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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
V.
W
TOWER.
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HEN the automobile industry was in its infancy it was pre-
dicted by the wiseacres not only in that business, but also
in other lines, that the business would always be conducted on a
cash basis and that it would never be necessary to follow the prac-
tice so universal in the piano trade—that of selling on time. Up
to this week these predictions were fulfilled. In our Detroit letter
elsewhere will be found a rather interesting item of news to the
effect that one of the constituent companies controlled by the
Studebaker Corporation have adopted the policy of hereafter selling
automobiles on time. The effect of this competition on the piano
trade may or may not be serious. Anyway some of the Detroit piano
merchants express their opinions comprehensively and interestingly.
It is certainly a topic of live interest. Needless to say, the move has
not met with a favorable response in the automobile industry, as they
can see many of the dangers pictured by some of the Detroit piano
men. Up to the present time the automobile has not worked as
serious an injury to the piano business as at first expected, although
it has had undoubtedly some detrimental influence. With the auto-
mobile people pursuing an instalment policy things will be different.
It is a fact that the automobile is growing rapidly in popularity
and that a great many people inclined to buy a piano would just
as soon spend the same amount of money in part payment for an
automobile. They forget, however, that the expense of maintaining
an automobile after purchase is the most important item to be con-
sidered, while the cost of keeping a piano in good shape costs a
mere trifle comparatively. The subject is one of exceeding interest
and the new move of the Studebaker Corporation will compel not
only close consideration in the automobile industry, but in our own
trade.
from prominent merchants as well as from the Merchants' Associa-
tion of New York. In view of the prevalency of this system of
bribing or tipping in order to secure trade and favors from or by
employes, too much publicity cannot be given to the foregoing facts.
It is a system that stifles honest competition and makes men disloyal
to their employers.
J
OHN IRVING ROMER, editor of Printers' Ink, in a series of
articles on the "Legal Repression of Dishonest Advertising,"
has made a strong plea for. a uniform law to be enacted in the vari-
ous States of the Union as a working basis for the elimination of
dishonest and misleading advertising. In presenting the draft of
a bill which it is believed answers the purpose intended, Mr. Romer
says: "It is an effort to crystallize the sentiment against fraudulent
advertising into small and definite compass. While it may be pos-
sible in some States to secure the conviction of fraudulent advertisers
under laws already existing, it is believed that speedier and more
certain action can be secured by the enactment of this statute, pro-
vided the advertising clubs throughout the country will make it their
business to see that the law is enforced and not allowed to become
a dead letter."
•5 H *
HE proposed bill reads as follows: "Any person, firm, corpo-
ration or association who, with intent to sell or in anywise
dispose of merchandise, securities, service, or anything offered by
such person, firm, corporation or association, directly or indirectly,
to the public for sale or distribution, or with intent to increase the
consumption thereof, or to induce the public in any manner to enter
into any obligation relating thereto, or to acquire title thereto, or
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an interest therein, makes, publishes, disseminates, circulates, or
HE merchants of New York are making strenuous efforts to
prevent the bribing of employes by those selling goods, or places before the public, or causes, directly or indirectly, to be made,
published, disseminated, circulated, or placed before the public, in
securing contracts from their house. This practice is not entirely
unknown in piano factories throughout the country, for it is a this State, in a newspaper or other publication, or in the form of a
book, notice, hand-bill, poster, bill, circular, pamphlet, or letter or
regrettable fact that in many instances certain products are favored,
in any other way, an advertisement of any sort regarding merchan-
irrespective of their qualities, because of a certain consideration
dise, securities, service, or anything so offered to the public, which
given employes by manufacturers of these specialties or their rep-
advertisement contains any assertion, representation or statement of
resentatives. There is, however, an anti-tipping law in this State
fact which is untrue, deceptive or misleading, shall be guilty of a
which now applies directly to this practice, and this week through
misdemeanor."
In view of the poor success met with by piano men
the efforts of James A. Hearn & Son a man named Schuchman was
in
the
various
States
in having effective legislation enacted for the
found guilty of giving commissions to employes and two of the
purpose
of
eliminating
dishonest advertising, the campaign of the
latter were found guilty of accepting these commissions, with the
editor
of
Printers'
Ink
should
prove especially interesting.
result that Schuchman was sentenced to four months in the peni-
tentiary and to pay a fine of $500, and the two employes were each
sentenced to three months in the penitentiary. According to the
ATA as to stocks of merchandise in the hands of manufac-
confessions of the employes and records of the Schuchman hand-
turers and wholesale and retail distributors has been col-
writing the latter so corrupted and bribed them that they were in the
lected
by
the Journal of Commerce of New York, which finds that
habit of receiving each month from him a present amounting to
they
are
much
below normal. There is no little encouragement,
about ten per cent, of the bills which Schuchman collected from
says
this
journal,
to be gathered from the absence of large accumu-
James A. Hearn & Son. Tn the light of this ruling James A.
lations
of
merchandise
after a period of trade and industrial con-
Hearn & Son have brought a civil suit against Schuchman to re-
traction,
for
when
business
does begin to pick up improvement will
cover the $41,000 paid him during the period when he was bribing
promptly
become
general
through
all departments of our national
their employes, asserting that if it is lawful to refuse payment under
activities.
The
consumer,
when
he
does begin to buy, will find he
such circumstances, an employer should equally be entitled to get
must
make
purchases
to
compensate
for his recent cautious buying,
back what he has paid to one who has bribed certain of his employes.
and the retailer and wholesaler, after a long period of conservatism,
must adjust their stocks to proportions of normal public demand
' H I S is the second case brought to a successful conclusion under
and the manufacturer must run his plant on a schedule sufficient to
the New York State anti-tipping law. In the former case
meet the new demand. To a large extent the Journal of Commerce
Henry Siegel, on discovering that one of the buyers for the Four-
verified its conclusions a? to present stocks through the insurance
teenth Street Store had accepted a bribe, refused to pay for the
companies.
goods, on the ground that a contract made in violation of the law
* H *
is void and non-enforcible. This claim was disallowed by the City
ODERN philosophers tell us that nothing has intrinsic value
Court and also by the Appellate Term of the Supreme Court. Mr.
except what can be turned into energy. Gold has no value,
Siegel, however, carried the case to the Appellate Division of the
silver has no value, goods have no intrinsic value except food, cloth-
Supreme Court, which reversed the two former rulings. Letters
congratulating James A. Hearn & Son on the persistency with which ing and fuel—energy-producing products. So, technically, no man
has more than his time and energy to sell, and no person has less
they followed up this case and in bearing the expense involved in
than these.
order to put an end to this system of bribery, have been received
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