Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
tunities for amendments, but the interests
of the country demand speedy action.
The deficiency under the present law is
almost $47,000,000 and it is steadily grow-
ing. With this condition facing us, the
nation cannot prosper, nor can the business
- ^ • E D W A R D LYMAN BILL
men of the country hope for that security
Editor and Proprietor.
and confidence which insure a positive
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY
improvement in business.
3 East 14th St., New York
There is no doubt as to how this country
feels in the matter of the tariff. We have
SUBSCRIPTION (Including: postage) United States and
Canada, $3.00 per year; Foreign Countries, $4.00.
asked for it, and the opposition of theorists
ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.00 per inch, single column, per
insertion. On quarterly or yearly contracts a special dis-
and those corporations feeling aggrieved,
count is allowed.
REMITTANCES, in other than currency form, should
such as the sugar trust, for example, should
be made payable to Edward Lyman BilL
not be allowed to perpetuate the unparal-
Bnttrtd at ths New York Post Offica as Second- Class MmtUr.
leled business conditions which have now
NEW YORK, flARCH 20, 1897.
held out for four years, but which none are
willing or expect to face for a fifth.
TELEPHONE NUMBER 1743. - EIGHTEENTH STREET.
The Republican party has installed its
policy and is fulfulling its pledges, and
The first week of each month, The Review
will contain a supplement embodying the liter- Congress will be obeying the wishes of the
ary and musical features which have heretofore people by passing this measure at the earli-
appeared in The Keynote. This amalgamation
will be effected without in any way trespassing est possible moment. We do not want a
on our regular news service. The Review will repetition of the year of "talk " and shame-
continue to remain, as before, essentially a trade ful deals which distinguished the passage
paper.
of the Wilson Bill.
The Trade Directory, which is a feature of
The business of the country is already
The Review each month, is complete. In it ap-
pears the names and addresses of all firms en- seriously disrupted, and the sooner agita-
gaged in the manufacture of musical instruments
and the allied trades. The Review is sent to tion of all kinds is quieted so that we can
the United States Consulates throughout the get a chance to breathe and see our way
world, and is on file in the reading rooms of the ahead, the better.
principal hotels in America. -
No doubt the bill presented to the House
last Monday will be amended in many re-
ITHOUT any delay and according to spects before it becomes a law, but it is
the plans outlined by President Me- safe to prognosticate that the duties quoted
Kinley, the new tariff bill was introduced in on musical instruments will practically re-
the House of Representatives last Monday. main unchanged.
In another part of this paper will be found
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extracts from the measure which affect the
At a recent meeting of the Board of
manufacturers of musical instruments and
Directors of the Bank of the Metropolis,
concomitant products.
Chas. H. Steinway was elected to the direc-
There is a substantial increase in the
torate of that well-known financial institu-
duty on the majority of items quoted. On
tion. For many years Wm. Steinway was
musical instruments and parts thereof—of
one of the directors of the Bank, ard it is
which $1,314,560.05 worth were imported
certainly a deserved compliment paid to
up to June 30, '96, the last fiscal year—the
the ability of his nephew in electing him
duty has been increased ten per cent. Pi-
to the directorate of this institution. The
ano wire, of whicn $330,098 worth were
Bank of the Metropolis, from its extensive
imported during the same period, has been
dealings with the music trade, has been
increased five per cent. There is also a
oftentimes termed the great music-trade
substantial increase in the duty on felts.
bank, and its officers and directors are
Unmanufactured ivory and catgut are on
among of the best known men in financial
the free list, and as the importations of
and business circles in New York.
manufactured articles of these products do
not at the present time individually amount
in value to a thousand dollars a year there
For years we have persistently advocated
will be but little change in the cost of these the formation of a music trade association
articles.
on national lines. When we succeeded in
W
Now that the measure has been intro-
duced, the next important thing is to get
it out of the way just as soon as possible.
Extensive "deliberation" or studied oppo-
sition should not be tolerated. There will
be debates as a matter of course and oppor-
firmly adhered to our principles declared
years ago, maintaining that the time
must come when the members of this in-
dustry would find it necessary, in order to
preserve their own interests, to form a na-
tional association on such broad and com-
prehensive lines as to include in its work-
ings the matter of credits, freight discrim-
inations and all other legitimate objects,
which should have as its basic principle
the maintenance of trade stability and
honor.
It seems now that the American Piano
Manufacturers' Association, commonly
termed the New York Association, at last
have decided to further extend the work-
ings of their organization.
At a meeting held in the office of Chas.
H. Steinway last Saturday, it was decided
to send out invitations to the different
piano manufacturers, asking them to join
with the New York Association in perfect-
ing a national organization. The matter
now rests with the executive committee,
consisting of Chas. H. Steinway, Wm. E.
Wheelock, Robt. Widenmann, and Louis
P. Bach.
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A bill has been introduced in Albany
by Senator Martin "making it unlawful
for any person or persons who carry on
business in this State to advertise for sale
or to sell at retail any article of merchandise,
that is not damaged or otherwise depre-
ciated in value, at less than its cost price,
or at a price so low as to injure any other
retail merchant offering for sale or selling
similar articles of merchandise."
We are not quite sure but this bill was
specially designed to apply to certain piano
dealers who are selling instruments at such
a price as to incite the query. "How do
they do it? "
Anyone but Senator Martin would suppose
that persons habitually selling goods below
cost would soon ruin themselves and so
cease to injure competitors.
We take it that the object of this pur-
posed governmental censorship is to prevent
merchants from getting rich and no one
can get rich by selling goods at or below
cost.
Now the next thing in order should be a
bill determining the cost of an article and
the price at which it should be sold and this
can be effected by commissions, suitable
legislation, followed by the appointment of
launching an association with such aims in officials, etc. Then look for the Mil-
view years ago we were successfully antag- lennium.
onized by those who sought through jeal-
Seriously, the amount of freak legislation
ous motives to divert the workings of the which has cropped up in all parts of the
association to merely social lines. In this country this spring would be serious were
they accomplished their aim, but we have there any possibility of its enactment. The