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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
RMEW
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
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J. B. Spillane, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Second Vice-President, Raymond Bill, 373
Fourth Ave., New York; Assistant Treasurer, Wm. A. Low.
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Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
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.
Player-Piano and
Technical Departments
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Vol. LXXI
NEW YORK, AUGUST 7, 1920
No. 6
THE INCREASED RAIL RATES
HE granting of an increased income of approximately $1,500,-
000,000 annually to the railroads of the country by the Interstate
Commerce Commission, to be obtained through authorized advances
in freight rates ranging from 25 per cent to 40 per cent in various
sections of the country, and the boosting of passenger rates 20 per
cent, is naturally a matter of deep interest to business men generally,
as well as to the public at large, who will have to bear the burden.
Increased freights on pianos, talking machines and other musical
instruments, parts and accessories, will amount to several million
dollars each year, and on top of this will be the increased cost of
sending travelers over the country, a matter of no small importance.
The question to be considered is not how much the increase
will amount to per capita, or to separate industries, but rather what
real effect it will have upon improving the transportation situation.
The railroads' have lamented constantly for many months over the
fact that their income* were not sufficient to permit of maintaining
their systems at proper efficiency, to provide new equipment to take
care of normal, as well as the growing demands of commerce,
and,to keep their working forces contented through the payment of
wages in keeping with present living costs.
The amount granted by the Interstate Commerce Commission
is only slightly lower than that originally asked for by the railroads
as sufficient to enable them to keep their systems at the highest
efficiency and insure a net income large enough to prove attractive
to capital.
Having been awarded the increases it now remains to be seen
just what the railroads plan to accomplish and will accomplish for
the improvement of freight transportation. Locomotives and cars
cannot be built in a day, or roadbeds reconstructed in a similar
period, and, therefore, industry must start paying the bills and de-
pend upon the good intentions of the railroad executives to produce
the promised and necessary results. If the transportation of the
country can be brought back to normal, freight again delivered
promptly and the wheels of industry permitted to revolve easily and
properly then the expense may be worth while. If these results are
T
AUGUST 7, 1920
not accomplished then business men must see to it that there is a
readjustment. There must be something tangible to show for this
tremendous amount of money.
THE COMING PLAYER-PIANO WEEK
UCH interest has been displayed in the announced plan for the
M
holding of an official player-piano week in October—a week
during which manufacturers and dealers in player-pianos through-
out the country are expected to join together in displaying, demon-
strating and advertising player-pianos, music rolls, etc., in a manner
that will leave a lasting impression on the public mind and result
in more than enough increased business to warrant the effort and
expense involved in the project.
The plan is to be carried out on a systematic basis, and some
of the leading factors in the industry have consented to act as com-
mittee chairmen and in other capacities in aiding the cause. The
time is most appropriate, inasmuch as it will be almost a year since
the last Music Week celebration, and over a half year before the
next conventions will afford the opportunity for a similar move-'
memt. Then, too, October is about the time when Fall business is to
be considered as really under way, with the holiday business strongly
in prospect.
If it is to measure up to expectations, Player-Piano Week must
be distinctly national in character and the movement must extend
into the smaller towns and the country districts if the full effect
is to be realized. The city dweller hears, sees and reads constantly
about the player-piano, while the people in the outlying districts are
not quite so fortunate. It is, therefore, a matter of policy to get
to such people and present the player-piano to them in its true
light.
In calling attention to the desirability of a Player-Piano Week
some time ago, The Review emphasized particularly the strong posi-
tion that can be occupied in any such movement by the reproducing
piano, as representative of the latest development in the player field.
The opportunity for recitals and concerts featuring reproducing
pianos, and the notable galaxy of artists associated therewith, should
afford strong support to any campaign to increase the importance of
the player-piano, and bring it more prominently before the public
as a whole.
Those responsible for bringing the plan for Player-Piano Week
to a head are deserving a full credit for their efforts and the possi-
bilities they have thus presented to the trade to stimulate public
interest along constructive lines.
THE SOUNDNESS OF OUR BANKING SYSTEM
that the banking or currency system of the coun-
C ONFIDENCE
try has made the United States "panic proof" is the basis of
some very well-considered remarks in a recent issue of the Commerce
Monthly, issued by the National Bank of Commerce. It is pointed
out that the Federal Reserve System has been devised to make panics
impossible, and that there is good reason to expect that never again
will be seen in this country such chaos in the money market as
prevailed in the years of 1893 and 1907. The Monthly states:
"Crises come when active business men find that their creditors,
whether banks or investors or other business men, begin to insist
upon a contraction of credit and a liquidation of debts. A crisis
means the end of a boom period, the inauguration of a period of slow
business and depression, accompanied by a settling up of debts and a
readjustment of prices.
"Periods of reaction and liquidation relieve maladjustment and
strain. They prevent unsound policies from being carried too far.
They give time for the maturing of new plans and for the careful
introduction of new processes. They check wastes and restore effi-
ciency. They allay financial fevers. They need mitigation and con-
trol-^but progressively we are learning to mitigate and to control
them.
"The most important proposal that has yet been made for the
mitigation of the extremes of the business cycle," the bank says, "is
that the various grades of government, Federal, State and munici-
pal, together with large corporations like the railroads, should adopt
a buying policy designed to throw as many of their purchases as
possible into the period of depression and to withdraw from the
market in considerable measure at the height of the period of
prosperity."