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THE MUSIC TRADE
RMEW
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NEW Y O R K ,
FEBRUARY
13, 1915
EDITORIAL
T
HE average piano man has the layman's horror of legal mat-
ters, and frequently takes interest only in such court affairs
as are directly interesting to him. It frequently happens, however,
that the piano man who makes an effort, in reading his trade
paper, to study decisions handed down in various sections of the
country puts himself in a position to protect his interests without a
law suit. There is hardly a week that there is not some report of a
decision in State or Federal Courts, regarding important bank-
ruptcy matters, the validity of contracts and the relations of em-
ployes and employer that may prove vital to other piano men in
the same State.
There is the type of "the sea lawyer" whom everyone is ac-
quainted with, the fellow who knows just enough about law to keep
himself in hot water, but that fact does not argue against the busi-
ness man being acquainted with legal opinions affecting his own
line of business. The dealer who has discovered that a provision
in the instalment contract regarding which he and his customer are
in dispute has in a previous test of law been decided in favor of the
purchaser, is not likely to waste his good money fighting the case.
Legal decisions are published for the sole purpose of acquainting
the trade in general with the facts for their own protection, and
the dealer who does not study those facts is losing part of the value
of his trade paper subscription.
T
HE mail order houses are steadily enlarging their business in
pianos and musical instruments of all kinds. Tn fact, within
P. week two of the largest mail order houses in the country which
have issued their annual reports to their respective stockholders,
show, in each instance, a much greater volume of business done
during the last year than in the preceding one, and this, too, despite
the disturbances and dislocations of trade caused by unfavorable
financial conditions, the slump in cotton in the South, and the Eu-
ropean war. Tt is, of course, understood that concerns of the kind
are not subject to some of the vicissitudes of local establishments,
as they are frequently able to offset the bad business due to de-
pression in one section of the country with the good business re-
si.hiiig from prosperity in another. One result, however, of their
REVIEW
success is likely to be a stimulation of the attacks to which they
have been exposed by those interested in local trade. The latest
evidence of the kind comes from Tennessee. The' Retail Furniture
Dealers' Association of that State is urging Congress to levy a
special tax on mail order houses. They say there are over 1,000
such in the country, doing a business of over $i ,ocio,ooo,ooo per
year. These do not, it is urged, pay taxes such as the local merchant
does for the privilege of doing business in the respective localities
to which their goods are sent, nor do they contribute anything toward
bettering civic conditions in those places. On the other hand, they
lessen the amount of business done by the local bankers and others.
It is not to be expected that Congress, which has about all it can
do if it attempts merely to enact what it actually must in the nine-
teen days remaining of the present session, will take up the subject.
But the agitation of it is likely to be resumed when things are more
favorable.
T
HE necessity for local and State associations of piano men is
again strongly emphasized by the introduction in the New
Jersey Legislature of a bill that is designed to compel the refiling
of chattel mortgages each year, together with a list of payments
made thereon, which was reported in detail in The Review last
week. The New Jersey dealers have been warned and urged to
oppose this measure, but there must be cohesion. The individual
dealer counts for little. They must get together in some way and
join their influence, as a body, with others engaged in the instalment
business in that State, if results are to accrue.
The situation is one from which a number of lessons can be
learned. As is often the case, the significance of the new bill
was brought home to the trade largely through accident, and it
had gotten a good start in the Legislature before the character of
its provisions were realized. Not so very long ago the New York
State Legislature came very near "putting over" an obnoxious
instalment bill on piano dealers and other instalment merchants in
the State, and the fact that this was nipped in the bud was due
largely to luck and accident, rather than watchfulness on the part
of those interested.
As has been pointed out in these columns on numerous oc-
casions, the Connecticut Piano Dealers' Association, formed on the
spur of the moment to fight harmful legislation similar to that now
offered in New Jersey, has insured practically constant peace for
its members by retaining a permanent counsel, who is located in
the capitol at Hartford, and who succeeds in stopping many bills
inimical to the interests of his clients before they really get started.
And if the measure seems likely of passage the organization is
strong enough in itself to have its influence recognized. At a meet-
ing about a year ago the New York Piano Manufacturers' Associa-
tion also arranged to have a legal watchman at Albany.
It is to be hoped that the piano dealers of New Jersey will
profit by the work of the Connecticut and New York piano men,
and form some sort of an association, or at least make some sort
of permanent arrangements whereby these legislative "clubs" can-
not be used so freely. It is time to get busy at once.
O
NE of the most interesting and practical suggestions made
during the convention of the United States Chamber of Com-
merce in Washington last week was that of J. Stevens Ulman, who
introduced a resolution, which was later adopted, calling upon the
special committee on commercial education to take into considera-
tion practical measures for the encouragement of the study of
Spanish and Portuguese in our public schools.
"Secretary Bryan has stated." declared Mr. Ulman, "that the
Federal Government had in contemplation the establishment of a
college in Panama, as well as one in Porto Rico, so that the Ameri-
can youth might learn the customs of the country as well as the
language of the people. The trouble that confronts us here when
we wish to develop our relations with Latin America is to find
Americans who can speak the language, and while we might have
opportunities during this unfortunate war of developing our rela-
tions to a greater degree, it is questionable in my mind whether these
relations can be obtained unless the American youth is taught the
Spanish and Portuguese languages."
The logical outlet for our export trade even before the present
war developed has always been to. South American countries, and
the great drawback to the development of this trade, has been in