Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUJIC TFADE
VOL. LXVI. No. 16
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York. April 20, 1918
8ln
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Time for Action—and Co-operation
I
N his inaugural address, if we may so term it, before the New York Piano Manufacturers' Association
last week, Mark P. Campbell, the new president, said in substance, regarding the plans for meeting the
effects of the Government's curtailment order: -"It is my idea that we should not prepare for a 30 per
cent, curtailment, but rather for 130 per cent, business, by having our offices, plants and men ready to
take over the nation's work, and handle it efficiently." In short, this is not the time to stop and worry about
war conditions, but rather the time for action, for co-operation, for the individual to maintain plans and keep
the industry going ahead even under handicaps.
It can be said generally that the manufacturers have received the curtailment order in a spirit that is
distinctly to their credit. They feel that it is necessary in the work of winning the war and are willing to
make the sacrifice to that end. As was the case with the heatless Monday order in the winter, calm reflection
indicates that the curtailment order is not going to affect the industry one-half so seriously as was feared at
the time of the first announcement. Piano manufacturers, and dealers as well, have become more or less used
to curtailment for some time, curtailment not by Government order, but by industrial necessity.
The fly in the ointment is that daily papers and other news agencies featured the curtailment order covering
the musical instrument industry as being a Government move directed specifically at one trade, giving the
impression that of all industries, the one producing musical instruments was the least essential in the eyes of the
Government. The truth of the matter is that the music industry is only one of a great number to be placed
under curtailment orders. Automobile makers, manufacturing jewelers, and scores of other trades have been
similarly affected, and as has already been explained, the 30 per cent, cut ordered in musical instrument, produc-
tion was as low a percentage as that ordered against any one industry. In some cases the output of other
articles was cut peremptorily to 50 per cent, of normal.
The main thing is, now that the Government has told us what to do, that it must be done. The Government
at the same time, however, has said that musical instrument factories will be considered in the apportioning of
war work in order to make up in part for any loss in regular output as a result of the curtailment. Not all
piano factories can handle war work; their locations, their equipment or their organizations may not be designed
to carry on any business beyond that of making pianos or musical instruments. There are a number of plants,
however, that can be readily adapted to the Government's needs for airplane work and other purposes. The
next move, therefore, is to take stock of our facilities for the making of war goods, and by every endeavor
build up factory organizations, in both equipment and personnel, to a point where such Government work as is
allotted to the industry can be properly handled.
The New York Piano Manufacturers' Association has already appointed a committee, headed by Julian T.
Mayer, to look into the facilities of local factories and gather statistics that will prove of value both to the
Government and to the industry itself. Those factories that can handle war work efficiently will undoubtedly
get Government orders. Those that are not equipped to handle such specialized work will be able to keep going
by handling their own business and that portion of the demand forced out of other factories by war orders.
Every prominent man in the industry has urged the absolute necessity of close and honest co-operation
between manufacturers in this crisis in the affairs of the trade and of the world as well. It is only by such
co-operation that the demands of the trade for goods from one quarter and curtailment from another can be
adjusted so that no one concern, or group of concerns, shall suffer unduly. The burden must be divided. The
work that we will face for some time to come will be that of preserving the industry in as strong a condition
as possible for the developments that will follow the end of the war. If half the industry succumbs and the
other half survives, it will simply mean that the era of peace and industrial development will be entered upon
(Continued on page 5)