Music Trade Review

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April 20th, 1881.
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
104
FALSE AND FRAUDULENT PRACTICES EXPOSED.
r I "*HE piano and organ trades in this country are, in many respects, pecu-
_L liar, and we cannot think of any other trades, except those of watches
and jewelry, which afford so many opportunities for unprincipled persona
to delude and defraud the public; in fact, we think that, in this respect, in
spite of the vast amovint of pinchbeck jewelry which is foisted upon the public,
at prices out of all propoi'tion to its real value, the trade in pianos and organs
must bear of the palm. In most of the towns and cities of the Upited States
intending purchasers of pianos or organs, have become sufficiently educated
not to trust to their own judgment in regard to the quality of the instru-
ment, but treat the question in the same manner as they would if they
intended purchasing a watch, viz.: they go to some manufacturer or dealer
of established reputation, knowing that although they will have to pay the
said dealer or manufacturer a fair profit on the article he sells them, that at
least they will be reasonably certain of getting a good article; but in the
multitude of small towns and villages scattered over this vast country, there
is a large class of people who think that a piano is a piano, and that the
extra price asked for a good article is only so much additional profit paid to
the manufacturer or dealer.
Of course, in ours as in all other communities, there can be found plenty
of persons unprincipled enough to take advantage of this state of things,
and a glance at almost any of the Western or Southern papers, shows how
rapidly their number is increasing and how largely their misrepresentations
are forced upon the public eye. These persons represent themselves as
manufacturers of the goods they advertise for sale, and in some few cases a
thin disguise is attempted by such parties, by manufacturing instruments
in a small way, or by having a shop in which some repairing is done, so that
if the matter were investigated they could come within the letter of the truth,
although violating its spirit, but in a large majority of such cases, not even
this is attempted, but they openly proclaim themselves as manufacturers of
pianos and organs without ever having made either the one or the other or
having the slightest intention of ever doing so. Their favorite device, and one
on which they are growing fat, is to deceive the public by stating directly
or by implication that the established manufacturers and their agents are
obtaining extortionate prices for the instruments they sell, and by making
the specious plea that they do not employ any agents or middle men to dis-
pose of their instruments, and will give the dear confiding public the benefit
of the huge profit which they assert that the manufacturers and their
agents are extorting from it. This device which we believe was first prac-
ticed by a man whose practices we have recently thoroughly ventilated, has
been successful beyond the thoughts of its inventor, a large crop of imita-
tors has sprung up, and the matter has become so glaring that it is time that
a paper, devoted to the interests of reputable manufacturers, should take
notice of it. The device is such a thin one that it only requires to be looked
at by a person accustomed to business methods to be seen through. In the
first place let a man ask himself this question, why have all reputable manu-
facturers made their sales outside of their own towns, through agents or by
means of branch stores? For the simple reason, that without having some
one in the neighborhood where the sales are made, who is acquainted
with the character and standing in the community of the intending pur-
chaser, and who makes it his particular business to look after these matters
closely, the losses from bad debts or the payments for freight and cartage on
goods returned would absorb the entire profits of the business, and it may
be confidently assumed, without fear of contradiction from any business man,
that the person (be he dealer or manufacturer) who attempts to sell his
instruments without the intervention of an agent or a branch house must be
doing one or two things, either he is compensating himself for the expenses
of carrying on the business in this way by selling a very inferior article for
about the same price as a good one, which he will do if dishonest, or if he is
honest he must necessarily be getting larger prices for the same class of
instruments than are obtained for them when they are sold in the regular
"way.
It may be argued by some that the dealers are making exorbitant profits,
but if this be so, which we doubt, competition will in a very short time cor-
rect it. It has not been our experience, and we have a pretty good acquaint-
ance with the trade, that a dealer or agent has had a " soft thing " all to him-
self for any length of time without interference from outsiders, who wish to
have a share. It is not within the scope of this article to describe all the
various so-called piano and organ companies, and purchasing agencies which
are blatantly advertising themselves; we have contented ourselves with
showing that, business carried on outside of the regular channels must in
the nature of things be suspicious, because, if such a method of dealing di-
rectly with the individual purchaser had been feasible, without the adoption
of improper methods to assist it, the keen business men who are now manu-
facturing pianos and organs would long since have adopted it.
ERNEST GABLER'S STRUGGLE WITH THE TRADE UNION.
FEW days ago I called at Mr. Ernest Gabler's piano factory in East
Twenty-second street, this city, to ascertain what were the prospects
of success in his struggle with the Trade Union. I talked with Mr. Ernest
Gabler and with his brother Emil and found the present condition of the
case to be as follows:
The foremen who remained with Mr. Gabler after the strike commenced are
still with him; several men who were employed by Albert Weber, and who
were discharged by him at the command of the Trade Union, are now work-
ing for Mr. Gabler; these, together with other non-union workmen, varnish-
ers and accessions from other trades, principally cabinet-makers, have
swelled the ranks of his working force until he has now at least fifty men
employed, and their numbers are constantly being increased, every addi-
tional workman rendering the chances of the success of the strikers more
doubtful.
I was pleased to find that Mr. Gabler's prospects of ultimate success in
the manly course he has adopted were so good, and have no doubt that if he
succeeds in his opposition to this tyrannical organization, it will have an
excellent effect on the piano manufacturing business generally in this city.
