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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
upon producing an attachment that cannot
fail to be of value to the musical world, and
we trust of profit to him.
S a panacea for the Treasury deficit the
Advertiser suggests taxing the im-
porters of foreign goods who transact busi-
ness in this country on the ground that every
individual or corporation that has a factory
erected in the United States contributes to
the revenue of the State in which such
buildings are erected, and owing to the
immense scale on which the factories are
built, these taxes form quite an important
factor in their year's expense account. The
foreign manufacturer, it says further, is
free from these responsibilities—hence his
representatives, the importers, should be
taxed, and the tax made payable in gold.
This sounds well, but a tax on the im-
porter as an importer, will not find much
favor with legislators. The manufacturing
world would be better satisfied with a tax
on imports; it would cover the ground just
as satisfactorily and would be free from
the suspicion of interfering with the liber-
ties and rights of individuals who engage
in the business of importing.
. .
A
THE CUTTING OF
T
PRICES
HE evil of department stores and their
iniluence upon cutting the legitimate
prices of the wares handled by them, is
illustrated in the price list of musical in-
struments put before the public by Bloom-
ingdale Bros, in a full-page advertisement
in all the daily papers during the past week.
They say: "One of the largest purchases
ever made of high-grade musical instru-
ments enables us to offer the following
great bargains. Every instrument war-
ranted. "
An idea of the prices asked by Blooming-
dale Bros, for "high-grade" instruments
can be gleaned from the following list of
prices: A $500 piano for $149, with a five
years' guarantee, and kept in tune for
twelve months free of charge; $6.00 man-
dolins, $2.98; $7.00 violins, $2.98; $10.00
violin outfit, $3.98; $8.50 banjo, $4.98;
$7-5° gnitar, $3.38, and numerous other
instruments in the same ratio.
Bloomingdale Bros.' methods are evi-
dently Daniel F. Beatty's on a stupendous
scale. A retail house or a wholesale house
couldn't sell a $500 piano for $149, and it
would be a tax on common sense to believe
that Bloomingdale Bros, are philanthropic
enough to lose money selling these wares.
The public in the meantime are the suffer-
ers. Were the Music Trade Associations
to give as much attention to a matter of
this kind as they do to good dinners and
post-prandial oratory, statements like these
referred to would not obtain with the
public.
THE BOND ISSUE.
CULMINATION of the many mis-
takes of the Administration is the
new bond contract entered into by Presi-
dent Cleveland. The concessions to the
bankers, the high rate of interest, and the
secrecy about the whole affair are certainly
open to the severest criticism. And yet
the President was forced to take this ques-
tionable means of maintaining the honor
and credit of the country through the
blundering incapacity of Congress, who
refused to enact necessary legislation.
President Cleveland was actuated no
doubt by the best intentions, and thought
it better to enter into this cast-iron agree-
ment and make a sacrifice of sixteen mil-
lions of dollars in the way of interest than
to have another indefinite period of uncer-
tainty and perhaps commercial anarchy.
It is easy enough to criticize, but when
the President has a "Congress on his
hands" composed of men who are blind to
the exigencies of the country, and con-
trolled by the narrow and bigoted ideas of
a section, proper action is practically im-
possible. It is cheap talk to rave about
foreign bankers and capitalists, but it
would have more force were the legislators
of this country willing to do their duty or
agree upon the financial policy. Indeed,
we question if there has been in the history
of the United States such a display of utter
incapacity and indifference to the best in-
terests of this country as has been exhibited
by the party in power for the past two
years.
The currency question is an abstruse and
difficult one to solve. It should be taken
out of the hands of political quacks and
considered on a broader and more states-
manlike basis. There has been an excel-
lent lesson conveyed meanwhile, not only
to the Democratic party, but to the Repub-
lican party, that the business world will
not and cannot in future tolerate the ques-
tions of tariff or finance being treated as
party questions. Commercial security and
a circulation of money must be secured, and
the country must be afforded a chance to
recuperate and build up.
THEODORE D. C. MIU.KK, musical mer-
chandise, etc., corner of Eighth avenue and
126th street, New York City, is offering-
business for sale.
THK annual meeting of Chickering &
Sons will be held in Chickering Hall to-
day.
A HANDSOME Steger piano, Louis XIV
style, finished in San Domingo mahogany,
was sold recently to Dr. Alva H. Doty, the
health officer of the Port of New York, by
Winterroth & Co., New York agents for
Steger & Co.
'
'
THE ANN ARHOR ORGAN CO., Ann Arbor,
Mich., closed some good contracts recently
for the year 1895. Among others was a
contract with Kops Bros., of Fargo, N. D.,
for six hundred organs. These instru-
ments are to be delivered during the year.
It is evident that the Ann Arbor Co. are
going to make a record the coming season,
"Progress" is apparently their watchword.
A
THE Board of Trade of Massillon, ()., is
negotiating with Meuser & Co., piano
manufacturers, looking to the establishment.
of a piano factory. Propositions for this
plant have also been made by Boards of
Trade at Mansfield, Worcester and other
cities.
FRANK BLANCHARD, musical merchandise,-
Temple street, Waterville, Me., completed
extensive improvements in the interior of
his store.
THE MASON & HAMI.IN ORGAN & PIANO
Co., at a meeting of stockholders held in
Boston, Mass., voted to change the name
of the corporation to the Mason & Ilam-
lin Co.
GOULD & NICHOLS, pianos and organs and
musical merchandise, Barrc, Vt., will move
into handsome new warerooms March 1st.
MILLIGAN, WILKIN & Co., of Wheeling,
W. Va., have been incorporated by W. A.
Milligan, R. C. Wilkin, E. H. Redman, Z.
A. Schaeffer and D. H. Taylor, to establish
an elegant new music store, occupying'
large warerooms on Market street. The
active members of the firm are all experi-
enced music dealers.
GEORGE A. CRAMER, music and bicycles,
Lincoln, Neb., has disposed of his bicycle
department to the Lincoln Cycle Co., and
will confine himself to the music trade.
ANDREW and Charles McCormick, of
Oconomowoc, have opened a new music
store on Broadway, Waukesha, Wis.
CHARLES MOORE, of Eureka, 111., will
open a new music store at Creston, la.
GEORGE B. BENNETT, musical merchan-
dise, Elmira, N. Y., has commenced busi-
ness.
THK W. S. STRATTON CO., Sioux City,
la., has purchased from Assignee Edgar
H. Stone the stock of sheet music, etc.,
turned over to the assignee by the C. H.
Martin Piano Co.
GRINNKLL BROS, and S. E. Clark, music
dealers, Detroit, Mich., have been victim-
ized by James Hoyt, who disposed of pianos
rented from the two firms mentioned.
A Good Order.