CHAPTER VIII.
Florida Mr. Plant’s Hobby—Banquet at Ocala—Mr. Plant’s Speech—Sail on Lakes Harrison and Griffin—Banquet at Leesburg—Visit to Eustis—Cheering Words to a Young Editor—Make the best of the Frost—It may be a Blessing in Disguise—Must Cultivate other Fruits, (and Cereals) besides Oranges—Importance of Honesty—Sense of Justice—Consideration for the Workmen—Unconscious Moulding-Power over Associates and Employees—Letter of Honorable Rufus B. Bullock.
MR. PLANT’S associates say of him: “Oh, Florida is one of the President’s pets.” Anything touching the prosperity of Florida is sure to get a sympathetic hearing from him at all times. He loves the Land of Flowers and has spent many pleasant days in it at all seasons of the year. Nor does it fall to the lot of every man to receive such high appreciation for the good he has done and such esteem and affection as Mr. Plant receives from these warm-hearted, whole-souled Southern people. Mr. Plant having recently included Ocala in his railroad and hotel system, a fact which promises much for the future progress of this enterprising town and section of Western Florida, the people wished to express their grateful appreciation of the man whom all the South delights to honor. So, in the winter of 1896, they tendered to him a grand banquet to which he and his friends and associates in office were welcomed. Nothing was left undone by these good people to make the occasion pleasant.
The feast was held in the Ocala Hotel which came into the possession of Mr. Plant during 1896, and was opened that season as one of the Plant System Hotels. The house was elaborately decorated with Southern ferns and flowers. A reception was first held in the parlor, then about seventy ladies and gentlemen sat down to a sumptuous dinner, enlivened by sweet music, and good cheer. Many beautiful tributes of esteem and friendship were eloquently presented to the guest of the evening, who had been requested by the committee of arrangements to speak to the toast, “The Plant System.” The following account taken from the Atlanta Constitution, is a fairly good report of his speech, which held the audience spellbound from beginning to end. He said: “I am gratified and pleased beyond measure to be with you to-night on an occasion of social enjoyment to exchange compliments and greetings with the undaunted citizens of Ocala and revel in the bounteous hospitality of this proud and prosperous little city. Words count for but little in the effort to express my sincere appreciation of such evidences of cordiality as have been shown this night to me and to my friends and associates in business. Surely the very presence of so many of your community’s worthy citizens, your city’s leading business and professional men, who have rendered the further compliment of bringing with them their charming wives and daughters, would of itself inspire any man, who is not insensible to the impulse of gratitude, with a feeling of gratification and deep appreciation for the compliment it conveys. It pleases me to see so many of the ladies of Ocala here to-night, for their charming presence lends beauty to the brilliant scene and makes all the more enchanting this hour of pleasure and promise.
“I feel that it is good to be here. I am always glad to mingle in social intercourse with my good friends of Florida, for I warrant you that nothing is more comforting than to know that in all my endeavors to aid them in the upbuilding of their favored section I have their hearty good-will and unstinted co-operation. In congratulation upon the continued prosperity of Ocala, despite the recent chilling frosts, which seemed well-nigh to sweep away your beautiful orange groves and blight the interests of your agricultural community, I wish to say that it is pleasing to me to observe the undaunted pluck and courage of your irrepressible and invincible people, who, never swerving from the duties of citizenship, have set about the arduous task of building up again the agricultural and industrial interests of this region of Florida, with a newness of life and a heartier zest. Such determined effort will surely be crowned with unbounded success and prosperity in the end. There is no reason why Ocala should not be a prosperous city. Your climate is excellent; your water is pure and wholesome; your lands are fertile and prolific, and your people are joined with a unity of ambition and a unity of aim for the upbuilding of every interest alike.
“I have been asked to speak to you of what is known as the ‘Plant System.’ Not this mere physical system of the man—for that speaks for itself. But the system of railways and steamships and other interests which have been built up as all other industries are built up in the great march of American progress and industrial development. In touching upon the plans and scope of the Plant System, I believe I will be credited with perfect sincerity when I say in the very outset, that if some of the conditions of which we now have knowledge had been known in the beginning, much of this system would not exist to-day. I have reference to such conditions as have in late years arisen and confronted corporations in the nature of an obstacle and an obstruction. As you all perhaps know, there has been a great change in the plans and methods of railroad construction during the last decade or two. In the old days railroads were built for the most part by the people of means along the proposed route, and they were for the most part short lines. People did not set out in the earlier days to build long lines of railways. As years rolled by, however, there sprang up among the people of some sections an unexplained feeling of hostility to corporations—a sort of antagonism to capital—which has worked its way like a devouring worm into the politics of the nation, and which, in recent years, has well nigh sapped the lifeblood from many of the leading railway systems of the country, by plunging them into such a complicated pool of injurious legislation as to land them on the dangerous shores of bankruptcy. Just at the time when such a spirit of antagonism was at its zenith there came a change in the methods of operating railway lines. Instead of the short lines, several of the roads began to be joined together for a longer line, thus reducing the expenses of operation and at the same time giving better facilities of travel and of shipment. It was found that the railroads could not live if operated on the short-line basis, for competition grew so great it became necessary to link this road and that to form a through line binding the commerce of one section to that of another in rapid transit at reduced expenditure. This came as a necessity born of the situation, for the railroads were being bankrupted on the old plan and were sold out by receivers for their original owners to the men of capital, and they saw the absolute necessity of a more economical basis of operation. Taxes were high, competition was great and everything served evidence that the old plan would no longer prove feasible.
