Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
Established 1879
The (jH
Vol. 112 - No. 10
THE
PIONEER
October, 1953
2 r 883rd Issue
REVIEW
PUBLICATION
O F T H E MUSIC
I N D U S T R Y
NPMA Pres. Furlong Asks Excise Tax Repeal
Urges Members and Dealers to See Congressmen
JOHN E. FURLONG, President of
^ the National Piano Manufacturers
Association, has addressed a letter to
the members of that organization and
enclosed with it a brief which he pre-
sented on August 12th to the members
of the Ways and Means Committee of
the House of Representatives, request-
ing the revocation of the 10% excise
tax on pianos.
In his letter, Mr. Furlong earnestly
urges that the members of the Piano
Manufactures Association not only con-
tact the Congressmen of their districts
while they are home, but also urges
the manufacturers to in turn urge their
dealers to see their Congressmen also
and discuss the matter with them per-
sonally. ''In writing your dealers,"
says Mr. Furlong, "stress the fact that
there is no immediate prospect of ex-
cise tax removal—and nothing can or
will be done by Congress until January
—but now is the time to lay the
groundwork for support when the new
tax bill is being written.
He then goes on to point out that in
talking or writing about the excise tax
matter to Congressmen, manufacturers
and dealers should be sure to stress the
point that 82% of all pianos are sold
for educational and religious purposes,
also that only 10% are sold directly to
religious and non-profit educational in-
stitutions which are subject to tax ex-
emption under the present laws; that
72% of pianos are purchased for edu-
cational use in the home and receive
no tax exemption.
"Another point that might be worth
stressing," said Mr. Furlong, "is that
pianos and other musical instruments
were first taxed under Section 3404 of
the Internal Revenue Code in the Rev-
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, OCTOBER, 1953
M. Mason. Illinois; Thomas E. Martin,
Iowa; Hal Holmes, Washington; John
W. Byrnes. Wisconsin; Angier L. Good-
win. Massachusetts; Antoni N. Sadlak,
Connecticut; Howard H. Baker, Tennes-
see; Thomas B. Curtis, Missouri; Vic-
tor A. knox. Michigan; James B. Utt,
California; Jere Cooper, Tennessee;
John D. Dingell, Michigan; Wilbur D.
Mills. Arkansas; Noble J. Gregory,
Kentucky; A. Sidney Camp, Georgia;
Aime J. Forand. Rhode Island; Herman
P. Eberharter. Pennsylvania; Cecil R.
King, California; Thomas J. O'Brien,
Illinois, and Hale Boggs, Louisiana.
Finance Committee
JOHN E. FURLONG
enue Act of 1941 as a temporary meas-
ure. This temporary measure is still
in effect 12 years later. You will find
other points in the brief and no doubt
have important points of your own to
stress."
Mr. Furlong then suggests that if
letters are written on this subject copies
should be sent to Jack F. Feddersen, H.
& A. Selmer, Inc., Elkhart, Ind., who is
Chairman of the Excise Tax Committee
of the association.
Enclosed with the letter also is a
list of members of the Ways and Means
Committee of the House of Representa-
tives and also members of the Finance
Committee of the U. S. Senate.
Committee Members
The Ways and Means Committee is
composed of the following: Daniel A.
Reed, New York, Chairman; Thomas A.
Jenkins, Ohio; Richard M. Simpson.
Pennsylvania; Robert W. Kean. New
Jersey; Carl T. Curtis, Nebraska; Noah
The members of the Finance Com-
mittee of the U. S. Senate are: Eugene
D. Millikin. Colorado, Chairman; Hugh
Butler. Nebraska; Edward Martin,
Pennsylvania; John J. Williams, Dela-
ware; Ralph E. Flanders, Vermont;
George W. Malone, Nevada; Frank
Carlson, Kansas; Wallace F. Bennett,
Utah; Walter F. George, Georgia;
Harry Flood Byrd. Virginia; Edwin C.
Johnson. Colorado; Clyde R. Hoey,
North Carolina; Robert S. Kerr. Okla-
homa; J. Allen Frear, Jr.. Delaware,
and Russell B. Long, Louisiana.
In his brief presented to the mem-
bers of the Ways and Means Committee,
Mr. Furlong, after pointing out that he
is Vice-President of Winter & Co. and
President of the National Piano Manu-
facturers Association of America, a
group composed of 23 piano manufac-
turers who produce approximately
87l/>%' of the pianos made in the
United States, plus the principle sup-
pliers to the piano trade, he says:
"I appear before you to request that
the present 10% excise tax be removed