Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
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From the Editor's Note Book.
HOT SHOT FROM WANAMAKER WILL HIS REBUKE CAUSE THE SENATORS TO SMART?
INDIFFERENT SENATE POLITICS AND BUSINESS WHY AMERICA'S FOREIGN TRADE
DOES NOT EXPAND—SHOULD PROMOTE TRADE THROUGH OUR CONSULS—
OUR CONSTANT CHANGE IS A SERIOUS DETRIMENT TO THE
EXTENSION OF OUR COMMERCIAL INTERESTS.
HE plain truths told by Wana-
maker the other day to the bus-
iness men of Philadelphia may
have a stimulating effect upon
our national legislators, and
spurred on by the Wanamake-
rian rebuke they may throw off that
lethargy and indifference which has so
long chained them, and take some reme-
dial action in regard to the dissipation of
that stagnancy which has so long shackled
enterprise. May the Wanamaker medicine
immediately take effect.
Ex-Congressman Conn, of Elkhart, Ind.,
while chatting in my office the other day
said, "I do not look forward to a Senate
responsive to the wishes and interests of
the people until the time shall have arrived
when we elect our senators by a direct
vote. When they are elected by the peo-
ple and are held directly responsible by
them they will take a greater interest in the
people's affairs. Or in other words, they
will then be, as in the case of the House,
more of a representative American delib-
erative body."
Personally, I am of the opinion that the
time will come in America when business
men will be compelled to lay aside a cer-
tain number of days, a certain amount of
money to be expended annually for politi-
cal purposes, the same as they devote a
certain time to the consideration of adver-
tising and other propositions, and make
certain expenditures to obtain beneficial
business results.
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If business is affected immediately by
the clouds on the political horizon, and the
trade barometer immediately descends in
the bulb at the approach of a political
storm, then why should not business men
manifest more of an interest in politics?
In fact, to arrive at a higher state of
affairs in this country we must all take a
greater interest in the primaries; we must
strike at the root of the evil if we expect to
annihilate it.
In other words, instead of walking down
to the polls on election morning and depos-
iting our ballot for this or that man accord-
ing to our party affiliations, we should se-
lect a man to run for office on account of
his patriotism, of his independence, of his
true Americanism. All the demosthenic
eloquence of our political stump orators
should not change a vote, and would not if
AN
we selected men to occupy high political
positions on account of the possession by
them of that great essential—character.
Why should we vote for a man simply be-
cause he affiliates with a certain political
party when he is really unfit, mentally,
morally and physically, to represent and
maintain the dignity of the community in
which he resides?
A piano manufacturer when selecting a.
traveling representative chooses him on
account of his fitness to occupy the posi-
tion to which he assigns him. In other
words in all the industrial walks of life men
are selected by the headsof greatinstitutions
to occupy important positions irrespective
of their political or religious affiliations. It
should be the same in choosing men to oc-
cupy high political positions. We should
decide upon men to hold great offices on
account of their individual worth.
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Another important point should be con-
sidered in this country, and by which the
business interests of the country are to a
certain extent circumscribed.
I refer to' the matter of changing our
foreign consuls with every incoming ad-
ministration. It will be well for us to
study more closely the workings of Euro-
pean governments in this particular.
Take Germany for instance, every Ger-
man consul in every part of the world is a
worker for the augmentation of German
commercial interests.. Through him trade
with Germany is fostered and encouraged,
and the home government, manufacturers
and merchants are informed by him as to
the needs of the country in which he re-
sides, and as to the possibility of supply-
ing them goods of German manufacture.
I have read some of the reports of
German consuls and have been impressed
with their dominating sentiment, also with
their thoroughness in going into details
regarding the internal affairs of the coun-
tries where they reside. Every German
consul is a worker for the interests of
Germany, and in all the world to-day may
be found that stamp on manufactured
goods of all sorts "made in Germany."
The tremendous gain which that country
has made in its foreign trade since the
close of the Franco-Prussian war has been
gained largely through the energetic work
of its foreign representatives.
England works in a like manner, but
she has not been of late years as thorough
as Germany in this particular.
Now America could gain and control a
tremendous foreign trade if we would
send men to represent us abroad according
to their ability and not because they sub-
scribed politically to this or that party, or
as reward of some political service during
a campaign. We should select men who
have had a business training, who can
speak the language of the country where
they are to reside, and when we find good,
faithful, energetic Americans who work
faithfully to extend the foreign trade re-
lations of America, we should hold them
in office instead of recalling them because
there has been a change in the political
complexion of the government at Washing-
ton.
It is this frequent change in our consuls
which places America constantly at a dis-
advantage with foreign countries in secur-
a large slice of foreign trade.
European governments especially train
and fit men to occupy foreign positions.
With them it is a special government de-
partment which requires expert education
and training the same as we send young
men to West Point to become educated for
military service or to Annapolis for a naval
training. It is the same, or it should be at
least, with our consular service. We
should train young men to occupy foreign
positions, so when we send an American
consul abroad he goes there well fitted by
training and education to fulfill his posi-
tion with dignity and to the advantage of
the government which he represents.
But no matter whether a man is deserving
or not we do not look at that, it is simply
a reward for political service and it is this
constant political bribe, for bribe it is,
which is a curse to the country and a con-
stant detriment to its foreign interests.
Our piano manufacturers could be doing-
to-day a good business around the world if
we had followed out years ago a thorough
and correct system in our consular
service. What is done by other countries
can be accomplished by America, but
we cannot take a purely superficial view of
things.
America is new, and in many things it
is crude, and we will do well to take a les-
son or two from older governments in the
way of extending our foreign trade. Be-
cause we wear metaphorically a chip upon
our shoulders, and our position usually is
a defiant one, it will not do to overlook
questions of vital importance and the coun-
try's future industrial prestige.