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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
liable for the debts of the firm to the ex-
tent of his private fortune, his personal
property and real estate being attached to
double the amount of the debts, but in a
corporation the officers and stockholders
are not liable either individually or collec-
tively beyond the assets of the corpora-
tion. Right here the officers are per-
mitted to water the stock, mismanage the
business, vote themselves enormous sal-
aries, thus fleecing the public and ordinary
stockholders and finally escape unharmed
under the non-liability of the corporation
laws.
The laws of the several states are varied,
some enacting more or less restriction in
an attempt to protect the public, but none
have embodied a clause of individual lia-
bility. There is only one law of the land,
the United States Law of the National
Bank Act, which acts as a check upon the
dishonest officer and stockholder. This has
recently been enforced by assessing the
Globe National Bank stockholders one hun-
dred dollars per share, while punishment
awaits some of its officers who mismanaged
its affairs. The lesser corporations are to
a certain extent individual affairs, but
these vast organizations which offer stock
to the public should furnish some informa-
tion to that public, showing the nature of
the business together with the powers of
the various officers, which should be open
to inspection.
The Industrial Commission at Washing-
ton in its preliminary report of trusts and
industrial combination recommends that
promoters and organizers of corporations,
industrial combinations which look to the
public to purchase or deal in their stocks,
should be required to furnish full details
in regard to their business necessary for
safe and intelligent investment and that
any prospectus which fails to give such in-
formation, or which gives false information
shall carry legal responsibility. It is also
recommended that the larger corporations
be required to publish a properly audited
report annually, the audit report to be sub-
ject to government inspection. In other
words, publicity seems to be the keynote of
the industrial commission report.
If the States would repeal their corpora-
tion laws and adopt a law that could be
passed by Congress similar to the National
Bank act, which is operated in each State
alike, granting each State the power to
issue the charters received and turn into
the State Treasury all the fees and emolu-
ments the same as they do in making it a
universal, law giving both State and United
States courts jurisdiction over all cases, and
have a State examiner whose attitude it
will be to inspect the books and methods,
there would be less abuses of the corpora-
tion law than are now recorded.
A national corporation law with indi-
vidual liability is the key to the trust strong
box. There is nothing like publicity to
bring about better conditions, and if the
light of publicity were turned well on to
the formation and acts of the great combi-
nations it would speedily bring about ben-
eficial results.
THE QUALITY STANDARD.
I T has always been the policy of The Re-
view to do everything possible to en-
hance the value of the paper—to make it
a more practical and valuable aid to wide-
awake and progressive manufacturing and
retailing. To that end we have been ad-
vocating a stanch adherence to quality
rather than the price. In our opinion the
attitude of many dealers in failing to up
hold the standard of quality has done much
to retard their best interests. Almost
daily we are in receipt of letters commend-
ing The Review policy. F. A. Winter,
Altoona, Pa., writes:
"Right you are again in your issue of
the 17th inst. in 'quality against price.' It
has been demonstrated here that quality
will win against price. I uphold quality,
and the railroad agent tells me that I re-
ceive more pianos than all of my competi-
tors combined."
Then Mr. Winter goes on to state how a
well-known piano—we do not care to men-
tion the name for the reason that it could
be used against the same instrument in
other sections of the union—has deterio-
rated within his territory simply from the
fact that the representative has never held
up the quality. He has kept cutting, cut-
ting until it has no standing whatever, and
has been sold at ridiculous prices in and
near Altoona.
We have noticed that where the dealer
upholds quality he invariably succeeds.
In the first place it shows he has confi-
dence in the wares which he represents.
He places upon them a correct price and
sticks to it. His candor and enthusiasm
impress the customer. The man who will
forever bring up the question of price
against quality is always slipping down the
business hill. He holds but temporarily
one vantage point only to recede after a
fresh onslaught of argument from his cus-
tomer. Down he goes until he reaches
the bottom of the hill. There is no
stability to his business.
Show us piano men who stand up and
exhibit a strong faith in the quality of
iheir instruments and we will show you
successful business men every time. The
advocacy of price rather than quality has
inflicted serious injury upon the business,
and, depend upon it, non-fixable prices
which exist in the retail trade will do more
to assist the department store, which will
become more and more a prominent factor,
than all other influences combined.
FREIGHT CLASSIFICATION.
T H E revisions of the classifications of
freight on the railroads of the country,
which has been going on for some months,
is now substantially completed, and that
of the trunk line division has been an-
nounced to take effect to-day, March 10.
It differs in many details from the West-
ern and Southern classifications, and it
is said that differing conditions of traffic
make uniformity impracticable. The trunk
line field may be defined in general as
that between the Atlantic Coast and
the Mississippi River north of the Po-
tomac and Ohio, though it does not in-
clude connections westward from Chicago.
The western area includes the lines from
Chicago to the Pacific Coast and west of
the Mississippi down to the Gulf, while
the Southern classification covers the field
south of the Potomac and Ohio and east of
the Mississippi. Traffic in the trunk line
field is relatively the heaviest, it includes
most of the general merchandise as dis-
tinguished from more bulky material, and
it covers the most populous territory, with
a large volume of local distribution. The
difference in variety and bulk of shipments,
length of haul, and relative cost of carriage,
is what justifies, or at least occasions, the
differences in classification and of rates,
and makes uniformity impracticable from
the business point of view of the railroads.
It is admitted that the main purpose of
the recent changes has been to increase the
revenues of the railroads, but it is claimed
that they were intended in the main to rec-
tify derangements caused by irregular
competition during a period of depression,
when classifications were changed. On
the part of the three Classification Com-
mittees that have been at work it is
claimed that they have aimed at reaching
the faire-t and most equitable results
practicable in so complex a problem, and
their final revision has been made after
hearing complaints and protests from re-
presentatives of shippers in different sec-
tions of the country.
The most important point of contention
has been the general difference in rates
between carload lots and less than carload
lots of the same articles of merchandise.
The difference previously existing was
widened in the revised classification, but
since the hearings some concessions have
been made to mitigate the complaints on
that score. Still, it is more than doubtful