Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
(except in the city of publication), the rider provides a sliding
scale which goes as high as 6 cents per pound for second class
matter mailed to a destination 1,800 miles or more from the
publication center.
Freedom of speech is an inherent guaranty provided by
the Constitution, and free education, the concomitant of free
speech, is essentially an American attribute. Yet this proposed
postage bill strikes a paralyzing blow at one of the most useful
and most widespread mediums of education-—the public press
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
as
represented by the national trade papers and magazines.
President, C. L. Bill, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Vice-President, J. B. Spillane,
373 Fourth Ave., New York; Second Vice-President, J. Raymond Bill, 373 Fourth Ave.,
The influence that has been exerted on the development of the
New York; Secretary and Treasurer, August J. Timpe, 373 Fourth Ave., New York.
country
by publications devoted to science, to art, to the pro-
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
fessions,
and to the industries cannot be overestimated. There
J. RAYMOND BILL, Associate Editor
are
in
the
United States to-day hundreds of publications, of
AUGUST J. TIMPE
Business Manager
widespread
and national circulation, which have proven them-
Executive and Reportorial Staff:
selves invaluable factors in promoting the progress of the par-
B. BRITTAIN WILSON, CARLETON CHACE, L. M. ROBINSON, WILSON D. BOSH, V. D. WALSH,
WM. BRAID WHITE (Technical Editor), E. B. MUNCH, A. J. NICKLIN, L. E. BOWERS
ticular art or industry to which they are devoted. The fact that
CHICAGO OFFICE I
BOSTON OFFICE t
E. P. VAN HARLINGEN, Consumers' Building,
JOHN H. WILSON, 324 Washington St.
these publications are nationally known and read is self-evident
Telephone, Main 6950.
220 So. State Street. Telephone, Wabash 5774.
proof of their value.
HENRY S. KINGWILL, Associate.
LONDON, ENGLAND: 1 Gresham Buildings, Basinghall St., E. C.
The proposed postoffice bill rider will virtually tax these
NEWS SERVICE IS SUPPLIED W E E K L Y BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS
LOCATED IN THE LEADING CITIES THROUGHOUT AMERICA.
publications out of existence, for there is hardly a publication
existent to-day that could successfully stand the enormous in-
Published Every Saturday at 373 Fourth Avenue, New York
creased
expenditure for second-class postage which this rider pro-
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
vides.
SUBSCRIPTION (including postage), United States and Mexico, $2.00 per year;
Canada, $3.50; all other countries, $5.00.
As a concrete example, the holiday issue of The Music Trade
ADVERTISEMENTS, $4.50 per inch, single column, per insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount is allowed. Advertising pages, $130.
Review
weighed approximately twenty-four ounces. Under the
REMITTANCES, in other than currency forms, shoula be made payable to Edward
Lyman Bill, Inc.
provisions contained in this rider, it would have cost 12 cents
a copy for postage alone to.have mailed this issue to subscribers
Player-Piano and
located in and west of Denver. It would have cost 8 cents per
T o p h n i P a l 1)l>nai*fnionfc
lating and repairing of pianos and player-piar,^ .....
i t X l l l l l l d l U C p d l l l l i e i l l b . d e a h w i t h j w i l , b ? f o u n d i n another section of this
copy to have sent this issue into Chicago and the adjacent terri-
paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concerning
which will be cheerfully given upon request.
tory. And even if the weight of The Review throughout the
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
year was no greater than is the weight of the present issue the
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900
Silver Medal. .. Charleston Exposition, 1902
subscription price of The Review would not pay for the postage
Diploma.... Pan-American Exposition, 1901 Gold Medal
St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal. .Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905.
on copies sent to points west of the Mississippi.
£ONO DX8TAN0X TELEPHONES—VUMBEBS
6982—5983 MADISON SQ.
'It is a general practice for all publications to charge an
Connecting 1 all Departments
Cable address i "Elblfi, New York."
increased subscription price on foreign subscriptions, in order to
cover the extra cost of mailing to foreign countries. Should this
NEW YORK, JANUARY 6, 1 9 1 7
rider become a law, it would make mandatory an increased sub-
scription price, to cover the excessive cost of postage, on all sub-
scriptions sent to points more than 500 miles distant from the
-EDITORIAL =
place of publication. Why should a subscriber living in Chicago,
or Omaha, or Kansas City, be forced to pay more for a publica-
HE record for the year just closed shows that practically a
tion issued from New York than does the subscriber living in
dozen piano manufacturing concerns have had insurance
Albany, or Boston, or Philadelphia? Conversely, why should a
policies issued to all their employes, each policy as a rule calling
New York man pay more for a Chicago publication than does a
for the payment of $500 upon the death of the insured, the pre- man living in Detroit? Yet this is exactly what must happen if
this proposed piece of legislation becomes effective.
miums being paid in full by the employer. This is another indi-
cation that the piano men are as progressive as are business men
Second-class mail matter, as represented by the national
in other lines, and are appreciating the fact that the protection
publications, rs one of the most productive factors of trade known
of their employes is a protection for the business. There is
to modern business. A single advertisement, carried in a pub-
nothing that so enables a man to work with a free mind, and lication which costs possibly half a cent per copy to send through
the mail, has been known to give origin to 10,000 inquiries,
therefore put forth his best efforts, as the assurance that his
which cost 10,000 2-cent stamps to send, and the initial replies
future is protected. The man who has not that assurance, who
to these inquiries cost an additional 10,000 2-cent stamps. Clearly
fears that with his demise his family will face immediate want,
this proposed legislation is an example of a "penny wise, pound
naturally worries considerably. His thoughts tend to dwell too
foolish" policy which sometimes unfortunately creeps into our
much upon his personal affairs rather than upon the work at
national government.
hand, a condition that acts against both quality and quantity of
To reduce to a purely sectional circulation the host of maga-
product.
zines of a national character, through a"prohibitive postage rate,
There is no big business that can be run successfully simply
is bound to bring about a lack of that national spirit which is
by a collection of individuals. There must be mutual interest,
interlocking as it were, between the employer and the employe absolutely necessary for the progress and development of this
and* between the employes themselves. It is the spirit of organi- country. To mitigate the influence of the trade papers and
other publications in this country is to put a brake'upon the
zation that is the secret of big business, and this spirit can best
growth of intelligence and to retard immeasurably the progress
be inculcated in a force of workmen ^through a direct interest
of commerce which is fostered by these publications.
taken by their employer in their welfare. Free insurance and
This proposed postoffice rider is reactionary in spirit, myopic
the profit sharing system are two of the greatest factors in the
accomplishment of this result, and the success which has at- in vision, and stultifying in its influence upon the business of the
country.
' tended the piano houses that have worked on this principle acts
Every live business man who believes in progress, and in
as its endorsement.
intelligent commercial growth should impress upon his Con-
NE of the most retroactive and un-American pieces of at- gressman the necessity for killing this rider. Sit down, now,
and write to your Congressman, telling him of the danger to
tempted legislation that has appeared in the last decade is
you and your business which this rider presents. It puts a
represented by the rider to the regular postoffice bill, now before
Congress, which provides for a zone system of postage on all definite tax on the desire for intelligent information, and only
those who know all there is to be known will be content to see
publications, trade papers and magazines. Instead of the flat rate of
1 cent per pound which now applies to all second class matter this bill enacted into law.
REVIEW
T
O