Music Trade Review
Issue: 1897 Vol. 24 N. 26 - Page 7
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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
From the Editor's Note Book.
HE other day while chatting
with a manufacturer, not one
of the indigo sort either, he
said, "I read with interest
the letters which were pub-
lished in The Review in re-
ply to inquiries which were sent out from
your office regarding business conditions,
and I am led to believe that they formed
collectively a good trade barometer. I have
orders from a number of dealers this week
from whom I expected nothing until later
on for fall trade. Their orders show that
they are selling goods, and that their pro-
spects for summer trade are by no means
poor; that their business hopes are not
extinguished, on the contrary, they are
brightening up considerably. I note too,
that the factories in other lines are busy.
In the South the iron business is stead-
ily growing, and I notice that in Bir-
mingham that there will be extensive
additions made to the iron plants in that
thrifty town."
I replied, "I think your predictions will
be fully realized; but a strange part of the
situation is that in some localities it is ex-
ceedingly dull while in the adjoining town
times are very good. I noticed particu-
larly how these conditions prevailed in
New England while there on a recent trip.
In some towns I found dealers who were
feeling in a very buoyant frame of mind
over their conditions, while in a city not
twenty_miles away everything seemed flat,
and the'warerooms wore a deserted appear-
ance.
"To my mind these peculiar conditions
are the natural outcome of the depressed
times which have existed during the past
three or four years."
The other day a friend of mine, a
dealer who lives not a thousand miles from
New York, dropped in to see me, and was
complaining bitterly of trade conditions.
He was hurling wordy pyrotechnics in
which there was a modicum of profanity
at the inactivity and indifference of our
servants in Congress. This week he ran in
to see me again and his mood had changed
completely. He was a different man.
"How is trade?" I asked. "Judging
from your appearance something must
have occurred over in your vicinity which
has caused you to don that bland June like
smile."
"And there has," he replied. "You
know one day last week I sold five pianos."
"What—and lived?" I gasped. I knew
that a piano or two a week was a pretty
good average for him.
"Yes,"he said, "I have never felt better
in my life. Got fine prices, and a good
bit of cash down on each sale, and I have
three sales which I think will come my
way next week."
And that is the way the trade tides go.
Trade is fickle; it is elusive, but still there
is trade, and it comes in at a most unex-
pected time.
*
*
*
*
At the factories for the next sixty days
of course the summer quietness will pre-
vail, but I think that summer trade will
be better than last. There are unmistak-
able indications which point to better
times. With the tariff bill once out of
the way,—and it is to be fondly hoped
that the second week in July will have
ended the discussion on that important
measure, — business will at once feel
the rejuvenating influences which come
with fixed tariff laws.
*
*
*
*
There are few men better fitted by exper-
ience and training to express an opinion
anent business conditions and business pros-
pects than James G. Cannon, vice-presi-
dent of the Fourth National Bank of this
city, and who was elected president of the
National Credit Men's Association at its
recent convention in Kansas City.
When interviewed last week on his ar-
rival home he gave expression to the very
bullish impression of the general business
situation which he obtained during his trip
West and his interviews with the delegates
to the convention. The association has a
membership of nearly two thousand repre-
sentatives of the best mercantile houses in
the country, nearly three hundred of whom
were at the convention as delegates, each
local association being entitled to a certain
number of delegates, according to its mem-
bership. Twenty-three States were repre-
sented in the convention, the delegates
coming from as far West as Portland, Ore.,
and Los Angeles, Cal., as well as from St.
Paul, Minn.; Boston, Mass., and New Or-
leans, La. Representatives were present
from every large jobbing center in the
United States. A careful canvass of the
delegates present, he says, indicated that
the consensus of opinion was that the gen-
eral business situation throughout the coun-
try was steadily improving. The price of
merchandise is on a firmer basis, and mer-
chants express the opinion that they will
not be obliged to conduct their business on a
falling market, as was the case last year.
