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THE
MARCH 8, 1919
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
THE NEW WAR TAX AND THE PIANO TRADE
(Continued from page 3)
with which to build business. The interests are so completely interlocking that no individual in the trade can
feel that he is not under obligation to adopt business practices that will make for healthy conditions in both his
own business and the industry in general.
With new taxes, as well as labor, demanding cash in payment, the dealer not only cannot afford to stretch
his retail credit beyond the present limit, but must in most cases be prepared to shorten those credits for the
primary purpose of stabilizing his business.
Only a few years ago cash in the piano business, either in the wholesale or retail branches, was something
worthy of special comment. To-day through changed conditions it is the rule rather than the exception, and
anything but conservative credits are viewed with suspicion and distrust. Never has there been such a com-
plete reversal of form, and new developments constantly emphasize the fact that this reversal of form has been
absolutely necessary. The matter of meeting new taxes is simply an added argument.
Unprecedented Prosperity Awaits the Entire Trade
G. B. Garritson, President of the Kroeger Piano Co., Points Out the Many
Factorsi Which Will Insure Great Prosperity in Not Only the Piano Business
But in All Lines of Endeavor in This Country During the Next Five Years
C. T>. Garritson, president of the Kroeger
Piano Co., is of the firm opinion that the United
States is facing an unprecedented period of pros-
perity, that will continue without abatement for
at least five years, and which will place this
country in a dominating position, industrially,
among the nations of the world.
"In maintaining that we have at least five
years of prosperity before us," said Mr. Garrit-
son, "I am not in any sense making a prophecy,
but simply basing my calculations upon hard
facts that are fully in evidence to-day.
"We hear considerable about the manner in
which the various European countries will re-
gain their pre-war prestige in the markets of
the world, as a result of campaigns now under
way, but we have only to consider the main facts
of the situation to understand that they will be
unable to regain their prestige in the face of
American competition.
"The labor question comes first, and is all-
important, for it is in the matter of labor that
the war has brought about the greatest changes.
For the first time in history the status of labor
and the wages paid throughout the civilized
world have reached some sort of standard. Be-
fore the war American manufacturers were
handicapped because labor, which often repre-
sented as high as 75 per cent, of the total value
of the product, cost approximately 60 per cent,
more in this country than it did abroad. The
war has changed all this—the workmen of Eu-
rope have asserted themselves, and we find them
in all lines receiving wages that are almost as
large, if not fully equal to those paid in this
country.
"All this means that the American manufac-
turer, whether of pianos or any other article,
can meet foreign competition on a better than
equal basis, for the European manufacturer has
been, or will be, forced by labor costs to in-
ciease the prices of his products to a point
where they equal the cost of American goods,
and we in this country have the decided ad-
vantage of being able to employ labor-saving
machinery of which the average European as
yet knows nothing.
"Labor prices are going to be kept up in-
definitely through the simple fact that there is
a tremendous amount of reconstruction work to
be taken care of in the next few years, and, in
addition, a tremendous amount of work in tak-
ing care of the demands for peace-time products
that have developed during the war period, and
have now reached proportions where it will
require years of steady work to take care of
this existing demand, to say nothing of the nor-
mal requirements of the future.
"Regular employment at high wages means
C. B. Garritson
that the workman will possess a buying power
that is to be reckoned with in keeping the
wheels of industry increasingly active. It means
that he is going to buy many things, including
pianos, which under the old wage scale he
could only long for, and he will thus serve an
important purpose in the industrial fabric, con-
tributing to the prosperity of many lines.
"Never has there been such a need for rail-
road and building development and manufactur-
ing expansion such as exists at the present time.
We have been practically standing still commer-
cially for two years or longer, and it is going
to take a long period of intensive hard work be-
fore we can catch up.
"The standardization of wages is particularly
important from the point of view of the ex-
porter, and it is in the foreign field that the
American manufacturer is going to find his
greatest opportunity. Not only will this field
permit of the expansion of his own particular
business to meet foreign demands, but will also
act as a safety valve for his plant. It is my be-
lief that the question of overproduction will
never again affect American piano manufactur-
ers, for any surplus output will be readily ab-
sorbed by the foreign markets. The many in-
quiries being received almost daily by various
piano manufacturers for pianos for export may
be taken as an indication of the possibilities in
that direction, and it would not surprise me if
within the next couple of years we were to see
American piano exports pass the 200,000 mark
annually, for with price competition cut down
or removed American quality is bound to dom-
inate.
"We now have our own merchant marine to
carry our goods to foreign countries, and with
additional fleets now building we should never
again find ourselves in the grasp of foreign ship
owners in the handling of our export shipments.
There is hardly any doubt that the Government
will take due cognizance of the situation and
give our merchant marine, and through it our
manufacturers, the support they require. In this
field, too, it will be found that we can compete
on a far more favorable basis than before the
war, inasmuch as the European nations will
not be able to man their ships at the low wages
prevailing some years ago. Here, too, the ap-
proximate world wage standard makes itself
felt.
"As I see it, the United States is assured of
prospering, owing to several very important
facts. First, that we are acting in the role of
bankers for the world, and money is undoubtedly
power; secondly, the increase in European wage
standards gives us an even break in business
competition, and thirdly, because there is so
much work to be done right here at home that
there will be plenty to do for everyone for years
to come after things settle down and labor is
properly distributed."
For over 25 years Specialists
in high grade Piano Cases
Paterson Piano
Case Co.
PATERSON, N. J.