Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
r~
THF MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
EDWARD L\ MAN BILL
Edltor and Proprietor.
PUBLISHED
EVERY
SATURDAY
3 East 14th St.. New York
SUBSCRIPTION (including postage) United States and
Canada, $3.00 per year; Foreign Countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.00 per inch, single column, per
Insertion.
or yearly contracts .• special dis-
ertion. On quarterly
q
count is allowec
REMITTANCES, In other than currency form, should
0* made payable to Edward Lymaa Bill.
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second- Oa*s Matter.
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 5, 1896
TELEPHONE NUMBER 1745. — EIGHTEENTH STREET.
••THE BUSINESS MAN'S PAPER."
HERE are several reasons why the busi-
ness man—the manufacturer—should
rejoice this week. First and foremost, the
great Republican victory in Vermont pro-
claims in clarion tones, by its tremendous
vote, that there will be no change in our
monetary standard. Secondly, the im-
menseimportsof gold—(which,according to
the statements of bankers, will probably ap-
proximate fifty millions before the present
westward movement of the precious metal
ceases—demonstrate the improved condi-
tions which prevail in the commercial
world.
The verdict of the great farming State of
Vermont has shown the falsity of the shib-
boleth that the farmers were all for silver,
and points emphatically to the election of
Major McKinley. That fact, combined
with the release of the tension in the money
market, indicates that we are once more on
the highway to prosperity.
The good effect cannot be felt at once,
T
but it is bound to assert itself within the
next two wesks. It must be remembered
that the gold we are now receiving from
Europe is not imported by speculators but
rather to pay for products purchased here
by Europeans.
The fact that foreigners have paid for
our products in specie actually shipped,
rather than by selling securities here to
provide funds for that purpose, is a strong
indication that sentiment abroad is to the
effect that the Populistic ticket has no show
of success.
A ^steady and healthy growth of confi-
dence has been observable the closing days
of this week. The local banks have made
no call for clearing house certificates, for
which provision was made a week ago in
face of the monetary stringency. This
proves that the banks are not as tightly
"squeezed" as they have been for the past
few weeks.
It is the opinion 'of leading business men
that there is every sign of a change for the
better in the general business situation,
and the month of September is destined to
show an upward growth of confidence. This
must inevitably result in a larger volume
of business, and a more general circula-
tion of money.
#
#
John J. Prince, protege of John J. Swick,
and graduate of the Swick school of piano
manufacturing and financiering, has had a
short and rather inglorious career in the pi-
ano manufacturing domain. When judg-
ments-were piling up against him Prince
was calmly issuing checks, which were
being protested with regularity, and still
all the time he was relating soft, soothing
and seductive stories of his business affairs.
Last week he capped the climax by dis-
posing of his entire business—lock, stock
and barrel—to Jared J. Looschen, piano
case manufacturer, of Paterson, N. J. As
far as we are able to learn, Mr. Looschen has
swallowed the whole business. There isn't
even a spittoon lying around the factory
of which he 13 not sole possessor. For the
other creditors it is as clean a freeze out
as we have ever seen in this trade, or any
other trade, for that matter. It is the
icicle shake and the marble heart.
It is a question, however, whether this
transfer will stand legally. Notwithstand-
ing the fact that a man may be insolvent,
there is no law which prohibits him selling
all of his pianos on hand to one man, even
though that man be his principal creditor.
It is a question, however, which must be
decided in the law courts whether such sale
can be made to include every available as-
set which Prince & Son accumulated dur-
ing the conduct of their business.
If this transfer be legal, it seems then
that more than ever we must rely upon
the honesty of men to whom sales are
made. If a man posing as a manufacturer
can close out his entire business to one cred-
itor to the exclusion of all the others, then
it might be well to be a little more partic-
ular to whom extensive credit is given.
Take this man Prince. Before his alli-
ance with Swick he was entirely ignorant
of the piano business—knew nothing of its
intricacies, either in a practical, theoretical
or financial way. Still, when he separated
from his old teacher he immediately ob-
tained credit, while he practically had no
capital to operate upon. This manufacturer
Looschen, it is said, allowed Prince credit
ranging from ten to fourteen thousand
dollars.
What in the world there was about Prince
that Mr. Looschen or any other man should
grant him such magnificent credit is be-
yond ordinary comprehension. Perhaps
in this particular we underrate Mr. Prince's
ability, because any man of his standing
who could run up a bill of $12,000 possesses
ability of no mean order.
The temper of the trade, judging from
the number of incensed creditors who have
been cavorting around the premises lately
presided over by John J. Prince, is not such
to warrant the belief that Mr. Prince would
be received with open arms if he attempts
to re-embark in manufacturing. Perhaps
it might be well for him to take a few fur-
ther lessons from his old teacher, and then
he may again float to the surface.
#
#
The failure of O. J. Faxon & Co., piano
plate manufacturers, Boston, Mass., em-
phasizes some interesting facts. The
supply men of this country have in some
quarters been accused of being too liberal
in their dispensation of credit. They have
been accused of propping up men who are
unworthy of the confidence reposed in
them; in other words, a bolstering up of a
certain trade which is unhealthy and im-
possible for honest competition to meet.
Let us see if the facts in the case bear
out this statement. Through all the
troublous times of the past three years,
specially emphasized since the entrance of
'96 by failure after failure in the piano
trade, not one supply house has gone down
with the manufacturers. O. J. Faxon &
Co. were the first ones engaged in the lines
closely allied with piano manufacturing to
succumb to the depressed conditions.
Does such a statement warrant the fact
that the supply men have been unwise or
injudicious in their assignment of credits?
If we take the only supply firm which