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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
"AMERICAN-MADE GOODS FOR AMERICA" SAYS A. L. WESSELL.
Opposes Movement to Secure South American and Foreign Trade—Says That Manufacturers
Will Be Sorry Later—Will Not Be Able to Compete with Foreign Competition After War,
and Money Used in Seeking Foreign Trade Will Be Lost—Time to Get Down to Business.
Arthur L. Wessell, vice-president of Wessell,
Nickel & Gross, Forty-fifth street and Tenth ave-
nue,, New York, expressed himself very strongly
this week regarding the movement which has been
put on foot to induce American manufacturers to
go after the export trade in South America and
other foreign countries. That he is not in favor
of the movement and that he is a thorough believer
in American-made goods for the American con-
sumer was evidenced when, in his characteristic
manner, he brought his fist down on the desk and
exclaimed: "All this talk about there being an ex-
cellent opportunity for American manufacturers to
secure the export trade which has been heretofore
held by the countries now at war is 'bunk.' The
tiling American manufacturers want to look out
for at the present time is their market at home.
There is plenty of opportunity right here to dis-
pose of all of the goods that can be manufac-
tured in this country. The thing we need, how-
ever, is a high protective tariff. The country is
never more prosperous than when this is in oper-
ation. Wages are higher and the workingman has
greater assurance of continued prosperity, while
the manufacturer is able to dispose of all the
goods he can produce with ease.
"Those manufacturers who fall for all this talk
'about foreign trade, particularly South America,
;
and try to secure it, will find out their error to
their sorrow in time to come. They will spend
a tremendous amount of money securing this
trade, as they think, only to find that when the
war is over and matters have settled down to a
normal condition, foreign competition will be so
keen, owing to the ability of manufacturers of
other nations to turn out their goods at less cost
than we can, that they will lose all this business
which has cost them so much to secure. On the
contrary, the man who seeks business in this coun-
try will find that his profits are gradually in-
creasing and that he will be able to advance far
ahead of his competitor who perhaps has endeav-
ored to build up a big export trade.
"1 cannot express myself too strongly against
this movement to induce people, without proper
preparation and consideration of the situation, to
seek trade in foreign countries. Some who have
already investigated have found that the credit
situation, especially in South America, is a very
precarious one, and these are wisely turning their
attention toward home markets.
"If the calamity howlers and those who are
supporting this movement for a greater export
business would put the same energy into seeking
legislation to keep foreign goods 'out of this coun-
try they would find greater prosperity would be at
hand, there would not be so many people out of
work and everybody would be in a happier frame
of mind. My slogan is: 'American-made goods
for the American consumer' and the wise man is
following the banner which bears it to-day.
"Let every manufacturer in this country forget
the war in Europe and the so-called wonderful
chance to secure trade in foreign countries and get
down to hard, matter-of-fact business at home, and
this country will have a greater prosperity than
we have seen in many years."
NEATNESSES A HABIT
Often the Chief Distinction Between Factories
That Turn Out Good and Poor Work—Neat-
ness Essential to Good Work.
Neatness as a hab't is really the thing thai leads
to quality in work and in the product of a factory.
It is more a matter of habit than anything else
that makes the distinction between the institu-
tions which turn out a poor or indifferent product
and those which turn out superior articles. We
;.rc just naturally creatures of habit, and faabit
therefore becomes a stronger influence than we
may think. Everybody and every concern devel-
ops certain kinds of habits, ^ind it is only a matter
of attention to the point of developing habits of
neatness to get into the quality class of products.
Once the habit is developed, it is found just as
easy and practically no more expensive to do the
best kind of work than it is to do indifferent work.
45
This applies both in the manufacture of veneer
and in the using of veneer and the finishing up
of cabinet work. So get in the habit of doing
work neatly and you will never have any call for
much other effort to get quality into your product.
MEASURING STRING TENSION.
Instrument for Measuring the Tension and
Sounding Length of Strings Patented by
Hermann Wenzel-Schmidt, Unionport, N. Y.
(Special to The Review.)
WASHINGTON, D. C, October 20.—Patent
No.
1,113,390 was last week granted'to Hermann Wen-
zel-Schmidt, "Unionport, N. Y., for an instrument
for measuring the tension and the sounding
length of strings, and the object in view consists
of a grand piano-like frame work to which arc
attached a number of piano strings, one end of
which is secured to a spring balance and the other
end to a tuning pin. By means of the adjustable
individual bridges, the scale draftsman is able to
determine the exact length of string that will pro-
duce the required tonal and tensional results.
ROUS MIT THE HABIT.
Too Much Despondent Talk in the Manufac-
turing Field—Hard Times and War Talk
Must Be Shelved for a Long Rest.
A prominent authority on industrial matters says
that there is nothing more difficult to change than
habit. He points out that recently many of the
people of this country have acquired the habit of
despondency, so they just naturally look for trouble
and hope for the worst. This is a habit which, he
maintains, has been growing since the panic of 1907,
and what the country now needs is its financial
liver shaken up, to get rid of the black spots be-
fore our eyes, that we may see things in the right
proportion. This idea is at least original in that
it would characterize the country as suffering right
now from the despondency habit, says Veneers,
and what we need is to shake off this habit, to
take a spring tonic or something and cure our-
selves of this ailment of depressing thoughts,
which is the first step to stirring up more busi-
ness activities and seeing better tilings, as well
as having brighter thoughts.
ARTISTIC HARPER CALENDAR.
WORK BENCHES
Model "B," 75 in. long; 24 In. wide 33
in. high ; weight 190 lbs.
We have for years marketed
high grade Benches. The
timber is carefully selected
and allowed to season for
months and we do not intend
any better Benches shall be
made.
We offer our Model " B "
as illustration as an all around
practical Bench for shop use.
OurCatalog No.32i2shows
23 distinct styles and will be
sent upon request.
HAMMACHER, SCHLEMMER & CO
PIANO MATERIALS AND TOOLS
NEW YORK SINCE 1848
4th Ave. and 13th St.
Very welcome gifts for the desk of the busy mail
are the artistic monthly calendars sent ouf by
the George H. Harper Co., the well-known veneer
house of Orange, N. J. The illustration on the
calendar for October, as September, is a Venetian
scene most realistically colored, .making a very
artistic effect. Tn fact, it is good enough to frame.
Business with the George H. Harper Co. is show-
ing ;i steadily improving trend.
DEATH OF WM. MILLER STILES.
Wm. Miller Stiles, superintendent of the Smith
Varnish Co., Long Island City, and who graduated
from the University of Pennsylvania, died Wed-
nesday night at his home in Flushing, N. Y., of
pneumonia, in his fifty-fourth year. Mr. Stiles is
survived bv his widow and son.
Richardson Piano Case Co.
Manufacturer* of
Upright—
tases
d
Established 1891
LEOMINSTER
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MASS.