Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
From the Editor's Note Book.
-XT
THE FALSE ASSERTION
OF THE " PINKLET "
THAT WILFULLY DISTORTS FACTS?
WHAT IS THE CORRECT STATUS OF A PAPER
THE ATTITUDE OF THE^REVIEW
AN INTER-
VIEW WITH CHARLES H. STEINWAY, HEAD OF STEINWAY & SONS NO
FURTHER
NEWS REGARDING THE SYNDICATE OFFER.
HE continuity of insistence of
First, it should be considered that The
Mr. Blumenberg to claim Review appears every Saturday morning
everything that is in sight, to readers in New York, while the "Little
and that which is not as well, Pinklet" puts in a belated appearance Mon-
is somewhat surprising- to day.
those who fail to appreciate
On Saturday, August 21, The Review
the bombastic nature of the man. Since printed under the caption "Will Steinway
his failure to dominate the conven- Sell?" an interview with the treasurer of
tion at Manhattan Beach and his utter Steinway & Sons, regarding the alleged
rout", horse, foot and dragoons, at that sale of the Steinway business to an English
point, his assertions have in a measure syndicate. An editorial also appeared in
lacked that boastfulness for which they were conjunction therewith, a portion gf which is
formerly distinguished. However, now reproduced below.
and then the eruptions will occur, and the Reference is made in another part of this paper
lava of spleen will flow down the Blumen- to the alleged sale of Steinway & Sons' entire busi-
berg mountain, and during his periods of ness to a syndicate composed of English capitalists
eruption he rather hugs the delusion that for $6,000,000.
Steinway & Sons through their treasurer, Mr.
the trade will look on with fear and trem- Tretbar,
stated to us yesterday that the sale had
bling lest they may be scorched by the not been consummated, it was still under consider-
ation.
boiling liquid flow.
Further the main portions of the pros-
*
*
*
*
Last week in a long drawn out article pectus as printed in London were presented.
upon the Steinway-English syndicate mat- This was absolutely the first date upon
ters, the " Little Pinklet" falsely asserts which excerpts from the prospectus were
that " the trade papers stand committed to presented in any trade publication. Thus
the plain, unequivocal, bold statement that the matter was treated in an up-to-date
this great transaction was completed, was newspaper way.
In The Review of August 28 the sub-
effected, was consummated and closed, and
for aught their readers know to the con- joined editorial was presented:
trary Steinway & Sons have gone out of The alleged purchase of the Steinway interests
existence, or rather have been merged into by an English syndicate has been the talk of the
Steinway & Sons (Limited), recapitalized trade during the past week. The matter was
gone into at considerable length in The Review
by a British syndicate."
of last week, and while we refer to the same sub-
Now while I heartily deprecate disputes, ject again, it is only necessary to say that there
the entering upon personalities and all the are no later developments which require further
attendant woes thereof, I never yet know- comment.
Readers have a right to demand from us
ingly have permitted a false statement to
pass unchallenged, or a lie to remain un- reliable news, and as a public medium The
rebuked, therefore, in justice to myself and Review has a duty to perform, a duty
the attitude unvaryingly maintained by which is at all times realized.
In the issue of Sept. 4th the following
The Review, I can think of but one epithet
to apply to a paper which so grossly item appeared:
There are no developments to record in the
violates the ethics of journalistic decency.
There are words which might be more matter of the alleged purchase of the business of
mouthfilling, and sound sweeter to the ear, Steinway & Sons by an English syndicate.
Any false or misleading statements up to
but to a willful elongator of the truth there
is but one word to apply. All the garnished this date? Any crow—a dish of which, by
verbiage in the world will not make the way, the "Pinklet" editor has eaten
the "Little Pinklet" less of a purveyor of plentifully of late—for The Review to
an untruth, therefore in plain, straight, digest?
Last week The Review said editorially:
everyday English—"Pinklet," in printing
that statement, you lie; you lie deliberately,
It seems that some of our over-sanguine contem-
lie knowingly and wittingly, moreover poraries have already rushed into print with con-
gratulations to Steinway & Sons upon the suc-
you print not even an intelligent lie.
cessful sale of their business to a syndicate of
I will proceed to demonstrate the correct- London capitalists.
ness of my position and will take the
It occurs to us that the proper time to extend
congratulations will be when the sale shall have
Steinway-Syndicate affair in review.
been effected. At the present time we have no
knowledge of the fact that Steinway & Sons have
disposed of the whole or any part of their business
to English capitalists. The deal may or may not
go through, but before Steinway & Sons close the
sale, there will probably be more money in sight
than there has been up to the present time. The
company which was formed in England for the
purpose of buying out the Steinway interests-
provided the stock was subscribed for by the Eng-
lish public—has not as yet given Steinway & Sons
substantial evidence of their ability to produce the
amount required, or in other words, as we under-
stand it, the stock has not been wholly subscribed
for by English investors.
A deal of the magnitude of five or six million
dollars requires considerable engineering as well
as a vast amount of cash to carry it through suc-
cessfully.
Chas. H. Steinway, who has been spending some
time in Europe, is at present on the sea, and upon
his return we shall doubtless hear more about the
Steinway syndicate matters.
I dislike to go into these matters at
length, but when one is going to prove
another a liar, it is just as well when you
have the evidence to prove him a darned
liar and have done with it.
Seriously, of what consequence is a sheet
that will willfully distort facts for purely
selfish aggrandizement. Such efforts smack
not only of deceit but of shallow brains as
well. Some statements are cleverly put
forth, and in order to disprove them it re-
quires adroitness, research and application.
A senseless lying statement only reverts to
the discomfiture of the originator. How
much reliance can be placed upon the news
service of a paper that has such ' 'exceptional
means" to distort facts. The "Little Pink-
let" should hasten and get in under the
protecting influence of the paper which
gave it birth. Its mirasmic tendencies are
clearly indicated in its attenuated appear-
ance.
Mr. Chas. H. Steinway returned to New
York last Saturday on the steamer "St.
Paul." Interest in the Steinway-Syndi-
cate affairs has correctly focused upon
him, as head of the Steinway house, and
I had rather cherished the idea that he
would talk at length upon the subject.
When I called upon him at Steinway
Hall last Monday morning, I found him
deeply immersed in business affairs, as
naturally there had been a vast accumula-
tion of matter during his absence which re-
quired some attention from him after his
return.
After cordial greetings had been ex-
changed he invited me to/a seat and en-
gaged with me for a few moments chat.
When I drew out my book preparing to
take down a few notes he said smilingly: