Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
TWENTY-SECOND YEAR.
EDWARD LYMAN BILL,
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
J . B. S P I L L A N E , MANAGING EDITOR
Executive Staff:
THOS. CAMPBEI.L-COPELAND
WALDO E. LADD
GEO. W. QUERIPEL
A. J. NICKLIN
Mushed Every Satnrflay at 3 East I4t& Street, _New J o r t
SUBSCRIPTION (including postage). United States, Mexico
and Canada, $2.00 per year; all other countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS, $3.00 per inch, single column, per
insertion. On quarterly or yearly contracts a special discount
is allowed. Advertising Pages $50.00, opposite reading matter,
$75. 00.
REJ1ITTANCES, in other than currency form, should be
made payable to Edward Lyman Bill.
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter
NEW YORK, JUNE 8, 1901.
TELEPHONE NUMBER, 1745-E1QHTEENTH STREET.
THE
On the first Saturday of each
ARTISTS'
month T h e Review contains in its
DEPARTMENT " A r t i s t s ' D e p a r t m e n t " all the cur-
rent musical news. T h i s is effected
without in a n y w a y trespassing on the size or ser-
vice of t h e t r a d e section of t h e paper. I t h a s a
special circulation, a n d therefore a u g m e n t s mater-
ially the value of T h e Review to advertisers.
DIRECTORY O F
PIANO
T h e directory of piano manu-
facturing firms a n d corporations
MANUFACTURERS
c
A
^°
... ; 1 1 i-~~£g r e a t
value as a reference for dealers and others.
EDITORIAL
THE DOCTRINES OF DOLD.
T H K work of Hold,
still at work in the
piano labor organ-
East—Something of a
izer, has been duly noted
f r o s t encountered—
in these columns, and to
Use and abuse of labor
unions.
those who have followed
the peregrinations of this man, it must be
plain that he is indefatigable in his efforts to
perfect a compact national organization out
of the piano workers of this country.
The o r g a n i z e r is
The nationalizing of the forces of the pi-
ano men has been steadily going on, and no
matter how much we may disagree with
Dold as to his methods, yet we must admit
that he has exhibited the qualities of lead-
ership which at once make him a man of
influence and power. No other man in his
line thus far has exhibited the tenacity of
purpose, the determination to succeed, that
has been shown by Dold; therefore, to all
serious-minded men, it must be obvious that
Dold is a power to be reckoned with in the
future of the industry.
It is true his recent trip through the East
has not resulted in just the bountiful re-
turns for which the promoter hoped, and,
naturally, he must feel a trifle heartsore over
contemplation of the fact that his burning
eloquence has not at all times met with the
hearty response which he desired.
Admitting this, it cannot be denied that
he has made advance and he has established
some hard workers for organization in nearly
all of the piano factories in the East. A num-
ber of the factories in our city are complete-
ly organized, and the process of organiza-
tion is going steadily on in many points
where unions have not existed hitherto.
There is no doubt but that the work of Dold
in the East will show stronger results as
time rolls on.
One matter, however, that will prevent the
piano workers from forming a powerful
central organization is the fact that the var-
nishers and polishers, tuners and regulators,
and woodworkers do not affiliate. This non-
affiliation must necessarily prohibit a com-
pact unionizing of forces so as to weld them
into a powerful weapon which can be used
at the dictation of some meddlesome leader.
There is one prevalent argument running
through all of Dold's speeches, and that is
that the employer has no interest in the wel-
fare of the employee. He preaches the doc-
trine of hate, and his influence, as far as
we have been able to determine, is wholly in
the direction of creating discord between
employer and employee. Labor unions are
all right when officered by men who thor-
oughly appreciate the maintenance of har-
monious relations between employer and
employee, and it is undeniable that unions
have accomplished a great deal of good in
times past for the men, but unions in the
hands of dangerous labor demagogues and
men who raise the cry of the classes against
the masses must fall short of accomplish-
ing that purpose for which they were orig-
inally intended.
ILLEGITIMATE STENCIL BRANDS,
M OW and then we
come across, or
hear of, an occasional
piano bearing a fraudu-
lent stencil brand—in
other words, one obviously made to parade
under the reputation of some old and well
established name. Tt is branded with fraud,
but we do not incline to the belief that these
fraudulent pianos have ever obtained any
widespread distribution in point of numbers.
The chief reason is that the people are of a
high grade of intelligence who purchase any
of the leading half dozen makes of pianos
A lady who will buy a Chickering piano is
not willing to patronize some little obscure
shop wherein a "Pickering" is offered.
While deception has been practised along
these lines for a number of years, yet it has
been extremely limited, and, thank heaven,
the number of manufacturers who stand as
sponsors for this kind of work is indeed
small and growing beautifully less every year.
Deception in retailing is not confined alone
to the piano business. Talk with the dry
goods men and they will tell you that one of
the most deplorable features of modern re-
The f r a u d u l e n t
brand on the decline-
Fraudulent stenciling
losing ground in the
piano business Edu-
cation a helpful ad-
junct—Only sporadic
cases.
tailing is the readiness with which merchants
and buyers sanction, and in many cases bring
about, the imitation of worthy articles which
have met with success. These imitations
have no intrinsic value, and even in appear-
ance are far below the genuine merchandise;
but they find purchasers, and those naturally
of a class which, by wearing the imitation,
quickly puts the real thing out of business.
This policy of imitation is applied to all
sorts of goods. In fact no line seems to be
safe from those who are endeavoring to live
by the brains of others. Producers possess-
ing the most originality are thus compelled
to work as surreptitiously as the proverbial
thief in the night. They get out their goods
and market them in a hurry and give the im-
itator as little time as possible in which to
get in his work.
There perhaps has been as'little imitation
in the piano industry as in any other. Of
course we have sporadic cases now and then,
but that kind of business is not on the in-
crease. The growth of intelligence and edu-
cation, not only among the retailers but a-
mong the purchasers, is the surest road to im-
provement. A thorough understanding of the
fact that every retaner who handles these im-
itations is playing with fire, should go far to
prevent their production.
There is to-day, and has been for a number
of years, a system of fraudulent piano trading
carried on in some of the principal cities of
the Union, but when considered with the total
business of the country, however, it hardly
creates a ripple in the great piano ocean.
The appropriation of case designs which
have been gotten out through originality and
outlay, is a matter which shall receive some
attention at our hands.
WILL IT RESULT IN A BOYCOTT?
"
T"" H E R E are a num-
ber of timid men
in this country who ap-
proach the catalogue
house problem with fear
and trembling. They admit that it is a
problem, and a very serious one, and they
allege that the mere agitation of the subject
only helps along that debasing competition
which has its origin in the catalogue houses
of Chicago.
In our opinion, the men who argue on
these lines are deceiving themselves. The
agitation of an admitted evil never failed
yet to bring about some remedial action,
and as long as the argumentative battle
against the catalogue houses is carried along-
logical and reasonable lines, there need be
no danger of accentuated trouble by agita-
tion of this matter through the columns of
the trade press.
Of course, if silly and illogical arguments
are used, thus capitulating to catalogue
Timidity on the part
of some piano m e n -
Afraid of talking about
catalogue house com-
petition—Dealers en-
dorse The Review.