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THE
xMUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
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Vol. LXX1II
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 10, 1921
No. 11
THE TAX FIGHT IS BY NO MEANS LOST!
CCORDING to reports from Washington the recent message
from the Legal Bureau of the Music Industries Chamber of
Commerce, urging that the tax fight be carried on by members of
the industry before the Senate Finance Committee in the hope of
favorable action on the part of that body, represented a piece of
good advice. It is daily becoming more evident that the Senators
are not inclined to pass upon the various provisions of the bill as
adopted by the House, and, in fact, have such pronounced ideas on
ways and means for raising revenue that there is a strong possibility
of the measure being entirely rewritten by the Senate Committee.
All this means that there is still opportunity for members of
the music industry to have the Senate eliminate from the bill the
various objectionable features, thereby securing relief from dis-
criminatory taxation that was refused by the Ways and Means
Committee. Even though Senator Smoot's plan for a manufac-
turers' sales tax to raise the bulk of the revenue may not be adopted
by the Finance Committee, his suggestion and the ideas presented by
other Senators go to prove that the higher legislative body is far
from being in accord with the'ideas of the House members on
taxation questions.
In view of this fact there is reason for the music industry to
take fresh hope and carry on the tax fight to the last ditch.
A
THE DANGER OF NOT ORDERING
VERY now and again a piano manufacturer or traveler will
tell of this or that dealer who hesitates about placing orders,
even for necessary stock, in the belief or hope that there will be a
reduction in prices. From the dealer's point of view, his attempt to
outwait the manufacturer very likely seems like good business, but
the point frequently overlooked is that if the dealer stops doing
business while he waits both he and the manufacturer are the losers,
rather than gainers, by the following out of such a policy.
A dealer visiting New York recently summed up the matter
clearly when he said: "It is my opinion that for the dealer to let his
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REVIEW
$EPTEM9ER iO, 1921
business suffer while waiting for the bottom to drop out of whole-
sale piano prices, when he knows, or should know, that any possible
reductions will be of comparatively insignificant amounts, is follow-
ing the old practice of saving at the spigot and wasting at the bung-
hole. This does not mean that the retailer should rush in and obli-
gate himself for months to come, but, he can still carry a substantial
stock and go after, and get, business the right way while still waiting
for a possible turn in the market.
"It is very likely that small savings in prices may be realized by
waiting for «ome time, but these savings are quite likely to be more
than offset by a restricted volume of business due to shortage of
stock on the dealer's floor. Throwing away several thousand dol-
lars' worth of business in a persistent desire to save perhaps a few
hundred dollars in original costs is not my idea of good business. 1,
myself, am ready for any sudden change in the market, but I am
carrying enough stock and placing enough orders to enable me to
handle all the business that comes my way or that I can dig up.
What my pianos might cost me to-morrow is not as important to me
as the sale that 1 can make to-day."
This is an expression of good business sense that should appeal
to those who are using what is now considered a time-worn excuse
for holding up wholesale orders.
ALLOWING TRADE ASSOCIATIONS TO FUNCTION
T
H E efforts of Secretary Hoover and of the Chamber of Com-
merce of the United States to provide more latitude under the
law for the operations of trade associations are to be heartily com-
mended, even though the results of such efforts have not been as
pronounced as could be hoped for.
Although the Federal Trade Commission probably works con-
scientiously enough in enforcing the various provisions of the anti-
trust laws, as the members of the commission see them, it appears
to the lay mind that that Federal body spends a good deal more
time endeavoring to keep trade organizations under tight check than
it does to discover and prosecute flagrant violations of the law.
At least one association in the music industry has felt the weight
of the commission's displeasure, and the other trade organizations
have been hampered in their legitimate work on numerous occasions
through fear of overstepping the bounds and being prosecuted. It
is very probable that certain business organizations are formed and
operate along lines that represent unfair business practices, but the
great majority of trade bodies are purely innocent in their purposes
and represent combinations to stimulate rather than to restrain trade.
There has been much said and written during the past few
years, for instance, regarding the necessity of knowing costs, and
yet trade associations which, covering the entire industries, are in
an ideal position to compile facts and figures for the determining
of such costs have hesitated about carrying on such work for fear
of Federal prosecution. Even when the importance of cost account-
ing under association auspices was emphasized to the Federal Trade
Commission, and a ruling requested as to the legal limits to which
associations could go in the matter of cost accounting, the best that
could be obtained from the commission was an unofficial and personal
view of the acting chairman.
It is realized generally that trade associations are of unques-
tioned value in studying and meeting the business problems of the
day, and, if the Government is sincere in its efforts to help business,
the work can best be accomplished by aiding and co-operating with
trade associations in their legitimate activities rather than hampering
their usefulness by keeping alive a constant fear that they may
innocently and unintentionally overstep the technical legal bounds.
MUSIC EXHIBITS AT STATE FAIRS
T
H E season for the annual State and county fairs in various
sections of the country is again with us, and it is encouraging
to note that the music trade is being well represented at all of these
affairs. For a couple of years past, with little excess stocks to sel!,
many dealers did not believe in going to the expense of maintaining
a fair exhibit simply for the future advertising value of such "a
display. This year, however, there are plenty of goods to sell, and
it is a rare occasion indeed when a properly arranged and conducted
display does not show a substantial profit, either in sales actually
consummated on the ground or in the building up of a live and fresh
prospect list. In the drive for business this year the State or county
fair should not be overlooked as a medium for displaying goods.