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THE
REWLW
fflJJIC TIRADE
V O L . XXXII. No. 3 . Publisned Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at 3 East Fourteentn Street, New York, Jan. 19,1901.
Restricting American Trade.
MR. STRAUCH'S COMMON-SENSE VIEWS ON THE
ABSURD FUSS MADE BY GERMANY.
Peter D. Strauch, head of the firm of
Strauch Bros., chatted with The Review
on Monday on the present hostile attitude
of some European countries toward the
United States in the matter of commercial
supremacy and advantages. According to
current reports, some effort is proposed
with a view to the forming of a combina-
tion to exclude American products by plac-
ing upon them practically prohibitive du-
ties, or in other ways discouraging their
purchase and sale.
"I have read of the plan being dis-
cussed," said Mr. Strauch, "with reference
to Germany. It is alleged that the
German emperor has spoken or written
strongly on the subject, favoring, appar-
ently, some method for restricting Ameri-
can business in Germany. Such a propo-
sition, whether made by Germany or any
other country, is ridiculous and impracti-
cable. So long as the world lasts, all sen-
sible purchasers are going to patronize
those who give the best values.
"If an American manufacturer makes,
for example, what a German in Germany
wants, and makes it better, giving better
value than can be obtained elsewhere, the
German purchaser is going, in the vast
majority of cases, to buy the American
product, and all the restrictions and pro-
hibitions in the world will not prevent it."
New Retail Houses.
N. H. Brown, Pond's Chapman street
Block, Greenfield, Mass. ; The Albert
Lundholm Co., Sioux City, la.; Geo. N.
Elliott, 612 King street, Wilmington, Del.;
Roese & Koehler, Lake Linden, Mich.;
Travers v & Travers, 1206 Market street,
San Francisco, Cal. ; Zander & Shuey, suc-
cessors to the Visilia Music House, Visilia,
Cal., who handle the Weber as their leader;
C. A. Pittman, in Haverhill, Mass., repre-
senting the M. Steinert & Sons Co. ; Wag-
ner & Weyburn, Marion, Ind., who handle
the Hardman and New England pianos;
Conrad Scott, successor to Cleveland &
Scott, Mobile, Ala., who carries the Kran-
ich & Bach and Stultz & Bauer pianos;
Gust. Swanson, successor to Minnie Hines,
Bradford, Pa., who sold the Chickering,
Packard, Mason & Hamlin, Wegman and
Foster pianos.
J. L. Flanery, the Springfield, O., dealer
has enlarged and remodeled his store.
fa.oo PER YEAR.
SINGLE COPIES 10 CENTS
Prescience in Granting Credits. and the rushing competition make it desir-
The starting and important point in
granting credit is largely one of ability to
discern the possibility of the success or
otherwise of the party to whom credit is
given. The credit man must look at the
matter from many standpoints. He must
often have backbone and strength of pur-
pose to stand by his ideas of what should
be done, regardless of others—in other
words, oftentimes be willing to take indi-
vidual action, not waiting for others. It
was recently stated in a trade paper, said
Theo. M. Brown, that the credit man
whose losses were one-fifth of i per cent,
was fortunate, and that his credits were
well dispensed, but that if they amounted
to i per cent, or more there was some-
thing radically wrong. This might be
said in many instances to be the case, but
in others could not be held to rule. It
would depend entirely upon the class of
business done, the class of customers that
were catered for and the amount of risk
knowingly taken. It has also been stated
that the most successful credit man in the
light of making money for his house was
the man who checked any order of a legit-
imate dealer which came before him, at
least to a limited amount on the first pur-
chase, and who after that relied upon the
manner of payment of the customer in ex-
tending further credit. This plan, of course,
would require much more constant care on
the part of the credit man than the gener-
ally adopted method.
In reference to the percentage of losses
there are two ways to look at the suc-
cessful credit man. One may take double
the risk of another, thereby largely in-
ci easing the sales of the house and lose
double the amount of the other man and
still show more profit for his firm than he
who is so conservative that he restricts
the natural and looked-for expansion of
the business. It is, of course, a question
to be settled by each individual concern
as to what policy of granting credits shall
be followed. In my opinion a compromise
between the two extremes, viz., very un-
limited granting of credit, and a very
strict standard, yields the best results.
To-day, the credit man who is not alive
and of quick perceptive ability, able to
pass almost immediately on any given sub-
ject, is not of much availability in our
large cosmopolitan cities. The rapid
changes which everything undergoes, the
rapid advances of systems and methods,
able and positively necessary for the credit
man to be a veritable electric machine. He
is not able in many instances to pass as
fully upon many points as he should. The
rush and trend of business is such that he
who hesitates is lost, trampled upon as it
were (in a business sense) by those coming
behind, who will not wait, but whose
watchword is "ever on." The weak who
fall in the path are cast aside, and the
grand phalanx presses forward, intent only
on seeking the goal for which they are
aiming, i. e., the head of the procession.
If the very rapid methods which are taking
the place of the old-time stage coach and
slow brain work of the past continue in
their development within the next few
years, there will be required equal ad-
ditional activity on the part of the credit
man. Whether he shall be able to meet the
requirements remains to be seen.
The Forthcoming Convention.
PRESIDENT PARSONS OF THE LOCAL ASSOCIA-
TION SPEAKS OF THE ADVAN-
TAGES TO BE DERIVED.
Charles H. Parsons, president of the
Needham Piano & Organ Co., looks for-
ward confidently to some lasting beneficial
results as the outcome of the forthcoming
convention of manufacturers and dealers,
to be held in this city in May next. Dur-
ing a talk with The Review on Tuesday,
to ascertain the present status of this
movement to bring together a representa-
tive assemblage of prominent manufactur-
ers and dealers, Mr. Parsons said:
"Just as soon as the annual stock-taking
of the Needham establishments is com-
pleted, I shall be at liberty to start in on
the preliminary work. We believe that
much good will accrue from the Conven-
tion. The ethics of the trade can be dis-
cussed freely and advantageously to all.
Such a meeting will, it is thought, con-
duce to the strengthening of amicable rela-
tions between manufacturer and dealer,
representing the wholesale and retail in-
terests. In due course the manufacturers
and dealers will be fully informed as to the
plans of the committee for their recep-
tion."
Geo. Boltwood, the road ambassador of
the Chase-Hackley Co., is making a busi-
ness trip South and West. He reports an
augmenting demand for the Chase Bros.,
Hackley and Carlisle pianos wherever he
visits.
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