Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
THE MONEY BROKERS.
HE most active partisan and support-
er of the present administration in
Washington must concede that never in
the history of the U. S. Government has
there been such an utter want of capacity
- ^ . E D W A R D L\MAN
or ability to grasp a serious situation as ex-
Editor and Proprietor.
ists to-day in the administration of the
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY
Treasury Department. A few months ago
we were compelled to witness the spectacle
3 East 14th St., New York
of one of the richest nations in the world,
SUBSCRIPTION (including postage) United States and
Canada, $3.00 per year; Foreign Countries, $4.00.
throwing itself helplessly into the protect-
ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.00 per inch, singlo column, per
insertion. On quarterly or yearly contracts , special dis-
ing arms of a syndicate of bankers who re-
count is allowed.
ceived bonds that were worth 120 at 104 J-4
REMITTANCES, in other than currency form, should
be made payable to Edward Lyman Bill.
on condition that they should practically
Entered at tht New York Post Office as Second-Cla. t Matter. assume a sort of guardianship over the
financial affairs of the country for a certaiu
"THE BUSINESS MAN'S PAPER."
term—that they should administer [certain
duties which, were the authorities at Wash-
ington broad-minded and strong enough to
act, would be entirely unnecessary. This
action was taken to insure the gold reserve
being kept intact, but the situation to-day
shows that the reserve is depleted to the
point of exhaustion, and another bond issue
is probable, if not inevitable. Thus the
country is face to face with another agita-
tion which will tend to interfere somewhat
with business. It will be a short one.
That is certain. Either President Cleve-
land will have to make terms with his
friends in Wall street or immediately call
the new Congress in session to take some
definite action on this matter. The latter
course would be statesmanship, but we
have had such a poor exhibition of it dur-
ing
the present administration, that it is
PATENT GRANTED TO DAVIS.
N the matter of electrical attachinents hardly to be expected at this late day. The
for piano playing, George Howlett syndicate's agreement to keep up the gold
Davis leads. Mr. Davis has much reason reserve until October first, means that the
for feeling elated over his success and of large shipments of gold commencing now
the interest which his invention has creat- can be expected to increase. They are in
ed everywhere. He also has reason for self- the business to make money, to "corner"
congratulation upon the patents granted or "squeeze" the Administration, and
by the Commissioner at Washington thereby make their own terms. It is cer-
last Tuesday, when there was issued to him tainly a pretty sad state of affairs to see the
letters of patent which were broad and United States Government at the mercy of
comprehensive, covering electrical attach- these money brokers.
ments for pianos. The patent granted Mr.
Davis was No. 546,582, and this was issued,
TRADE WITH MEXICO
notwithstanding that the Commissioner
NE of the most important things to
had before him a considerable number of
be considered in connection with
protesting allegations as well. He recog- the enlargement of our trade with Mexico
nized the strength and importance of Mr. is the question of credits. Mexican deal-
Davis' invention, and has given him pa- ers are so fixed that they have to deal with
pers in which the claims admitted are all peculiar conditions of transportation and
that the inventor could ask. It seems that sales, and they find that to them long cred-
the position of THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW its are a necessity. European manufac-
has been fully sustained in this matter by turers recognized this long ago, and as a
Governmental experts. The Electric Self result have built up what looked like an ex-
Playing Piano Co. will open retail ware- clusive commercial control of that country
rooms at 105 Fifth avenue, where the visit- —at least up to a recent date—and have
ing trade can inspect their invention with- done so by studying the needs and condi-
out visiting the uptown factory,
tions of trade in that country.
T
I
• • • • • • • • • • • •
O
The dealers in Mexico like the musical
instruments of American manufacture, and
readily admit their superiority over those
of other countries, but they complain that
our manufacturers are disposed to give
only a few months credit, and, as a general
thing, would very much prefer to receive
payment on delivery.
This subject is a very important one,
and it should not be overlooked by manu-
facturers hoping to do business in Mexico.
It is a mistake to think that merchants
of that country can be changed into our
way of conducting business. The condi-.
tions of the country make it impossible.
A gentleman who has just returned from
an extended tour of the Southern Republic
expressed recently the following views;
they are most important, and fill the bill
exactly. He said:
"One of the most striking features in
commercial affairs in Mexico is the exceed-
ingly few American business houses in that
country, and what is still more striking,
the comparatively few American goods
that one finds on the Mexican markets.
"The principal cause for this undoubt-
edly is found in the fact that the American
merchants desire only short credits; three
months, at most four months, whereas the
Mexicans have been at all times accus-
tomed to as much as nine and twelve
months time in which to settle their ac-
counts. If the American houses cared to
do business on the long credit basis they
would undoubtedly find a rich field in Mex-
ico. While the credit is much longer in
that country it is much safer than in our
own States, because the Mexican laws are
very just and favorable to the creditors.
"Then, too, the foreign concerns have
commercial agents and even extensive
branch houses in the large Mexican com-
mercial centers, by means of which they
can closely watch their field. Their goods,
which are usually articles made for the ex-
port trade to Mexico and South, are not
nearly so popular as the American-made
article."
ONE of the artistic music stores of St.
Louis is that of W. T. Bobbitt, who is do-
ing a fine trade in Weber, Decker & Son
and Kurtzman pianos.
,
v
THE case of Klaber vs. Davis, which was
to come up for hearing yesterday, has been
adjourned until Monday.
PAUL WF.II.BACHER, JR., who for the past
four years has been connected in a confi-
dential way with the New York establish-
ment of Wm. Knabe & Co., has resigned
his position with that firm to engage in the
banking and brokerage business down
town. Mr. Weilbacher's many friends will
wish him success in his new field.