BE A TIGHT WAD. 
Don't be everlastingly trying to see how much you can 
save on your advertising, or into how little space you can 
crowd your advertisement. Just hold to the idea of seeing 
how well you can make advertising pay, and spend everv 1 
cent you can get together that you can spend profitablv. 
That is what makes vour business go. 
LOWER EXPRESS RATES ORDERED. 
We quote from the Fruit Trade Journal and Produce 
Record the following article because of its bearing upon the 
subject of Parcels Post which is discussed elsewhere in this 
journal: 
By an order issued March 30 by the Indiana Railroad Commis¬ 
sion, the rates charged by the express companies to and from all 
•points in Indiana are reduced from 10 to 12 per cent. Ten days are 
given the companies in which to rearrange their schedules. 
The commission accompanies its order with a long statement, in 
which a history of several of the companies is epitomized in support 
of the charge that they have been making “fabulous” profits while 
operating almost entirely on “water.” 
The commission says that it was able to get few facts from the ex¬ 
press companies regarding their capital stock or income, and that 
for this reason it was forced to refer to the published statements of 
the express companies’ affairs. The companies, it is said, refused or 
neglected to produce information regarding loss and damage claims, 
wages and salaries, legal expenses and taxes, and “yet contended 
that these items should be considered.” 
The commission says that the American Express Company in 
1850 had a capital stock of $150,000, which in four years was in¬ 
creased to $750,000, and that in 1868 the company increased its 
capital to $18,000,000. 
It says that the Adams company in 1854 had a capital stock of 
$1,200,000, which by 1875 had been increased to $12,000,000. In 
none of these instances, the commission says, was any additional 
money paid to the treasuries, all the increases being from profits 
derived from the business. 
Commenting on the Adams company, the report says: “This 
great company is not without power of invention. Under an im¬ 
mense increment in business, with no proportional economic rate 
reduction, a great surplus accumulated. 
“Something had to be done with it; hence, in 1898. to indemnify 
its shareholders against personal liability, $12,000,000 in bonds were 
distributed to the holders of 120,000 shares of stock, and, wonderful 
to say, in 1906 the surplus was again a great burden, and without 
even the pretense of indemnification for personal liability the golden 
floodgates were again opened and $24,000,000 poured out to the 
shareholders of this company. 
“From time to time dividends in 1906, amounting to $10 per 
share, and from $4.00 to $10 for many years, were distributed, and 
the company seriously assures us that it has never defaulted in the 
payment of interest on its bonds, and except, as stated, never 
declared a bond dividend. 
“What a gullible public! What fortunate shareholders! What 
a beneficent common carrier—to its owners!” 
The information set forth in the official opinion in regard to the 
Pacific Express Company is even more interesting. This company 
was organized under the laws of Nebraska, Oct. 1, 1879, with a capi¬ 
tal stock of $6,000,000. There has been no stock dividend and no 
bond dividend, but the company has paid dividends, says the com¬ 
mission, with almost absolute regularity. In the last twenty years 
$8,334,000 has been divided among its shareholders, and, in addition 
a surplus of $1,529,679 has piled up. 
The commission says it got evidence as to what disposition was 
made of the $6,000,000 capital stock from John A. Brewster, auditor 
of the company, who testified that the stock was given to the Wa¬ 
bash, Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific railroad companies for 
rights and franchises. He testified that twelve stockholders of this 
company are railroads, and that they get the dividends. 
New Knoxville, O., April 3d, 1908. 
The National Nurseryman, 
Rochester, N. Y. 
Dear Sir: 
As I cannot do without your valuable paper I enclose one dollar 
for subscription. Find postal card for reply. 
I remain yours truly, 
George Wellman. 
