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THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
OCTOBER 18, 1919
spirit of co-operation between the two. One is absolutely neces-
sary to the welfare of the other. The elimination from labor
councils of the radicals, and those agitators who have nothing
at stake, seems to be the first step in the proper direction. The
right thinking men among the employes should be educated to
that fact.
THE WISDOM OF ORDERING EARLY
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
President and Treasurer, C. L. Bill, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Vice-President,
J. B. Spillane, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Second Vice-President, Raymond Bill, 373
Fourth Ave., New York; Assistant Treasurer, Wm. A. Low.
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
RAYMOND BILL, B. B. WILSON, Associate Editors
CARLETON CHACE, Business Manager
Executive and Reportorlal Stall
WILSON D. BUSH, V. D. WALSH, WM. BRAID WHITE (Technical Editor), E. B. MUNCH,
L. M. ROBINSON, C. A. LEONARD, EDWARD LYMAN BILL, A. J. NICKLIN, L. E. BOWERS
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under the Act of March 3, 1879.
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REMITTANCES, in other than currency forms, should be made payable to Edward
Lyman Bill, Inc.
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
Plav£»i*
Plann allll
anil
ridVcl-riallU
tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning,
regulating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos
are dealt with, will be found in another section of
this paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concerning
which will be -cheerfully given upon request.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900 Silver Medal.. .Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma. .. .Pan-American Exposition, 1901 Gold Medal. . . . .St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal—Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES—NUMBERS 6982—5883 MADISON SQ.
Connecting all Departments
Cable address: "ElbiU, New York"
Vol. LXIX
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 1 8 , 1 9 1 9
No. 1 6
the early ordering of pianos and player-pianos for fall
W HEN
trade was advocated some months ago, a goodly propor-
tion of retailers had cither already made plans toward that end,
or at least acknowledged that the advice was good. These deal-
ers at the present time may not have on hand all the instruments
they might be able to sell, and it is probable that they may not be
able to get enough instruments to meet the demand for the next
few months, but they have, and are going to get, a sufficient
number of pianos and players to enable them to keep their busi-
ness going on a profitable basis, and show returns for the year
that will equal, if not surpass, the returns shown by the figures
for previous years.
There were other retailers, however, who, in their own
minds, could see the factories catching up with orders; who
imagined that there might be over-production in the fall, with a
substantial lowering of wholesale prices, but who neglected to
study the supplies and labor market and observe how costs were
constantly advancing. These short sighted retailers arc now
suffering from the delay. The big central piano markets arc full
of them, all crying loudly for goods, preferably for immediate
delivery. Their demands, it must be said, are meeting with
scant response, simply because the manufacturers cannot take
care of the orders that have been on their books for months, and
which they are under obligations to meet as best they can. When
the manufacturers advise early ordering in future years, the re-
sponse is going to be far more general than it has been during
the past.
EXHIBITS AND MORE PIANO SALES
The handicaps resulting from the continuance of the
strike in the printing industry in New York City have pre-
vented the publishers from getting out this issue of The
Music Trade Review at the usual time.
evidence has been offered recently in support of
A BUNDANT
- the idea that piano merchants, or manufacturers, need not
of necessitv wait for the opening of distinct music shows in their
respective localities before bringing their instruments to the at-
tention of the public. Piano merchants have exhibited at food
shows, electric shows, County and State fairs, and even automo-
THE STRIKE IN THE PIANO INDUSTRY
bile shows, with most encouraging results. The fact cannot be
O far as the strike in the piano trade is concerned, the manu- denied that crowds attending any particular show are there to
facturers have taken the proper stand in refusing to be see all that can be seen, and if musical instruments, particularly
coerced, and it is to be hoped that members of the trade in New plaver-pianos and talking- machines in operation, are among the
York and other cities Avhere strikes have been called will not exhibits, their attractiveness is enhanced through comparison
waver in their attitude. If the battle is to be fought, and it must with other products. As a builder of a prospect list, a properly
be fought, this is just as good a time as any, for it will prove conducted exhibit at any sort of well attended fair proves most
expensive under any conditions. If the workmen as individuals, effective. Incidentally, such an exhibit will serve to aid the gen-
or as members of a definite factory organization, are to share in eral cause of music, regardless of the direct results in the matter
the prosperity of the business and the profits that accrue from of sales.
their efforts, well and good—the matter can be adjusted. If the
men, through a union, dominated by agitators, whose business
UNCLE SAM'S PIANO TEXTBOOK
is to stir up unrest, and who make their livelihood by that means,
are to have control of the piano manufacturing business, then the
LTHOUGH the "Courses of Instruction in Piano Making."
manufacturers may as well learn the fact first as last—save as
as issued by the United States Training Service, may not
much as they can from the wreck of their businesses—and re- prove instrumental in making a skilled artisan out of an un-
tire from the field.
trained man, nevertheless the little volume is surprisinglv com-
There is every reason to believe that the present labor dis- plete. The publication alone is to be commended as reflecting
turbances in. the piano trade in New York will be short-lived, the interest taken by this Government department in the piano
but there is so much unrest in other fields, particularly among industrv. The fact that the United States Training Service has
the steel workers, that even a settlement of their own troubles taken due cognizance of the demands of the piano trade, leads to
will not relieve the piano manufacturers of the necessity of keep- the belief that Government support may be relied upon to a
ing in close touch with industrial conditions generally, and lend- greater or less extent in the carrying out of any plans developed
ing their full and earnest support to the stabilizing of those within the industry for vocational training, in order that the
ranks of skilled piano workmen may be increased.
conditions.
Just now, in view of existing conditions, this vocational train-
America, industrially, has come to the turning of the road—
the climax has been reached. If a mass of business wreckage ing question must naturallv be held in abeyance, but it is a ques-
unparalleled in the history of the country is to be avoided, the that has received, and will continue to receive, a substantial
answer will not be the autocracy of labor, nor yet the autocracy amount of earnest attention, and any outside support is to be
of capital, but the bringing about of a fair understanding and a welcomed.
S
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