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REVIEW
THE
ffljJIC TIRADE
VOL. LXIV. No. 15 Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York. April 14, 1917
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United Front
T
HE United States just now is passing through one of the most critical periods in its glorious history.
Through the action of Congress and the proclamation of the President, this country has now entered
into the great world war, whose ravages we have witnessed from afar for nearly three years.
It is a time for earnest thought, for earnest preparation, for a determined confidence in the future
of the country, and the future of the business of the nation.
There is no time for quibbling, for divided opinions or actions, for what may in the past have represented
simply personal opinion in opposition to Governmental policy is now to be known by another name. Acts that
a few months ago were simply unneutral, now come under the head of treason. Necessarily it will be found
that many of the rights of the individual business man and the individual citizen, previously held inviolable,
must bow to the superior force and rulings of the centralized Government.
For those of us who are not called upon to bear arms, there are still definite patriotic duties to be performed.
Patriotism does not necessarily mean alone the willingness to bear arms and to suffer privations on the field
of battle. There is that equally high patriotism reflected in the willingness to keep things going under handicaps
—to carry on the industries, that mean so much for the economic welfare of the nation, in the face of discour-
aging conditions; to adopt oneself and one's business to the new developments. The idea is perhaps best
reflected in the war slogan of: "Business as Usual."
During the tense situation of the past few months business has apparently been undisturbed and the actual
declaration of war has caused only a slight flurry in most quarters, for it has been discounted by the commercial
world.
There will be wide gaps left eventually in the ranks of workers through the withdrawal from ordinary trade
channels of several million men for the army and navy, and the industries employed in meeting the demands of
the fighting forces.
We will be face to face with the question of obtaining supplies to keep the factories going, for the supply
situation, already serious in the piano trade, promises to become still more complicated. With the demands for
steel and brass, for guns and shells; wire for aeroplane and telegraph purposes and for other products that
enter in some measure into the manufacture of pianos, the industry must be content to get along with far less
than a normal supply of such material.
The Government will come first, we may be sure of that, and recognizing this fact, piano men are offered
the opportunity of co-operating to the extent of realizing that business should keep going under the restrictions.
There will, of course, be those who will declare that there will be no demand for luxury products in the face
of war conditions, but actual experience has proven the contrary in Europe. In making luxuries, if we call
pianos luxuries'—necessities would be a better word—the factories give employment to some thousands of men
who are not needed in the fighting forces. They give the means of livelihood for these men and their families.
They assist, through preserving the economic balance of the country, in giving very necessary support to the
forces that are withdrawn from active industry.
On the other hand, war demands the increased activity of employes in certain lines, and gives an added
spending power to the men in those particular lines affected by such increased activity. It gives workers in
war materials; for instance, incomes far beyond those they received during times of peace, and in ninety-nine
cases out of one hundred that excess income goes for luxuries.
This is the time for the members of the music trade industry to display courage in business, a courage that
is just as essential as that which prompts men to face guns. The man who can see nothing but a black cloud
on the horizon, who is afraid of business ruin, who shrinks at the first sign of the storm, is just as lacking in
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