THE
VOL. LXXVII. No. 25 Published Every Saturday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383
Madison , ~v~, ,N~w
Y,()rk, N.Y.
Dec. 22, 1923 Slnl'~to~o~:: ~~a~enh
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Making "National" Mean What It Says
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HE term "national" i.s . easy to use but. diffi.cult to live up to, particularly in these United States) .alth ..0U.gh.'" ',-~ ..
so-called orators, polttlcal and otherwlse, who for years have referred to the country extendtng from~
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th.e "rockbo~nd coast of M~ine to the sun-kissed shores
~alif?rnia," which takes in a lot of tel~ri~,6rYI: "" j'•.
wIthout paytng much attentIOn to the well-settled States lymg . m between, are prone to . use
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miscuously.
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The term "national" applies particularly to any movement or any organization only when it covers every .
State in the country, or at least endeavors to have representation in each of them. It is in recog-nition of this
fact that Robert N. Watkin, President of the National Association of Music .Merchants, with his officers, has
developed such an earnest campaign thus far in his adm inistration to encourage the formation of State and local
associations and to have those bodies affiliate with the !nationalorganization. ,. . .
The National Association of Music Merchants does quite well in living- .up .to its name because its mem
bership comes from practically every State, but the problem is to keep constant contact with this widely spread
membership in an indiyidual sense and to give to each music merchant the full benefit of association activities.
It is impossible for any group of association officers to keep in personal touch with members except by
letter. Even were these officers not obligated to look after the11' own business affairs, they would hardly have
time during the year to travel constantly, and even then make more than one or two widely separated visits to
each of the leading cities and towns.
The answer to the problem of making the association most effective is to have the music merchants
themselves f orm and foster local bodies with the assistance of the national association .a nd have these Jocal
bodies appoint official representatives to sit in at the councils of the national association, secure what benefit
may be obtained therefrom, and present for the gene~al body the various ideas looking towards trade better
ment which are advocated by them . .
Unfortunatel y the local association scheme in the music industry fluctuates. There have, on several
occasions, been organized arnid much enthusiasm as many as twenty-five or thirty State and city associations,
but the enthusiasm soon wanes and the associations are allowed to pass away. The result is that half a dozen
or less local associations that are still factors in the trade stand out strongly as examples of what can be
accomplished under proper auspices and as a result of proper effort.
President Watkin has shown the correct spirit in appointing .a committee to study the problems of the
local association in order that a series of suggestions may be compiled for the guidance of such bodies as are in
existence and for those associations which may be formed as a result of the national association campaig·n. The
aim is to encourage and promote the formation of at least thirty-five new local associations before the conven
. tion in New York next May, and it is hoped that the program will be realized in at least a fair measure.
It is significant that those associations which have progressed in the trade have been the ones that have
operated on a business basis and have placed their various detail matters in the hands of a competent paid
secretary who is free to devote his time to association business. It is not fair to require, or even ask, a man
with his own business affai rs to handle to give over more than a small portion of his time to the interests of
the trade as a whole which means also th e interest of his competitors. A paid official without business con
nections in the trade and with all or a major part of his time available for promoting association activities.
keeping in contact with individual members and otherwise making the organization a live factor, is the real'
answer. This fact should be borne in mind when new associations are formed.
Meanwhile, the national association officials are endeavoring . to make that body national in a literal '
sense, and those v,rho have the betterment of the trade at heart might do well to co-operate with them through
local movements.
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