Repeated yieldingsto the demands of the Trade Union by the manufac-
turers have made that organization overbearing in its demands, and it is
time that some such method as Mr. Gabler is pursuing should be adopted
by the trade, individually if not collectively. The action of the Trade
Union in Mr. Gabler's case was without any just cause and was taken because
they knew that Mr. Gabler had lately met with losses and delays in his business
on account of fire and they thought that as he was anxious to see things
A
running smoothly again that he would yield to their demand for an increase
of wages, and their success with him would render it easier for them to da
the same thing with the other makers as soon as the spring trade opened,
but in this instance they " counted without the host," for I believe that Mr.
Gabler has taken his position in this matter with a full understanding of
the situation and is prepared to '' fight it out on this line if it takes all
summer."
I think it will be generally conceded by the trade that Mr. Gabler's
success in this matter will have a healthy effect upon the relations of the
workmen and their employers throughout the city, if not in the whole
country, and that in making th's stand against the Trade Union he is fight-
ing the battle for the other makers as well as for himself, for it is the opinion
of many well informed persons in the trade that the success of the strike at
Mr. Gabler's factory would have been the signal for a similar demand on
the other makers. Mr. Gabler's success will also have a good effect upon
the workmen, as it will show them that they must depend more upon their
own industry and skill for an increase of earnings than upon the arbitrary
action of their organization. There is and has been altogether too much
dependence by the men upon the power of the Trade Union to force an
increase of wages from the manufacturer and too little dependence on their
ability to make their labor of increased value.
It is well known to every one in the piano making business that in pro-
portion to the skill required and the amount of work performed the work-
men in piano factories are better paid than in any other manufacturing
business in this country or in any other; an inspection of the pay rolls of
any piano manufacturer in this city or elsewhere in the United States will
verify this statement, and it is also well known that the present hiph earnings
of the workmen could be largely augmented by an extension of their
working time; in many cases an increase in their working time to ten hours
per day (which would not be considered oppressive in other occupations where
the work is much heavier than in piano making) would enable them to earn
twenty-five or thirty per cent, more money, but it is only in exceptional
cases that a disposition is shown on their part to avail themselves of what
most men would consider a good chance to better their condition.
It is not the intention of this paper to take the side of the manufacturer ~
against the workman under all circumstances; it would be as quick to de-
nounce any oppression on the part of the manufacturer as it is now in
denouncing the dictatorial methods of the Trade Union, but anyone can see
that the frequent and easy victories of the workmen over their employers
have demoralized and corrupted them, and that their frequent dictation to
their employers about the management of their factories, shows that they are
becoming infected with communistic ideas, and do not fully appreciate what
an important element for their own prosperity as well as that of their em-
ployers the conservation of capital is, nor what rights a man should possess
who embarks his money in a manufacturing business.
If Mr. Gabler should succeed in carrying on his business successfully
despite the efforts of the Trade Union to prevent him, there will then be two
manufacturers in this city who will have shown their ability to cope with
this organization, other manufacturers will not be slow to follow their
example, and the final ending of the whole matter may be quite different
from what the Trade Union expected when it so confidently ordered this
strike. It is the unexpected which frequently happens and the Trade
Union will probably find that its assault was made, not upon the weakest,
but upon the strongest part of the enemy's line.
G. W.
The Smith-American Organ Company's branch, 817 Main Street, Kansas
City,has recently been making some handsome internal and external improve-
ments, which betoken good business tin if t and financial prosperity, as well as
commendable enterprise on the part of Mr. George T. McLaughlin, the man-
ager of this branch house. The business of the Smith-American Organ Com-
pany at Kansas City and throughout the country tributary, has been very large,
and this Popular American Organ is found in the households of hundreds in
Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado, and its popularity, based on recognized
excellence, continually increases the demand for it, speaking well for dura-
bility of make and rare musical qualities. The recent improvements are
made the better to accommodate the greatly augmented trade already
promised for the coming season and henceforth.
D. F. Beatty, according to the daily New York papers, was on the 12th
inst. re-elected Mayor of Washington, N. J., this being his third term. As
D. F. B.'s henchmen, factory employees, advertising staff, etc., etc., are
numerous enough to hold the balance of power among the voters of the vil-
lage of Washington, N. J., there is no reason why the Mayor's terms of office
may not be as numerous as the peculiar stops in one of his organs.
The question of whether there is to be a World's Fair in this city in
1883 is still doubtful, the chances, we regret to say, being against it.
The gentlemen most prominently connected with the enterprise are very
reticent about its prospects, and there seems to be some depressing influence
at work of which the public is not informed. The great transportation com-
panies have not subscribed as liberally as was anticipated, and the million
dollars requisite to start with has not yet been obtained. It is stated that if
the Erie, Baltimore & Ohio, and Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroads
subscribe liberally the managers may be encouraged to go on with the enter-
prise. Cyrus Field's name has been mentioned in connection with tue pres-
idency, but it seems that no official tender of the office has yet been made to
him.
The Melbourne Exhibition will remain open until the end of the present
month, and, as that date draws near the colonists are casting up accounts
and discussing whether or not the expense incurred has produced adequate
results. On the one hand the colonists have given the world a new concep-
tion of the resources of Australia for the production of wine, oil and the
cereals; they have induced the French to open a branch of the National
Bank in Melbourne, and both French and Germans to establish a line of ves-
sels to the colony. On the other hand, the expense has been large and a
gigantic structure remains to be kept up at public expense or suffered to go
to ruin.
Mr. W. Eohlfing, of Wm. Bohlfing & Co., of Milwaukee, Wis., was in
the city last week for the purpose of selecting a new stock of pianos, his
firm having resolved to enlarge their business on May 1. He reports that
the business of his firm is very satisfactory and the demand in his section
good, particularly for the higher grades of instruments.