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THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
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tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning,
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ing which will be cheerfully given upon request.
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NEW YORK, JANUARY 1 2 , 1918
EDITORIAL
HE official ruling from Washington last week regarding the
T
manner in which the war excise tax is to be paid upon "piano
players" brings to a close one of the most, if not the most, im-
portant and successful campaigns ever carried on in the history
of the trade. The War Revenue Act, as it applies directly to
the piano trade to-day, reflects the triumph of organization, of
systematic and well conducted effort, that has won its point
despite the obstacles put in its path by self-appointed trade rep-
resentatives whose work tended to disrupt, instead of aid, the
general movement.
Both the trade and the Governmental officials are to be con-
gratulated upon the present application of the war excise tax;
the trade for having at its command men capable of presenting
to the Federal officials sound and businesslike arguments, de-
void of camouflage, in support of the industry, and the Internal
Revenue officials for showing a proper regard for the facts and
figures placed before them in rendering their decision regarding
the exact meaning of the bill.
In a sense the law as it now stands represents a triumph
not only for the trade, but for the cause of music. Through the
direct efforts of Geo. W. Pound and the piano men associated
with and helping him in compiling facts regarding the industry
and presenting them at Washington, the piano trade has been
saved directly a sum of money that will amount to well over a
million dollars annually, while at the same time the trade will
give to the Government in taxes an amount equal to, if not in
excess of, the revenue that the excise tax was designed to bring
from the industry.
To realize just what the representatives of the trade have
accomplished in connection with the War Revenue bill, it is
-necessary to review the progress of events from the time the
measure was first reported out of the House last spring. • The
first draft of the bill, it will be remembered, fixed a 5 per cent,
tax not only upon piano players, but upon pianos themselves.
Through the efforts of the trade representatives, when the meas-
REVIEW
JANUARY 12, 1918
ure came up before the Finance Committee of the Senate, the
piano trade was freed from taxes entirely. Then came the joint
consideration of the redrafted measure by both the House and
Senate Committees, and the good work of the trade representa-
tives was reflected in the action at that conference, when, al-
though a tax was placed upon piano players and music rolls, the
tax was fixed at only 3 per cent., and pianos were entirely ex-
empted. The final wording of the bill, however, offered a new
problem for the trade, that of determining just what was meant
by the term "piano players." The large output of pianos fitted
with piano players at the present time made the exact inter-
pretation of the term a matter of vital importance, from a mone-
tary standpoint.
For the ruling handed down last week, therefore, which has
affixed the tax to piano players or player actions as separate
instruments, the trade must give full credit to Mr. Pound and
his associates. It was a situation where arguments had to de-
pend upon their sincerity and accuracy for the impression made
upon the authorities. So carefully drawn up was the brief pre-
sented, however, that no loophole was to be found for any other
interpretation than that just rendered.
The piano trade now has the satisfaction of doing its full
bit in contributing to the wartime finances of the Government
the sum expected from the industry, and at the same time has
the further satisfaction of working under a fair and equitable
official ruling, a ruling of a character that up to the present time
no other industry has been privileged to enjoy. It is a tribute
to sensible methods.
T
HE usual post-holiday conditions prevail in the manufac-
turing and retail branches of the music trade industry. Lead-
ing concerns have been occupied for the past week taking stock
and perfecting business plans for the New Year. While a nat-
ural uncertainty exists as to the future, yet a splendid feeling of
optimism prevails throughout the industry. The large employ-
ment of labor at unusually high prices, in the industries devoted
to the production of war materials, has placed purchasing power
in the hands of a new and formidable army of people who are
undoubtedly fond of music, and a goodly share of it should find
its way into the hands of the music trade industry.
No one can analyze the present business situation and the
prospects without feeling that it is a time when strong men must
be in the saddle, men of wide vision who can plan not so much
for to-day as for the future.
Commenting on the general conditions of trade, Bradstreet's
in its latest issue says: The slowing down of industry and trade
has allowed of a good deal of retrospection and a fair amount of
prediction as to the future. The annual reports tp Bradstreet's
from over one hundred cities are almost a unit in reporting an
increase in the value of both wholesale and retail trade in 1917
over 1916, the gains reported in these lines being outstripped,
however, by the increases in output of manufacture and industry,
which was of course stimulated by the work and a very full
volume of domestic demand.
HE railroad situation was handled in a most masterly way
T
in the address made to Congress by President Wilson. It
was entirely free of partisanship or theory; it dealt with actual
conditions in a way that should give new confidence and assur-
ance to legitimate industry. Of particular significance is the
following quotation from his address, which indicates that the
business of the country is to be treated fairly and squarely at all
times:
"The common administration will be carried out with as little
disturbance of the present operating organizations and personnel
of the railways as possible. Nothing will be altered or disturbed
which it is not necessary to disturb. We are serving the public
interest and safeguarding the public safety, but we are also re-
gardful of the interest of those by whom these great properties
are owned and glad to avail ourselves of the experience and
trained ability of those who have been managing them. It is
necessary that the transportation of troops and of war materials.
of food and of fuel, and of everything that is necessary for the
full mobilization of the energies and resources of the country,
should be first considered, but it is clearly in the public interest
also that the ordinary activities and the normal industrial and