Presto

17
PRESTO
January 3, 1925.
BRITISH-SCOTTISH
AGREEMENT HELD UP
Proposal Regarding the Buying and Selling of
Pianos of British Origin Not Yet Ac-
cepted by Scotch.
The Inter-Association Agreement proposed be-
tween the Music Trades Association of England and
the Scottish Music Merchants Association at a meet-
ing last summer is still "up in the air," as far as the
Scottish party of the second part is concerned.
William Thomson, the Glasgow merchant, in a
recent letter to Presto,, discussed certain terms of
the agreement which were considered impossible of
adoption by. many members of the Scottish trade.
The terms of the proposed agreement between the
manufacturers and retailers as members of the Fed-
eration of British Music Industries follow:
1. With regard to goods of British origin:
(a) The members of the Music Trades' Associa-
tion will agree to confine their purchases to those
manufacturers who are members of the Federation;
(b) Manufacturers who are members of the Federa-
tion will agree only to supply members of the Music
Trades' Association.
2. The objects of the above agreement are:
(a) To assure the co-operation of all dealers and
manufacturers in the stamp system of raising revenue
for the Federation;
(b) To confine supplies of British pianos to those
only who are recognized as bona fide dealers, in order
to eliminate private house trading, and other un-
authorized channels of supply.
3. It is claimed that the agreement will confer
the following advantages on the respective Associa-
tions:
(a) It will have the immediate effect of strengthen-
ing the hands of the Associations concerned;
(b) It will ensure that British pianos will be placed
on the market at prices showing a reasonable margin
of profit.
4. It is further suggested:
(a) That the agreement, if effected, should come
into operation as from the first September next;
(b) That a joint meeting of the Associations con-
cerned be held as soon as possible to consider the
proposals;
(c) That if the agreement is approved in principle,
it is desirable that all manufacturers and distributors
whose co-operation is still to be obtained be ap-
proached forthwith, in order that they may have at
least two months' notice of the proposed agreement;
(d) That it is also desirable that the manufacturers
should obtain the co-operation of the Supply Houses
with the agreement to supply only those manufactur-
ers who are members of the Federation.
Substitute "Scottish Music Merchants' Association"
in place of "Music Trades Association," and trans-
pose clauses (a) and (b) of clause four, and it will
be seen that the proposals are identical.
In commenting on the disagreement with the
agreement expressed at a recent meeting of the West
of Scotland Branch of Scottish Music Merchants'
Association the London Music Trades Review gives
an idea of its own attitude in the affair:
"It is one thing to suggest such an agreement, and
quite another thing to assure its working. Indeed,
we still feel as we stated in our July issue, that such
a scheme for co-operation between manufacturers,
wholesalers and dealers is in the nature of a Utopian
dream. However, far be it from us to pour obliquy
on idealism.
"For the present we urge nothing further for or
against the suggested trade agreement, but simply
point out that it is as easy, adopting the same prem-
ises as urged in favor of it by association officials,
to reach a diametrically opposite conclusion. There-
fore, it is up to the trade in Scotland and this coun-
try to consider, and consider very thoroughly, the
contemplated step."
The Conn-Cleveland Co., Cleveland, O., has added
a large radio department.
AMERICAN BUSINESS A
WORLD STANDARD
Fifteen Principles of Trade Adopted by Chambers of
Commerce the World Over.
Outposts of American business are setting up as
a worldwide standard the ethical code embodied in
the Fifteen Principles of Business Conduct formu-
lated and adopted by the Chamber of Commerce of
the United States at its last annual meeting.
This code, which declares that "the foundation of
business is confidence, which springs from integrity,
fair dealing, efficient service and mutual benefit," has
been ratified by American chambers of commerce at
Shanghai, China; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Havana,
Cuba; Naples and Milan, Italy; Port au Prince, Haiti;
and the Chambers of Commerce in Hawaii, the
Philippines and at Nome, Alaska.
Three hundred and ninety commercial organiza-
tions and trade associations in the United States
have adopted the code as their own and the number
is increasing daily as meetings of these organizations
are held.
Approximately 5,000 firms and corporations in the
United States have also formally adopted the code.
Steps are under consideration by some American
commercial organizations in foreign countries to
bring the code to the attention of the chambers of
commerce of these countries in order that the fifteen
principles enunciated by the Chamber of Commerce
of the United States may serve as an international
guide for business conduct the world over.
UNIQUE PIANO DECORATIONS.
Mrs. Wilson H. Blackwell, composer, singer and
architect, of New York City, has built a Christmas
church on the top of her grand piano in her home at
574 West End avenue. A phonograph concealed
within supplies the chimes and the Yuletide caroling
of the choir.
THE WORLD'S LARGEST PIANO
The world's biggest piano is shown in the accom-
panying cut taken recently at the Senate Theater,
Chicago. It is the twenty-foot long Baldwin grand,
and is in true proportion to the nine-foot Baldwin
concert grand used by artists of the concert stage.
The piano was designed by Richmond Harris, man-
ager of the reproducing piano department of the Bald-
win Piano Company, Chicago, as a feature for the
Senate Theater, and is another instance of his orig-
inality in devising striking ways to direct the atten-
tion of the public to the merits of the Baldwin line.
The photograph from which the accompanying put
was made was taken on the Senate stage when the
piano was first presented as an aid to a variety fea-
ture before an audience numbering over 2,300 people.
The Senate Orchestra, under the leadership of Art
Kahn, recording artist for Columbia records and
Welte-Mignon rolls, gaye the big piano its musical
baptism-
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