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REVIEW
THE
VOL. LXVII. No. 24
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York. Dec. 14, 1918
Single Copies 10 Cents
*2.00 Per Year
NATION which could go through the experiences of a war such as has convulsed the world
for more than four years and has now been happily ended—as we hope, forever—without
learning some essentially valuable lessons would be a nation incredibly slow to perceive or
learn. We do not believe that nation exists. Certainly it is not the United States of America.
An industry which could pass through the fire of the last eighteen months without
learning lessons of incalculable value to its future progress would be a wholly futile and
useless industry. We trust no such industry exists. We are quite certain that it is not the music industry
of America.
We have not, perhaps, experienced the heat of the purifying fire so burningly as have our French,
Belgian, Italian and British Allies. Yet we have, to a fair degree, gone through that purifying flame.
We have certainly learned some sharp lessons. It cannot be that we shall now forget them.
The war has taught us that music is an essential, not a talking-point, not a feature, not a luxury;
but an essential. We have found music an essential to the conduct of the war, whether at the front or
at home. It has helped to make man-power more effective and resultful. This knowledge should both
strengthen and refine our ideas. The men who have saved the world have, throughout the nations,
recognized the essential importance of the music industries in the attainment of victory. The motto
"Music maintains morale" has been tried, and not found wanting.
Shall we not strive constantly hereafter to prove ourselves worthy during peace-times of the recog-
nition we have won under the strain and stress of war?
Can we go back to the old, half-indifferent, half-selfish spirit, seeking our own gain and thinking to
find it in another's loss?
We cannot, we shall not, drop back altogether into old ruts. We have learned too much about the
value of co-operative effort, and the hard experiences of the last year have brought us too close together
to permit a complete breaking away again. The industry has learned to hold together. May it never
forget its lesson.
We have learned other things. Under the stress of a war which has tried men's souls we have
learned economies and refinements in production which we never should have dreamed of even attempting
in earlier clays. These we shall not be able to eliminate, even if we ever wish to, for some time to come;
and we may earnestly pray that we may never desire to do without them again.
We have learned yet more. We have learned that pianos and player-pianos have a real value,
that there is a real market for them and that, when we have eliminated overproduction and reckless
merchandising, we can get sane sales, based on something like fair prices and fair terms, from the
ultimate consumer. We have—many of us for the first time—found that piano selling is in reality rightly
based on value; not merely on "aggressive salesmanship" or on some other fetiches in which we at one
time believed.
We have made a good start in educating our public along these commendable lines. In consequence,
the industry has actually prospered, despite great handicaps in the way of restrictions. Shall we now
slip back to the old methods without a word?
We have learned yet one other thing. We have learned that necessity is the mother of invention
even in the wholesaling of pianos. We have learned that we must have higher prices and better terms,
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