Crop prospects throughout the West are
very encouraging, and cool weather, fol-
lowed by abundant rains, together with
warm growing weather, has brought every-
thing rapidly forward. The farmers are
receiving better prices for their cattle, and
if the price of corn and wheat can be main-
tained the merchants look for a very pros-
perous condition of affairs throughout the
West this fall. The members of the associ-
ation, he added, were all hopeful of an early
settlement of the tariff question, and were
very much pleased with the remarks of
Secretary Gage as to the policy of the ad-
ministration regarding financial questions.
They were heartily in favor of the appoint-
ment of a currency commission, and a res-
olution to that effect, offered by the Minne-
sota delegation, was unanimously adopted.
Besides this a great many questions of in-
terest to the mercantile community were
discussed, among which were uniform
statements. A resolution was adopted au-
thorizing the preparation of such statement
blanks for the use of the members of the
association throughout the United States.
Many other topics of like nature were con-
sidered. The association has a paid secre-
tary, who devotes his entire time and at-
tention to its affairs, and these matters will
be brought before the membership at an
early date. Kansas City is rapidly recov-
ering from its past depression, and there
seems to be a marked improvement in bus-
iness in that locality. "I was agreeably
surprised,'' continued Mr. Cannon, "to find
there was much less talk on the silver ques-
tion throughout the West, and I come back
feeling very much encouraged as to the
business outlook. With bright prospects
for his crop and $5 to $10 a head more for
his cattle, the farmer is less inclined to go
wild on financial heresies." The convention
indorsed the Torrey Bankruptcy Bill.
*
*
*
*
I always like to say a good word for the
Malcolm Love piano. In the first place,
instruments bearing that name are care-
fully constructed, the closest attention is
paid to every detail, and no piano is al-
lowed to leave the Malcolm Love factory
unless it has undergone the most critical
scrutin)'. Mr. Love and his confreres
deserve credit for placing a high grade
piano on the market and forcing it to the
front "as they have during the depressed
times for the past two years. MalcoJm
Love pinned his faith to the belief that a
high grade piano would succeed, and it
seems that he has built on a pretty.stable
foundation.
*
•
*
*
Wonder who started on its travels the
fallacy that 95 out of every 100 business
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
From the Editor's Note Book.
HE other day while chatting
with a manufacturer, not one
of the indigo sort either, he
said, "I read with interest
the letters which were pub-
lished in The Review in re-
ply to inquiries which were sent out from
your office regarding business conditions,
and I am led to believe that they formed
collectively a good trade barometer. I have
orders from a number of dealers this week
from whom I expected nothing until later
on for fall trade. Their orders show that
they are selling goods, and that their pro-
spects for summer trade are by no means
poor; that their business hopes are not
extinguished, on the contrary, they are
brightening up considerably. I note too,
that the factories in other lines are busy.
In the South the iron business is stead-
ily growing, and I notice that in Bir-
mingham that there will be extensive
additions made to the iron plants in that
thrifty town."
I replied, "I think your predictions will
be fully realized; but a strange part of the
situation is that in some localities it is ex-
ceedingly dull while in the adjoining town
times are very good. I noticed particu-
larly how these conditions prevailed in
New England while there on a recent trip.
In some towns I found dealers who were
feeling in a very buoyant frame of mind
over their conditions, while in a city not
twenty_miles away everything seemed flat,
and the'warerooms wore a deserted appear-
ance.
"To my mind these peculiar conditions
are the natural outcome of the depressed
times which have existed during the past
three or four years."
The other day a friend of mine, a
dealer who lives not a thousand miles from
New York, dropped in to see me, and was
complaining bitterly of trade conditions.
He was hurling wordy pyrotechnics in
which there was a modicum of profanity
at the inactivity and indifference of our
servants in Congress. This week he ran in
to see me again and his mood had changed
completely. He was a different man.
"How is trade?" I asked. "Judging
from your appearance something must
have occurred over in your vicinity which
has caused you to don that bland June like
smile."
"And there has," he replied. "You
know one day last week I sold five pianos."
"What—and lived?" I gasped. I knew
that a piano or two a week was a pretty
good average for him.
