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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
REVIEW
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NEW Y O R K , A U G U S T 1 0 , 1 9 1 8
EDITORIAL^
IANO manufacturers and merchants, and particularly the
P
latter, have on numerous occasions since the passage of the
War Revenue Bill suggested the drawing up and circulation of a
general, but simplified, set of rules for their guidance in keeping
accounts and preparing figures for presentation to the Depart-
ment of Internal Revenue. What is wanted is a system that
could be made to apply to any business and would show at a
glance what taxes are due to the Government under the various
clauses of the law.
Unfortunately, expert accountants have declared that it is
not feasible to prepare such a general system inasmuch as each
individual case must be studied and handled by itself. Were it
simply a matter of making an accounting for taxes assessed on
instruments and parts thereof, it would be very simple to offer
advice, but it is the Excess Profits Tax, as well as the Income
Tax, which causes the trouble.
A case is on record where one man was called upon to pay
taxes of over $40,000 to the Government on his income' for the
year, while another man, of somewhat greater wealth, was called
upon to make payment of only a few hundred dollars. The ques-
tion all hinged on the channels through which the income was
received and the manner in which the capital of the two men was
invested.
Expert accountants have for the most part made a close study
of the various provisions of the law, and for the dealer who does
a business of any fair volume or has any substantial investment,
the best advice is to present his case to such an accountant and
abide by his judgment. The accountant's charge will more than
likely be offset by a saving in actual tax payments and will at the
same time remove the possibility of the merchant being called
upon to pay a penalty for failure, through ignorance, to make correct
returns. It ha? been said that the man who attempts to act as
his own lawyer generally has a fool for a client, and while it might
not be well to make so strong a statement regarding the matter of
AUGUST 10, 1918
making tax returns, the man who puts the matter in the hands of a
competent accountant is simply relying upon a specialist to take care
of a highly specialized matter.
since the war started has the cause of music received such
N OT a strong
Federal endorsement as that found in the official action
of the Council of National Defense in urging the formation and the
encouraging through State Councils of the Community Chorus idea.
In a bulletin sent out to its representatives the Council says in part:
"Community singing for war purposes has passed beyond the
stage of experiment. In Connecticut, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania,
Idaho, Maine and other States, community singing, under the direc-
tion of the State Council of Defense, usually through the formation
of 'Liberty Choruses,' has proved itself of substantial value. It is
an asset in any speaking campaign, assuring a large and enthusiastic
attendance at the meetings. It gives the people of the nation an
opportunity to learn and sing the songs of the nation and its allies,
thereby answering a long-felt need. It stirs the spirit of patriotism
as hardly anything else can, and it promotes that unity of feeling
without which no community can do successful war work.
"We, therefore, recommend that in every State where this has
not already been done the State Council and the State Division of
the Woman's Committee join in building up a State-wide organiza-
tion of Liberty Choruses."
The Council agrees that properly organized choruses will not
only serve to maintain the spirit and morale of the people generally,
but will prove of inestimable service in arousing enthusiasm at
various patriotic rallies, national holiday celebrations, and other
affairs of local and national importance, and at the same time serve
a valuable purpose in attracting the public to meetings held under
Governmental auspices where "Four Minute" speakers and others
are to make addresses in the interests of various war projects.
With the recognized Governmental agency back of it the Com-
munity Chorus idea should develop into a nation-wide institution
reaching into every hamlet in the country. It will not only serve
to impress upon the humble citizen the great value of music, but will
bring home to those in power at Washington what music, even in
its crudest form, means to the life of the nation during the critical
period of the war. With the status of music firmly established in
the official mind, it is but logical to assume that the instruments that
produce music, and in turn those who produce the instruments, will
receive favorable consideration from the powers that be in any con-
templated move for the further curtailment of non-war industries.
Incidentally, for patriotic, if for no other reasons, piano mer
chants in all sections should ally themselves with this new national
movement and lend their efforts to the establishment and main-
tenance of Community Choruses and other musical organizations in
their own localities.
D
ISCUSSING the economic readjustment that is taking place
in this country, the Journal of the American Bankers' As-
sociation, an organization having a membership of 18,500, points
out in its August number that the tendency is toward placing
every one on the same basis of reward that the soldiers get,
less the physical pains or the ultimate sacrifice.
"There is evidenced," it says, "a general belief that no one
should profit from the war. The man at the front and the man
getting ready for the front offer everything for the nation's suc-
cess. The man at home should have no advantage; whatever he
gives, it must be less than many thousands at the front have
given and it cannot be more than many thousands are ready to
give. We have not yet come to regard life as cheap or profit as
the one aim of all effort. In fact, profit has been displaced by
service as the aim of effort. This is one of the benefactions of
the war. It is this that is forcing all the readjustments which
extend not only economically, but reach out and pervade all de-
partments of activity.
"The readjustments are going on before us constantly. The
one counteracting or hampering influence is the necessity of keep-
ing business going. To denounce the profiteer is not to denounce
profits. There must be gain and the incentive to it or our eco-
nomic structure would crumble. 1 Teed must be given to the in-
tricate relationships of business and their interdependencie?. If
we concede profits as an incident to service we must concede
taxes as the equitable consequence. If we deny the workman
l