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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
War and Business.
(Continued from page 3)
throughout the country are preparing for
a big fall trade. They are not doing so,
either, on mere guesswork, but on actual
knowledge of prevailing conditions within
their several constituencies.
"There are other unfailing signs and
symptoms, all pointing in one direction—
toward prosperity. The Strauch interests
will benefit, with others, in the revival.
We know, without any doubt, that a full
share is coming to us. For this we natu-
rally feel glad and grateful. We are still
better pleased to think that others will be
equally benefited by the welcome turn
business affairs have taken."
Jos. M. Mann, of Mann & Eccles, Provi-
dence, R. I.:—"You invite our opinion re-
garding the subject ' War and Business.'
In reply, would state that the subject is so
important and extensive that to do it full
justice, from our standpoint, would require
more space in your valuable paper than
you could spare, and possibly take more
time to peruse than most members of the
trade would give it. Still, we are pleased
to give you what, in our opinion, are go-
ing to be the direct or indirect results of
' War.'
" It is a well known fact that I, for one,
was in for war from the start, as you have
already commented on it in your paper,
and my reasons are equally well known to
the trade. But to go into the pith of the
argument from a business standpoint, one
cannot go back on the old adage of hun-
dreds of years, that ' War, at times, is a
stern necessity.' I, myself, am a great
believer in arbitration. 'Arbitrate al-
ways, if possible,' is my motto. If that
fails, then fight and right hard to the bitter
end.
"Of course, the—we will say humane—
business man will say he did not wish war,
from a humanitarian standpoint — of
course, business "motives had nothing to
do with it, we are none of us selfish. That
may have been the reason, but do you
think, if that same business man, with his
humanitarian principles, could be positive^
ly certain that war would fill his coffers,
he would not wish war? He might still
say so, but what would his true inward
feelings be? I will leave that for you,
who are business men, to judge.
"The next phase of war upon which I
wish to dwell for a few moments (trusting
not to bore my readers) is what the first
effects of the war were, and how complete-
ly it paralyzed business. 'Why?' I'll
tell you why—lack of confidence in the
greatest and most glorious flag and coun-
try in the world. Not on the part of all,
but the majority. How foolish this was,
and now that the people are cooling off,
the country is once more assuming its nat-
ural state, and they are saying ' By Jove,
but I was frightened.'
" I t is simply a panic such as is created
when someone shouts _' Fire' in a crowded
theatre. What is the effect? Pandemo-
nium reigns, great damage is done and
many lives are needlessly sacrificed— ^
cause people in their intense excitement
(who are ordinarily cool and collected)
lose their heads completely. So has it
been with our industries; mills and
factories have shut down, public expendi-
tures have been stopped and the working-
man who has been saving his money be-
comes still more loth to part with it. He
has heard all this talk ' The war will ruin
the country,' ' The war will do this and
that' until the poor fellow, who, say what
you will, is the buying power of the world
is scared to death and dare not spend a
cent—(he like all of us, looks to his supe-
riors for advice)—and there you are and
there's your stagnation of business. On
the other hand, had all our journals and
moneyed men come forward, with war
staring us in the face, and inspired confi-
dence and credit, it would have been dif-
ferent.
But no, they had their own
personal gains to attend to, and with
confidence, stocks would be firm and there
would be no opportunity for them to reap
the millions that they have. What a
glorious opportunity it was for Wall Street
and how well they took advantage of it!
" ' Business!' we have never stopped do-
ing business. There is more business in
this country to-day than ever before, with
our government spending over $1,000,000
a day, the greater part of which goes into
the homes of the mechanics, who are one
of the chief supports of our country. If
you do not think so, look over your books,
see whether you sell more bankers, brok-
ers, etc., or more first-class mechanics,
etc., that will tell the story.
" If you wish to stop doing business,
you can (just as lots of you have), with-
draw every advertisement, cut down sala-
ries—just because it is dull—forget all
about the good work your men did when
you really were busy—it will make them
feel good and they will hustle harder for
you (which is necessary under existing cir-
cumstances), go around with a woe-begone
look on your face, and tell everyone busi-
ness is ' rotten '—it will inspire confidence
and make your neighbors happy, and feel
just like trading with you. Then, as a
last resort, give it up in disgust, and say,
' To H
with business, I'm going off
fishing,' or something else. That's one
way. Then, there's another. Just keep
a pegging and a pegging; it isn't all roses
and you can bet your worst troubles it
hasn't been with us. We had our dull
period, but we did not lie down, as the
trade knows. We kept on advertising,
and advertising for cash, too, and by
Jove, we got some. Don't be afraid to
use the word, it sounds good to you,
doesn't it? So it does to other people, and
it attracts. We leased a beautiful store
on the main street, worked harder than
ever—because we had to—helped brace up
our salesmen, instead of roasting them
because times were quiet—we know what
it is, having worked for a certain concern
once ourselves—and went around with as
good a smile as we could put on for the
occasion. The public said, ' Well, there's
one concern that's doing business in spite
of the war, Mann & Eccles,' and they are
the firm the public want to trade with.
Here or elsewhere, they want to trade
with a successful house, it inspires confi-
dence.
" I must beg my reader's indulgence,
for I think I've drifted a long way from
the main argument, but I'm coming back
to it. It wouldn't be I, if I did not take
my own way to get to it. To get down to
the finish. No doubt if you have followed
me even to here, you are saying to your-
selves: 'Thank G— he is most through 1
and I don't blame you, but get a piano
man started and you know the rest; blame
Mr. Bill for it all, it's his offence, he asked
me to do it.—Do we think there will be
business this fall? All I have to say is,
war or no war, and perhaps, the more war
the better, if you wish to look at it from
the business end, if this country doesn't
see the most prosperous times it has seen
since 1892, I've mistaken my calling. For
those who do not know me, I'll say, just
for consolation's sake, that I am not a
Wizard, as Frank Daniels says, but a
pretty good prophet. ' Reasons ' did I hear
you ask for? Haven't I given you plenty?
but I'll give you one more:—Because this
is the greatest country upon the face of
the earth, the American people are the
greatest and most progressive nation and
adapt themselves to any circumstances the
most quickly. What more do you want?—
A bottle! did you say? Have one with us
—sometime, we hope."
H. Rothenstein, of the A. B. Cameron
Co.:—" Judging from our experience dur-
ing May and June, I feel little, if any,
hesitation in saying that there are good
times ahead. Mr. Cameron, on his last
extended trip, received a considerable num-
ber of trial orders from the catalogue.
"Since his return, orders for duplica-
tion of first shipments have been coming
in steadily. Even from dealers and firms
to whom we sent catalogues by mail, or-
ders are frequently received.
We feel
that these are healthy indications. As a
new firm, we have been greatly encour-
aged by the evidences of business enter-
prise in all sections. We have no fear
concerning fall trade."
E. P. Carpenter Company, Brattleboro,
Vermont:—"We are certainly looking for
a good trade this fall in the organ line,
without regard as to whether the war con-
tinues or not. Should the war come to an
end soon it would tend to make business
better.
" We intend to close our factory July 1st
in order to put in a new boiler and over-
haul our steam plant, but shall start up on
July 15th and run full time and full force
throughout the Summer, stocking up.
" We are also getting out a new line of
case designs, and this information is
enough to prove that we have confidence
in prospects for fall.
" In fact we have nothing to complain
of as far as 1898 is concerned. Our busi-
ness up to date shows an increase of 33}i
per cent, over last year, with June the best
month of the year so far."