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AVOID CONTROVERSIAL BATTLES.
r^v URING recent trav-
What good results
from strife a m o n g
els, we have found
dealers ?—The energy
that
there
was a grow-
devoted to legitimate
interests amounts to
something— Competi- ing interest manifested
tion of different kinds. in the Dealers' National
Association. Some piano merchants incline
to the belief that the National Association,
if properly encouraged, may beoome a large
factor in the removal of certain controver-
sies which have characterized the piano busi-
ness for many years.
There have been adopted systems of ad-
vertising, which have been most heartily con-
demned by those who have remained aloof
from participation in such schemes, and there
have been business controversies indulged
in which have been stopped just because the
blood-letting process began.
Controversy with one's business rivals is
certainly a bad thing for business, and if half
the energy bestowed in fighting a rival were
given to advancing legitimate business plans,
it would be much better. More than one
store has got itself into a bad tangle by this
silly method of controversial warfare. There
never is any possible good resulting from a
battle of words or a fighting of prices, which
may arise from some trivial statement. Then
the fight begins, and the one who wins usu-
ally expends the most money, and, of course,
his satisfaction comes from the thought that
he has smashed his rival in the great piano
fight; in the meanwhile, his wares and other
wares have been dragged through the mud
of controversial battle, and the whole piano
business in his locality has been degraded.
Does it pay?
The public naturally is curious over such
squabbles. Excitement is the spice of piano
life, some say, but it usually creates more
disgust and disfavor than anything else, and
a thing isn't accomplished except to widen
the breach, where friendliness should rule
for the good of all concerned. It is all very
well to get as near hardpan with your prices
as the next fellow—to watch his methods
and motives; but don't get into a row with
him, for it isn't business, or common-sense,
or prudent reasoning. If his competition is
dirty, as some occasionally is, you can meet
it in another way. What he does wrong,
you do right. Comparison will make a public
picture that will work out to your liking.
It is a great habit that people have of com-
paring merchants' methods. Now, the ques-
tion is, will yours stand comparison, Mr.
Piano Merchant? If it does not, there is
something wrong in the business structure
somewhere, and you can do nothing quicker
or better than to ascertain your weak spots.
You surely have passed the era of experi-
ment and are entering upon the age of ex-
perience. Get out of the habit of contro-
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
13
versy with your brother piano merchant,
and if joining the National Dealers' Associa-
tion will help along this work, why just fall
in line with the rest.
There is no denying the fact that there
have been disreputable methods adopted by
some piano men in different parts of the coun-
try. Their work has had the effect to paint
the local trade with a certain amount of sus-
picion, and has made the work of the straight-
forward, honorable dealer a trifle harder than
before the wordy battle began. Why not
have done with the whole matter and conduct
the piano business on straightforward, legit-
imate lines ? Never mind what your neighbor
is doing, or offering, but get right at it, and
win on your own merits.
average issues vary weekly from forty-two
to fifty-six pages. There is no sudden spurt
or devouring fever for special editions with
us.
It is straight journalism, first, last, and
all the time, and we believe firmly in making
every issue a special, and giving every pa-
tron the best possible showing for the money
invested.
DASHES HERE~AND THERE.
A MID the general sor-
row occasioned by
the death of the Presi-
dent, it is gratifying to
note that there has been
no depression in business. This hopeful state
of affairs is due chiefly to the confidence
which the country reposes in the lamented
President's immediate successor. His manli-
ness, his evident honesty and sincerity of
purpose, his ability to wield the pen equally
with the sword, his eminence as a student
as well as a man of action, have won for him
the respect of the thoughtful element through-
out the entire continent. .:•',. ' =
• S^~"
It is most pleasing to us, while discussing
the capabilities of our present governmental
head with men throughout the West, to note
that even greater confidence in Roosevelt ob-
tains in that section of the country than in
the East. The influence of the press, too,
has been most advantageous to the restora-
tion of general confidence. We may say
that George V. Cortelyou, secretary to the
President, has addressed to the editor of The
Review, a personal letter thanking The Re-
view in the President's behalf for its edit-
orial and reportorial work immediately fol-
lowing the assassination of the President.
It only emphasizes the fact that trade jour-
nals as a power are becoming more recog-
nized every day by the highest authorities
of our Government.
Business prospects
excellent — Recogni-
tion of The Review—
Some journalistic facts
—Correct m e t h o d s
endorsed — Necessity
of training-—Popular-
ity of the small grand.
~ _ WILL be by far the best year in
)
point of progress ever made by
this newspaper institution. There is an ex-
cellent cause for the demolition of all previ-
ous records. Claims may be made ad libitum
but the facts cannot be well refuted and the
facts concerning the circulation, character
and prestige of The Review are well known,
and manufacturers have not been slow in
recognizing the merits of a trade publication
run absolutely on correct business lines.
The present is a regular edition of The
Review, numbering fifty-two pages, and our
T
JVJO one who pays attention to current af-
fairs can fail to be struck with the im-
portance which is now being attached to train-
ing in almost every department of effort.
We have noticed, from time to time, the
movement in the direction of improving com-
mercial education by supplying courses along
its higher ranges, a movement which seems
destined to exercise important influences in
the near future. It will not escape attention
that the education of the banker is to form
the subject of discussion at the meeting of
the American Bankers' Association, while
the subject of improved legal training occu-
pied no small share of attention at the meet-
ing of the American Bar Association. The
president of the association was able to quote
to his brethren the declaration of the accom-
plished lawyer who now fills so acceptably
the post of Ambassador to Great Britain,
that the results of the work of the section
of legal education has challenged the admir-
ation of jurists everywhere and that the de-
velopment of professional education was the
,best fruit thus far borne by the careful stu-
dies and labors of the association. Every-
where, in truth, the importance of training
for all careers is being more keenly recog-
nized than ever before, and the conviction is
growing that the untrained man or nation
is at a decided disadvantage under the con-
ditions of modern competition.
HP HE popularity of the small grand will
not>be fleeting. It has come to remain,
and will steadily increase in general favor
with the public. All manufacturers who
have produced small grands have met with
an immediate demand for them—a demand
which has been instantaneous and is destined
to grow rapidly. The fact that the most
distinguished manufacturers in the country
have recently placed special creations of this
particular line on the market, emphasizes the
fact that the small grands are to be a'great
factor with the manufacturers of the highest
standard, as well as of the medium grade.
During recent travels we have heard con-
siderable complaints from the dealers regard-
ing the inability of manufacturers to fill
promptly their orders for pianos of this spe-
cial creation. A great many manufacturers
will perfect their factory organization so that
they will be enabled to turn out this partic-
ular product in greater numbers than is possi-
ble with their present factory equipment.