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THE
MARCH 15, 1919
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
GRASPING EXPORT TRADE POSSIBILITIES
(Continued from page 3)
instead of manufacturers being compelled to flood a temporarily overstocked market with pianos, perhaps on
long time, or long terms, or under other sacrifices, they will be able to ship this surplus output to foreign countries,
and thus preserve the stability of domestic trade. It is true that piano and player output just now does not
begin to meet actual demands, and it may be that this condition will exist for some time in the future, but with
factories getting back to normal, labor becoming more available, and back orders gradually being filled,
there is likely to come a time when pianos and players will again have to be sold. When that time comes it will
be very encouraging to know that there is a foreign market waiting for the instruments not actually required
by our domestic dealers.
No such substantial foreign market has been developed up to the present time, but the opportunity is
there, and the manufacturer who grasps it at the psychological moment is not likely to have to worry about
having an overplus of pianos on his factory floors without orders to move them out.
There have been rosy pictures drawn of what the export market has to offer to our manufacturers—pic-
tures full of generalities, but lacking in detail—pictures that were calculated to bring forth the query as to
whether or not they really reflected true conditions.
It can be said with all frankness that foreign buyers are not battling for American pianos, but they are
certainly evincing a lively interest in what America has to offer in that line, and appear to be half sold before
a quotation is made. When a manufacturer receives from a domestic dealer of financial responsibility inquiries
regarding prices on his pianos, he regards the deal as 90 per cent, closed and goes right after the business. The
same plan pursued in handling foreign trade should produce similar results.
As has been said before, the piano manufacturer cannot take an
unskilled man off the streets and turn him loose in his factory with
the expectation of getting results. If he is hired as a green hand,
it takes months of careful training to make him a producing factor,
and during those months he is not going to increase the output of
the factory one iota.
The problem of remanning piano factories is a big one, but it is
being solved slowly and surely, as is indicated by the steadily
increasing output in the majority of the plants. Getting back to
normal, however, is quite another thing, and it is going to take a
little longer than some people think or imagine.
More than one dealer has visited the big piano manufacturing
centers "with blood in his eye and a club in his fist," as the expres-
sion'goes, to get stock and get stock quick. A visit to the factories
and an explanation of the situation, however, have served without
exception to quiet him down. It is more or less a question of
patience.
EADS of industrial bureaus of the War Industries Board have
been asked by Secretary of Commerce Redfield to form a Board
H
of Industrial Advisers to act as "informal ambassadors" of in-
dustry in its relations with the department. The idea is to utilize
the broad experience of the men who have formed the Board's
working machine during the war. It is not intended that they
should remain in Washington permanently, but that they could be
summoned, or consulted, when advisable. President Wilson has
made an allotment of $100,000 for carrying on in the Department
of Commerce work heretofore handled by the conservation division
of the War Industries Board, and Secretary Redfield has asked
Congress to appropriate a similar amount to continue this work
during the remainder of the fiscal year, after the formal declaration
of peace.
Secretary Redfield's suggestion should meet with the approval
of business men who comprehend the importance of the Govern-
ment being kept in close touch with the needs and progress of the
Nation's industries. At no time was this so necessary as now when
the business of the entire country is being rapidly restored to a peace
basis—when business men are remaking and perfecting their plans
along lines that must make for the development of the Nation's
manufacturing power, thus enhancing the Nation's prosperity. Any
move which will bring business and Government interests into closer
contact and better understanding will be distinctly a step forward.
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DISCOUNT TO
THE TRADE
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373 Fourth Ave., New York