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President Uhl Analyzes the Aims of
the National Association
In Address Before the Western Music Trades Convention, Chief Executive of the National Association of
Music Merchants Makes Strong Plea for Co-operation in New Program Which Is Un-
dertaken by That Body—Regional and State Associations and Their Affiliation
Y subject is "Aims of the National As-
sociation." I want to tell you that
when I was elected president of the
National Association, and accepted this job, and
it is a hard task, I told them I would not remain
as president of this organization unless I got
co-operation. It is necessary, in order for any
organization to be successful, to have proper
co-operation. In looking over our membership
for the United States, which is contained in this
book, I find that we have less than eight hun-
dred members in the National Association.
When it came my time to pick State commis-
sioners I found a great many men in the trade
were not members, and, therefore, I was unable
to appoint them. I was absolutely surprised to
find how few men were members of this organi-
zation who are deriving benefits from it each
and every day.
I am going to ask you right now, those who
are not members of the National Association—
I want to tell you that we need your support,
and without your support I cannot succeed, and
I want to ask you to join the Association. It
is not a one-man job, no one man can accom-
plish the aims of this Association without your
help.
To give you an idea, there is the copy of the
things that transpired at New York, giving in
detail a report of everything done at that con-
vention. They tell me it was the largest and
best convention that has ever been held by the
National Association. At that Association meet-
ing a revision of the constitution and by-laws
was adopted, forming into State, regional and
district associations, active and associative mem-
bership.
You all know the present stamp that we
are using, which is 25 cents per piano for the
dealer and 25 cents for the manufacturer, the
proceeds going to the support of the advance-
ment of music. The total amount raised by this
organization last year, including the manufac-
turers and the dealers, were a little less than
$120,000.
Now, when you think of it, here is a great busi-
ness, one of the greatest in the world, and only
raising that amount of money for the promotion
of its own welfare. It is absolutely ridiculous.
In order to get money to function properly
the board of directors decided to issue a stamp
for the promotion of the welfare of the music
merchants. It is not necessary for you to place
it upon a piano. The blue one is for a player-
grand, at 75 cents; the red is for player-uprights
and straight grands, 50 cents, and the orange
color for straight uprights, 25 cents. Every dol-
lar of that money collected is going for the use
of the merchants.
At that convention they voted to move the
office of the National Association to Chicago
and to employ a secretary and field worker. Up
to the present time I have made no move to
change our national office. We haven't the
money, and until I get the money I will not
make the move, because I am not going to
spend any money or get this Association in debt,
so we will be obligated and have to make as-
sessments upon our members.
That is not to be taxed to you, they are going
to absorb that themselves. That is going to be
spent for National work, for the welfare of
music, to get the people interested in music.
You will shortly receive from the secretary of
the Association what I think is one of the most
M
able talks I have ever heard in my life, entitled
"Make More Music." Every member of the
National Association within the next week or
ten days will receive a copy of that speech. 1
want you to read it over carefully and guide
yourselves by it, because it is v/ell worth while.
I find in talking to a great many of the mem-
E. H. Uhl
bers of this Association that the literature sent
out by the National Association is not carefully
read. We are sending out right along different
pieces of literature. Here is a pamphlet, and I
venture to say that if I were to ask the people
to rise who have read it, "Piano Classes in
Schools"—how many of you have read it?—
there would be very few of you stand up and
say that you have read it. That has been fur-
nished by the National Association.
Here is a book that has been sent to all mem-
bers telling of the service of the National Asso-
ciation. At the national convention I found
men there who had never read it and claimed
they never saw it. Still, it was mailed to them.
The aim of the National Association is to
bring music to everyone in the United States,
and how can we do it? Probably I am wrong,
but this is my thought; music first starts with
the babe in arms. The first thing a mother does
to quiet a child is to sing to it to put it to sleep.
There is where music first commences. The only
way, in my mind, to bring music to everyone
in the United States is through our public
schools. We should make music a part of the
child's education, starting from the first grade,
and going on up at least through the ordinary,
what we may say, common school. Let that
music be part of that child's education, and let
the child receive the same credit for studying
music as for any other kind of instruction. In
that way I think you will make more children
musical.
We all know that unless we can reach a child
in music before it is twelve years of age we are
not very apt to make the child a music student.
When we look to our foreign countries and,
see what they are doing for music we ought to
be ashamed of ourselves. But still we are the
greatest musical country in the world, spending,
I suppose, five times as much money for music
as any other country in the world. Still we are
lacking educational work in our schools. In the
9
foreign country the child is taught everything in
music. They are taught the history of music
and in regard to the great masters of the world.
They come over to this country and teach our
children a great many things.
That is one of the things we want to accom-
plish, but the first thing, and the most important
thing, in my estimation, is to get city associa-
tions, district associations, regional associations
and State associations. After we get these
State and local associations I think we will be
able to accomplish a great deal with the school
boards through the United States. It is only
through State and city organizations that we
can accomplish this. It would be impossible for
the National Association to accomplish any-
thing in that way with the local boards. It is
only through State work and city work trfat we
can accomplish anything.
Probably the convention would like to hear
something about this State organization and the
methods we are going to pursue this year. The
charter and by-laws of the National Association
provide that the objects of this Association shall
be the promotion by every legitimate means of
the cause of music and music trade interests
uniting for mutual protection against trade
abuses, encouragement of legislation beneficial
to our business, to diffuse information of value
to the music trades, the securing of co-opera-
tion and friendship between music dealers, and
by united action to achieve increasing efficiency
and advance the welfare of the music trades.
That is the object of your Association. I have
listened with a great deal of interest to the re-
ports of the different secretaries in regard to
their activities. I want to congratulate each and
every one of you for the work which you are
doing. I want to say here that the commis-
sioner for Washington is Russell T. Bailey. He
is the State commissioner. The commissioner
for Oregon is G. F. Johnson; for Idaho, C. P.
Sampson; for Montana, Charles J. Cobb; for
Utah, George Glenn; for northern California,
George I. Chase; for southern California, Ed.
Geissler.
The new by-laws of the national organization
provide for regional and district associations.
What I want the State of Washington to do is
to organize a State organization. I want Wash-
ington to do that, and I want Idaho to do that,
and I want every State to organize a State
organization and become members of the Na-
tional Association. By doing that, each member
of your organization is only charged $5 per year
as a member of the national organization, and
that fee is remitted through your local secretary
and treasurer. Where you have no city or State
organization the dues are $10 per year.
I would like to meet at any time convenient
with the different commissioners here in order
to get busy on this organization work. There
is a lot of work to be done.
Another thing in which we are very much in-
terested is co-operative advertising. When you
consider the amount of money that is being
spent by the trade throughout the United States
for the advertising of different musical instru-
ments you will find that the majority of us are
advertising price and not quality, and not telling
the people why they should have music at home.
Here is a wonderful thing that has been ac-
complished in Chicago, and which you will all
be interested in seeing. This is printed in the
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