“Just why there should be any hostility to such a plan of railway management among the people who are, after all, the ones benefited most by the increased facilities that are given them, is not made clear to me, but such a spirit did prevail, and does prevail to-day in some sections to such an extent that men, blinded to the interests of the people of their sections, are continually stabbing at the very heart of the railway corporations and crying out that they need to be watched by legislative censors, and of this notion the railway commission was born. My friends, I know but little of the motives that prompt such legislation against railroads, but I do know that some very serious mistakes have been made. It has been said that the king can do no wrong, but it has with equal truth been said that the king can make mistakes. In the State of Georgia, this persistent spirit of hostility to railroads, this organized effort of legislative restriction, has within the past few years thrown nearly every railroad in the State into the hands of a receiver. The result has been a gradual reorganization of these properties by the men of capital in the East, and a new plan of operation at reduced expenditure through consolidation. What else could have resulted?
“The interests of the people and the railroads are certainly not conflicting interests. They are common interests and should go hand in hand and heart to heart in the great work of building up this country. The one should not be made an obstacle for the other. I cannot see how the Plant System of railways and steamships could be other than a pillar in the structure of the industrial world of this Republic, interested in all that tends to the promotion of the general interests of the people. Of what avail would railroad construction be to the owner if it were intended to be run in hostility to the business interests of the people of the country it traversed? What would a railroad be worth if not supported by a healthful business community in perfect harmony? On the contrary, what would any country be without the railroads?
“It is true that the people of this section have suffered heavy loss lately through some unexplained stroke of Providence, by which the orange groves of Florida were laid low by the withering touch of the hand of dread winter, and it is furthermore true that the phosphate interests have been injured by an over-production, but that is a matter that rests with the fates, to be worked out in their own good season. Misfortunes sometimes prove to be but blessings in disguise, and it rests not with mortals to gainsay the wisdom of that edict which comes from an Omniscient Providence. In all your losses on the farms and in the phosphate mines, bear in mind that the railroads are suffering a kindred loss, for the blow was as keenly felt by them as by you.
“Let us move together while the hand of adversity weighs heavily upon us, just as we have always tried to do when we were more prosperous. Let us take no part in the systematic effort that some are making, to persecute the railway enterprises of Florida at such a time as this, for such persecutors are blinded to their country’s interests. If there was ever a time when the people and the railroads ought to work in perfect harmony that time is at hand. I believe labor ought to be protected in a reasonable and rightful degree, but I also believe that capital ought to be protected against the unrighteous onslaughts of those who know not what they do.
“In conclusion, my good friends of Ocala, I beg to thank you again for your generous reception to-night. I believe there is much in the spirit that rules here that bespeaks the dawn of brighter and better days for the people of this region.”
The following day a special train took Mr. Plant and his party to Leesburg, where arrangements had been made by the people of that beautiful little town to give Mr. Plant and his friends another ovation of most healthful pleasure and exquisite enjoyment. The Mayor and leading citizens of the place met the party at the railroad station and welcomed them with marked cordiality to their best hospitality and friendship. At the close of a day’s most delightful sailing up Lakes Harrison and Griffin, and many carriage rides on the shores of those beautiful lakes, situated as they are in some of Florida’s most picturesque scenery, the party sat down to a banquet in the hotel given by the Leesburg Board of Trade. “It was truly a feast of reason and flow of soul,” for nothing could have been in better taste or evinced more genuine esteem and friendship for the guest of the occasion than was shown there.
On the next day a special train took Mr. Plant and his party to Eustis. At the station all the prominent people in town were gathered to welcome him. Carriages were in waiting to take him and his friends through the beautiful little town. It was with visible emotion that he looked upon the withered, lifeless orange trees bared by the terrible frost of the preceding winter, a drear and desolate scene as compared with the bloom and beauty of other days. Mr. Plant, however, was never given to fruitless murmuring. To a young editor in the carriage with him he said: “No, we must make the best of even the adverse situation. It might be worse. You must publish words of cheer and hope to your people, and do all that you can to help them over this trying time. Suggest to them the planting of other crops, the rearing of other fruits. It will not do to be altogether dependent on oranges. The soil is capable of raising many other things besides oranges, and it may be that this calamity will become a blessing in disguise.” So he ministered good cheer and practical instruction to the people, who felt that he loved them, and who were very responsive to his encouraging words.
