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A Move in Time
Saves Dealer and Creditor
Kevee Jaffe Advocates Appointment of Music Merchants Protective Com-
mittees by Local Merchants Associations to Handle Affairs of Dealers
in Difficulties in Order to Prevent Costly Legal Procedure in Future
W
HEN a man is ill, regardless of how
serious the illness may be, a physician
is called in in an effort to cure him
and put him back on his feet. This is the
logical course to take and no one thinks of
notifying the undertaker to take charge until
the patient is definitely and undeniably dead.
Why, therefore, is it not equally logical to
call in a business doctor when a merchant's
affairs are out of order, so that some intelligent
effort may be made to straighten things out
and keep the business alive and going, rather
than to rush for a receiver to put the final
quietus on and inter a business that still shows
signs of life?
This, in substance, was the query propounded
by K. Jaffe, the well-known New York at-
torney, long closely associated with the piano
business, at the recent annual meeting of the
New York Piano Merchants' Association, and
it was his suggestion that the organization
consider the appointment of a committee of at
least three piano merchants of high standing
to consider the problems of the dealer who is
having temporary difficulty in weathering trade
storms and endeavor to advise and assist him
in a manner that will enable him to get back
en his feet and continue to maintain his con-
cern as a factor in the industry.
It is unfortunate, in Mr. Jaffe's opinion, that
there is an inclination to let each dealer work
out his own problems without assistance, or
perhaps a disinclination on the part of the
troubled dealer to make known those problems
so that he might receive proper and unbiased
assistance. He believes that intelligent and
confidential co-operation on the part of fellow
dealers might in many cases save the business
of an honest merchant from getting into the
hands of the receiver with the resultant loss
that such a move entails.
In outlining his general idea of a Music
Merchants' Protective Committee, for want of
a better name, Mr. Jaffe said to The Review:
"My experience in the trade has brought to
light many instances where music dealers,
honest ones, through no real fault of their
own, have found themselves financially embar-
rassed, and when their position became known
have had the receiver walk in and wind up a
business that, under proper advice and guid-
ance and with a little financial assistance, might
well have been made to carry on until it was
again on a profitable basis. These things have
happened because there exists no recognized
agency in which the music merchant has con-
fidence and to which he can go for the sort
of advice that will enable him to keep his
business running, rather than to wind it up.
"The music merchants of New York City,
at least the members of the local association,
have the confidence and respect of one another,
and there seems to be no reason why a com-
mittee of representative local dealers, perhaps
ihe president of the association and two mem-
bers of standing appointed by him, could not
be developed into a committee before whom the
individual dealer could place his business prob-
lems in order to obtain advice and help. Very
often the combined experience of the commit-
tee members will enable them to set the dealer
right so that he may overcome his difficulties
without any further embarrassment. Should a
survey of his business affairs and his accounts
indicate that the problem is simply a temporary
one, and that a moderate extension of credit
is likely to enable him to pull out of the hole,
the committee can go to the manufacturers
with whom he does business and by a frank
presentation of the facts secure that credit ex-
tension, at a material saving to both the dealer
r
l\K writer of this article, who has a
wide acquaintance with the music trade,
feels that in his suggesti-jn of she appoint-
ment of Music Merchants' Protective Com-
mittees, retail music dealers who may be in
financial difficulties temporarily could be
saved and placed on their feet once more
without the expense entailed in legal pro-
cedure that is usually resorted to in such
cases. This extension of local association ac-
tivity is one that is ivorthy of careful con-
sideration by the trade.
and manufacturer over any action looking
toward a receivership or a liquidation.
"In cases where satisfactory agreements can
be reached, between the dealer and his
creditors, the only expense incurred is that
of one attorney's fee in drawing up the neces-
sary agreement paper. And here alone the fees
of several other attorneys and of the receiver
are saved directly. As matters stand now, it
frequently happens that the dealer waits until
he is so deep in the mire that he cannot help
himself or be helped. When he finally goes
to his creditors the situation is so bad that
they immediately send for a lawyer to
straighten affairs out. The attorney is very
often unacquainted with music trade practices
and quite frequently recommends a receivership
as the quickest way out and the result is that
all those interested lose money. How much
more satisfactory would it be to adjust the
matter through a competent committee before
the case is serious and while there is still hope
for smoothing out the dealer's problems?
"By warding off receiverships alone such a
committee would more than justify its exist-
ence, for every failure in the music trade reflects
against the industry as a whole. Whenever
a company goes into the receiver's hands that
liict is reported to every bank in the vicinity
and often throughout the country within the
shortest possible time, and should such re-
ceiverships prove frequent the dealer or the
manufacturer who seeks banking accommoda-
tion will find it increasingly difficult to interest
the banker in his affairs. Every receivership,
too, means an added burden on those members
of the trade who still stay in business, for
they are the ones who actually pay the losses
in the long run.
"In looking after the protection of the honest
dealer who is temporarily up against it the
association committee would also be working
against the interests of the 'gyps' and the fly-
by-nights, for in preserving a legitimate con-
cern and putting it on its feet the field for
the operation of the unscrupulous dealer is re-
stricted just that much.
"The idea of this protective committee, al-
though new in the piano trade, nevertheless
has the advantage of successful precedent. In
so highly a competitive field as the needle
trades, committees of that general type have
been in operation for several years and with
great success in the matter of avoiding re-
ceiverships and in aiding trade members to
weather temporary difficulties. Such organiza-
tions as the dress league and the waist
league, to name two of them in the ladies'
clothing trade, meet regularly and consider the
financial problems of the members. Frankness
is the rule, and although there may be some
warm debates in the meetings, the result is
almost invariably an agreement that works out
to the satisfaction of all concerned and keeps
the temporarily weak company out of the
courts.
"I question very strongly whether it will be
feasible to carry out such a plan on a national
basis, or at least from a national headquarters,
for the reason that to be successful there
should be close contact and acquaintanceship
between the committee and the local dealer
it is called upon to help. It would be easily
possible for local associations, and perhaps
even State associations under certain conditions,
to appoint such committees for the protection
of the temporarily weak dealer and have them
function successfully. It is a movement that
might well receive the earnest consideration of
those who want to sec their industry sound
and prosperous."
Mr. Jaffe also urged that, in view of the
trade's experiences with the recent lien law,
applying to instalment sales in New York City,
it would be well for the local association to
have at least one qualified member, or better,
a committee, to keep in close touch with every
bill that goes into the State Legislature for
the purpose of taking action against any meas-
ure that might prove inimical to the interests
of the music trade, either directly or indirectly.
Other associations have found that it pays to
watch legislation carefully and it will be well
for the piano men to take similar precautions.
It is much easier to kill a bill while it is in
committee than to wait until it is enacted into
a law and then endeavor to have that law
amended. In legislation constant vigilance is
the price of safety.
E. E. Fouratt, Jr., Dies
TKKNTON, N. J , April 21.—Elmer E. Fouratt, Jr.,
proprietor of the music store bearing his name
at 227 East State street, this city, passed away
recently in the St. Francis Hospital, following
a collapse. Mr. Fouratt was thirty-three years
old and had established the music store in 1919.
His collapse was attributed to enlargement of
the stomach, coupled with nervous indigestion.
He leaves a wife and mother.
Consult the Universal Want Directory of
The Review.