Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
JANUARY 5, 1918
KEEP THE FACTORY FIRES BURNING
(Continued from page 3)
"In the name of national permanence and economic endurance let us not dig too fast at our foundations!
"War is waste—the most colossal of all waste.
"Costly as they are, its instruments and engines do nothing but destroy. Except as they destroy they are
themselves worthless. Billions spent on war wipe out products of human toil worth billions more and are
themselves gone forever.
"But the piano is at least a relatively permanent product which endures as a part of the national wealth—
a thing of value zvhich can become an object of trade or the basis of credit.
"It is casv to call a piano (and the labor expended to make it) 'non-essential' from the point of view
of zvar.
"In producing material required for war a wise nation will not disrupt industries normally contributing
to its permanent wealth until it has utilized to the utmost practicable extent all labor which is commonly
unproductive or idle.
"Where is the waste man-power of the United States? Where are the loafers and idlers who ought to
be the first to be mobilized as war workers?
"If war material must be recognized, from an economic point of view, as waste, then let the country's
waste labor be drafted to help produce it.
"Skilled labor in war industries is, of course, to a large degree essential. Yet we are told by executives
in these industries that 'where there is a reasonable degree of mechanical intelligence even without experience,
intensive training can fit green employes for particular lines of work in a remarkably short time.'
"Even where, even with training, what we call the 'waste labor' of the country cannot be applied directly
to the making of war supplies, it can nevertheless be used on farms and for unskilled work that would otherwise
have to be done by men more useful elsewhere.
"The nation can ill afford to spare labor from any kind of zvork that adds in any zvay to the solid, lasting
wealth zvhich is the best guarantee for its economic future.
''Instead of hunting too hard for 'non-essential industries' that can be shut dozvn, it should look first for
non-active man-pozver that can be turned on."
The above editorial abounds in common sense and logical argument, and it is well worth reading twice.
No one questions the good intentions of those men in Washington who are advocating trade restriction, but they
must be broad-minded enough to realize that while we must support the war to the limit of our financial resources,
we' must also create wealth bv work.
Germans was evidently enormously greater than that of Ameri-
cans. The German Government not only encouraged co-operation,
but actually forced it; while we not only encouraged individualism,
but did all we could to insist upon it, with the result that much
of the energy of our community was being dissipated in internal
friction."
What he says is confirmed by the policy adopted by the Gov-
ernment commissions at Washington. In their efforts to obtain
greater efficiency in the industries they have practically suspended
the operation of the Sherman anti-trust law. The Supreme Court
is said to have concluded not to decide until after the war whether
the United States Steel Corp. and the International Harvester Co.
have imposed restraint upon trade or not, and meanwhile all the
Government departments and commissions are urging the industries
in all lines to get together and accomplish the economies which
the Steel corporation and International Harvester were organized
to accomplish. This is advantageous no doubt, but shouldn't the
most economical industrial methods be employed in time of peace
as well as in time of war ?
The question at issue, however, is not one of co-operative, or
individual efficiency; each has its merits. The fact remains that
concentration in the manufacturing field is absolutely necessary;
in other words, perfecting a manufacturing organization to the end
that the greatest results are secured, at a minimum cost, without
in any way impairing the morale of the employes. In the big
cities, particularly, factory costs are items of vital interest, and
everything that tends to the most complete utilization of the plant
is worthy of consideration. Patriotic as well as pecuniary rea-
sons should cause piano manufacturers to investigate their fac-
tories and methods of doing business, in order to discover means for
increasing their profits through more efficient management.
musical name
tot/ieWor/d.
PIANOS
ACED with a steadily increasing shortage of metal and a
F
more general curtailment of the amount of metal granted to
the industry under the Board of Trade license, British piano
manufacturers have, after three years of war, been faced recently
with the question of producing a wartime Pianette, an instru-
ment that goes back close to first principles in piano construction
and eliminates metal wherever possible, doing' away with the
iron plate among other things.
Even should the war continue for an unexpectedly long-
period, it is not probable that the manufacturers in the United
States will be called upon to go back to first principles in piano
manufacturing" in an effort to solve the metal question. There is,
of course, a limit placed on the forward progress of the industry
during the war, but it would seem that every effort should be
made to hold the ground that had been gained up to the time
war was declared, in order that with the coming of peace the
piano business might go ahead without serious interference.
To return to old manufacturing methods means ground
lost, for in such an event the trade would have to work up again
to modern methods before making further advances from the
position it now holds. It may, and probably will, be that condi-
tions will force a material reduction in the output of pianos of all
types, not necessarily by Government regulation, but as a result
of the shortage in the supply line. In any such curtailment,
however, the constant endeavor should be to preserve the status
of the trade so far as manufacturing methods and improved con-
struction are concerned, sacrificing- mere quantity to principle, if
necessary, and maintaining' a foundation from which to spring
when normal conditions return. The war has already placed
great handicaps upon the piano industry, and the handicap of
retrogression should not be added to those already being borne.
ORGANS
E5TEY PIAND COMPANY NEW YORK CITY-
*c7fie Pest profit
producerfgrthe
dealer mtheTrade.