I doubt not these people uttered the true sentiments of their deep feeling when they said as they bade him good-bye: “Mr. Plant, you have done us all a great deal of good, we shall never forget you for this visit you have made us. It will be a pleasant memory to us always, and if you and your friends have enjoyed your visit half as much as we have enjoyed having you, then is our happiness increased a hundred fold.” Never have we witnessed anything more beautiful and tenderly impressive than the kindly interest which Mr. Plant’s visit called out among these people. His every want was anticipated, luncheons, rare and delicious, were carefully stored away on boat and train and brought out at the right time. After sail or ride in train and carriage in this most appetizing atmosphere had made the party hungry as prairie wolves, then a sumptuous repast was served and enjoyed to the full. Rooms, and rest and care in hotel, cars, or boats were provided with a skill and tact that made one think of the Plant System.
Honesty is the foundation and keystone of every noble character. It is the quality that must pervade the whole nature. Nothing can take its place or atone for its absence, nor can there be a perfect manhood where it is not the warp and woof of the whole man. “Honesty is the best policy” says the policy man, but he who is honest only from policy and not from principle, is not an honest man, but a knave, if not a fool as well. Genius, scholarship, wit, humor, brilliancy are worse than worthless when they do not rest on a foundation of honesty. Never was a greater tribute paid to man than when President Lincoln’s neighbors dubbed him “Honest Abe.” Nor did poet ever rise to higher flights of truth than when Scotia’s Bard wrote “An honest man’s the noblest work of God.” “To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand,” says Shakespeare. In the history of the human race men of all ranks have ever paid the highest tributes to honesty and accorded to it the first place in human character. It is this quality, combined with his great energy, which has enabled Mr. Plant to carry his undertakings to so successful an end.
One of his associates in business for long years said: “Mr. Plant does not rashly promise but when he does, performance is sure, cost what it may. Were I having a business transaction with Mr. Plant for any amount, and knew that he would live to fulfil his engagement I would ask neither bond nor written contract. His word would be just as good to me as any security that could be drawn by the best legal authority in the land.” “I should name honesty as the dominant principle of Mr. Plant’s character,” said another.
It has been naïvely said that no “man is a gentleman to his valet,” but the testimonies here quoted are from men of long and most intimate acquaintance, and might be multiplied by hundreds of those who were once in his employ as well as by those still connected with the great System over which Mr. Plant presides. Careful scrutiny and good judgment have characterized all Mr. Plant’s dealings with his fellow-men, but crooked ways and mean advantage never. He has rendered to his generation an invaluable service in that he has demonstrated to it that honesty is the best principle and the surest way to the greatest success. And he has done this in departments of commerce proverbial for their unjust and unfair methods of dealing.
He has a wonderful amount of unconscious power which moulds those who come within its influence. Hence his associates have remained long with him even when tempted by other positions. The following extracts from a letter of ex-Governor R. B. Bullock will be found of interest in this connection.
“Rev. Dr. Geo. H. Smyth.
“Reverend and Dear Sir:—
“Replying now to your esteemed favor of March 17th, would say that Mr. Henry B. Plant came to this city in 1854, representing the Adams and other express interests, which were then being extended through this section of the country; and he continued to make this city his headquarters in that connection until ’69 or ’70, when he made his home in New York. There are no ‘incidents’ within my knowledge connected with Mr. Plant’s life here, which would be of special interest to incorporate in a biography. He developed then the same persistent, conservative and industrious perseverance in planning for and directing the interests in his charge, which have since developed into the important and widespread interests over which he now presides.
“Naturally, in the development and establishment of the business in his hands in those early days, it became necessary for him to select proper men to fill the various positions connected therewith and it is a notable fact, by experience shown, that the selections so made by him, were wise and judicious, and one of the marked features of his executive action has been the kindly exercise of unlimited and undisputed authority. There is no recollection of his having displayed impatience or irritable temper, even under very vexatious circumstances. His manner was always friendly, frank and appreciative, so that the disposition of the men subject to his control, was always found to be actuated by a desire to accomplish all that was possible for the interest of the institution over which Mr. Plant presided, sufficiently encouraged and cheered by the hope of his approbation. So close an eye did he keep upon the services rendered by the most insignificant employee, that no service well rendered failed to receive his personal endorsement and approval.
“By reason of his evenly balanced judgment and temper, his relations with the chief officers of railroad and steamship companies over and by which express service was transacted, and with bank officials—who were then our chief patrons—were always of the kindliest character, and he always enjoyed their perfect confidence and highest respect.
“In fact, all of the characteristics, which have made his later life the magnificent success which the country appreciates, were developed and maintained throughout his early business experience.
“There is nothing new or peculiar about the facts to which I have referred, because they are well known and appreciated by hundreds of men now in the service, who have been continuously with it since its organization.
“Very respectfully and truly,
“Rufus B. Bullock.”