"Yes,"he said, "I have never felt better
in my life. Got fine prices, and a good
bit of cash down on each sale, and I have
three sales which I think will come my
way next week."
And that is the way the trade tides go.
Trade is fickle; it is elusive, but still there
is trade, and it comes in at a most unex-
pected time.
*
*
*
*
At the factories for the next sixty days
of course the summer quietness will pre-
vail, but I think that summer trade will
be better than last. There are unmistak-
able indications which point to better
times. With the tariff bill once out of
the way,—and it is to be fondly hoped
that the second week in July will have
ended the discussion on that important
measure, — business will at once feel
the rejuvenating influences which come
with fixed tariff laws.
*
*
*
*
There are few men better fitted by exper-
ience and training to express an opinion
anent business conditions and business pros-
pects than James G. Cannon, vice-presi-
dent of the Fourth National Bank of this
city, and who was elected president of the
National Credit Men's Association at its
recent convention in Kansas City.
When interviewed last week on his ar-
rival home he gave expression to the very
bullish impression of the general business
situation which he obtained during his trip
West and his interviews with the delegates
to the convention. The association has a
membership of nearly two thousand repre-
sentatives of the best mercantile houses in
the country, nearly three hundred of whom
were at the convention as delegates, each
local association being entitled to a certain
number of delegates, according to its mem-
bership. Twenty-three States were repre-
sented in the convention, the delegates
coming from as far West as Portland, Ore.,
and Los Angeles, Cal., as well as from St.
Paul, Minn.; Boston, Mass., and New Or-
leans, La. Representatives were present
from every large jobbing center in the
United States. A careful canvass of the
delegates present, he says, indicated that
the consensus of opinion was that the gen-
eral business situation throughout the coun-
try was steadily improving. The price of
merchandise is on a firmer basis, and mer-
chants express the opinion that they will
not be obliged to conduct their business on a
falling market, as was the case last year.
Crop prospects throughout the West are
very encouraging, and cool weather, fol-
lowed by abundant rains, together with
warm growing weather, has brought every-
thing rapidly forward. The farmers are
receiving better prices for their cattle, and
if the price of corn and wheat can be main-
tained the merchants look for a very pros-
perous condition of affairs throughout the
West this fall. The members of the associ-
ation, he added, were all hopeful of an early
settlement of the tariff question, and were
very much pleased with the remarks of
Secretary Gage as to the policy of the ad-
ministration regarding financial questions.
They were heartily in favor of the appoint-
ment of a currency commission, and a res-
olution to that effect, offered by the Minne-
sota delegation, was unanimously adopted.
Besides this a great many questions of in-
terest to the mercantile community were
discussed, among which were uniform
statements. A resolution was adopted au-
thorizing the preparation of such statement
blanks for the use of the members of the
association throughout the United States.
Many other topics of like nature were con-
sidered. The association has a paid secre-
tary, who devotes his entire time and at-
tention to its affairs, and these matters will
be brought before the membership at an
early date. Kansas City is rapidly recov-
ering from its past depression, and there
seems to be a marked improvement in bus-
iness in that locality. "I was agreeably
surprised,'' continued Mr. Cannon, "to find
there was much less talk on the silver ques-
tion throughout the West, and I come back
feeling very much encouraged as to the
business outlook. With bright prospects
for his crop and $5 to $10 a head more for
his cattle, the farmer is less inclined to go
wild on financial heresies." The convention
indorsed the Torrey Bankruptcy Bill.
*
*
*
*
I always like to say a good word for the
Malcolm Love piano. In the first place,
instruments bearing that name are care-
fully constructed, the closest attention is
paid to every detail, and no piano is al-
lowed to leave the Malcolm Love factory
unless it has undergone the most critical
scrutin)'. Mr. Love and his confreres
deserve credit for placing a high grade
piano on the market and forcing it to the
front "as they have during the depressed
times for the past two years. MalcoJm
Love pinned his faith to the belief that a
high grade piano would succeed, and it
seems that he has built on a pretty.stable
foundation.
*
•
*
*
Wonder who started on its travels the
fallacy that 95 out of every 100 business
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