Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
realized, when I saw the boot bend upward,
the appropriateness of his remark when he en-
tered. How that boot did hump!
I learn that there was a big fire in Syracuse
last night, and that the piano stock of Leiter
Bros, and W. W. Kimball Co. was completely
destroyed. I will send particulars later.
The " Everett" Piano in New York.
The superbly handsome new Everett build-
ing is rapidly approaching completion, and it
is probable that before our next issue a fine
consignment of the Everett instruments will
be safely ensconced within the precincts of
the new Everett home on Fifth Avenue.
Jt is not always wise to prognosticate, but,
if best wishes go for anything, the John
Church Co.'s metropolitan departure is al-
ready an assured success.
We will not dilate on the magnificent repu-
tation of the Cincinnati house; the officers are
so well known to the trade that eulogy seems
almost out of place.
Suffice it to say that President Frank Lee
is undeniably one of the very foremost men
in the American music trade, and has given
added proof of his perspicuity by placing A.
M. Wright in full charge of the Eastern
branch.
Knowing Mr. Wright as we do, we are
fully aware that personal reference is not only
undesired, but distasteful. We, nevertheless,
are of the opinion that in engaging his ser-
vices as manager, the John Church Company
have secured a gentleman of spotless reputa-
tion, of magnificent energy, possessing all the
qualifications essential to the proper conduct-
ing of large business interests—a man who
will not only think but work, and who can
safely be relied upon to steer the ship of state
into safe waters.
Duty on Pianos Should be Cut Down.
W.
H. JOHNSON SPEAKS FOR THE DEALERS
GRAND PIANO TRADE INJURED /EOLIANS
AT TWENTY PER CENT TARIFF.
The commission appointed by the Canadi-
an Government to inquire into the work-
ing of the tariff laws in that country, with the
object of reducing present duties, held a .ses-
sion in Halifax, N. S., last Saturday. Among
those who appeared before the commissioners
was W. H. Johnson, of the W. H. Johnson
piano company, who spoke on behalf of the
piano dealers of the country. He said that the
average Canadian piano compares favorably
with any other. Fie thought the tariff should
be dealt with cautiously, and, while a believer
in a moderate amount of protection, he was
not in favor of prohibition. The duty on
" actions " should be reduced, and at the same
time the duty on pianos should be cut down,
as it was high in proportion. Imported grand
pianos have been almost driven from the mar-
ket, while as yet Canadian firms have hardly
attempted their manufacture. He asked that
the duty on /Eolians, which the commission-
ers seemed to know little about, should be ad-
mitted at a 20 per cent, tariff.
PERTINENT COMMENTS
UPON TIMELY TOPICS OF GENERAL IN-
TEREST TO THE TRADE BY WRITERS IN
OUR EXCHANGES.
MODERN BUSINESS METHODS—Points Worth Con-
sidering.
To successfully conduct any business vent-
ure is daily becoming more a work of the head
and less of the hands. By this we mean that
the one who is in charge of an enterprise, of
even moderate proportions, can usually de-
vote his time to better advantage by a careful
scrutiny of his business methods and a fre-
quent revision of the same than by taking a
too active a part in the mechanical work, or
what might be called the mere details. That
man is to be pined who does not deem it nec-
essary to spend a portion of his time in search-
ing out the why and the wherefore of other
men's successes and failures. Yet there are a
number of men in every line of work who re-
fuse to put such assignments on their daily
programme.
May it not be attributed to this that there
are so many cases where a business is con-
ducted successfully for a few years and then a
retrogression sets in which ultimately results
in failure? Perhaps clerks or employees leave
a position, having saved a few hundred dollars,
and in ten or fifteen years own a stock, store,
building, or perchance a factory. Then follow
a few years of apparent prosperity, culminat-
ing in sudden collapse. Was it owing to too
much conservatism or a contrary course? asks
" Facts." Undoubtedly, in many cases, the
error is directly traceable to a lack of keeping
in sympathy with the trade in general and in
touch with the new methods. In other words,
the manufacturer or merchant gets an idea
that he knows everything worth knowing in
regard to the industry in which he is engaged.
He looks with derision upon innovations and
with suspicion upon those who inaugurate
them. Quite likely he reaches a point where
he says to himself that he knows more than
the writers in the trade press, and conse-
quently has no use for such journals. Prog-
ress goes on, however, and does so in spite of
the fact that he shuts his eyes and ears to it.
That is why younger and more progressive
firms are constantly displacing older ones.
At the same time it is gratifying to know that
ther are many striking illustrations where
there is continued development in the proper
direction, until it is truly amazing to learn
how much valuable information the house has
acquired in the rigid school of business ex-
perience, and what an enviable and strong
position it is enabled to hold in consequence
thereof.
EXPANSION OF CREDITS-What they Result in.
Ask any business man as to the cause of
panics and he will, in nine cases out of ten,
promptly respond that it is due to the loss of
confidence. While this may be the last visible
link broken in the chain of business, it is not
the prime cause by a long way. The real
trouble lies in the immense expansion of cred-
its, and if such were not the case lack of con-
fidence would not create a panic.
The immense extent of credits given by the
business men of this country is partially
shown by the amount of bank loans and dis-
counts, which at any particular time in this
country is nearly three billion dollars. This
means that there is that much expansion of
credits over and above the actual capital in-
vested in business. Is it any wonder that
when times are such as to cause a lack of con-
fidence that a panic should result? When
there are so many doing business upon bor-
rowed money instead of money of their own,
and when their margins of assets above lia-
bilities are so small, any decline in prices or
losses by bad debts takes away all their mar-
gin of profits and leaves them really in an in-
solvent condition.
It is easy to state that all that is necessary
to prevent panics is to prevent a loss of con-
fidence. But how to prevent a loss of confi-
dence when the business men of the country
know that a large share of the business done
is purely on borrowed capital is not an easy
thing to do. The experience of '93 and of the
past year shows that if one creditor begins
to press another, and the pressure is continued
around the circle, there may be a whole chain
of failures on account of inability to pay upon
demand. This is what causes a general pros-
tration of business.
The great expansion of credits causes an
extreme sensitiveness in business conditions,
which is quickly affected by adverse reports
on crops, or by an importation or exportation
of a few million of dollars in gold or by news
of a war scare. Any of these things is suffi-
cient to put business into a state of perturba-
tion.
How different things would be if the business
of the country was really transacted on a credit
proportioned to the actual capital involved,
says the Dry Goods " Reporter." Then there
would be no particular danger from loss of
confidence, for every dealer would feel com-
paratively sure that he would be able to meet
the demands made upon him. The man with
a hundred dollar capital who is doing a mill-
ion dollar business is the one who is always
afraid of this loss of confidence. The man
with an abundance of capital for the amount
of business he is doing need not worry about
such a condition of things, for he is conducting
his business on a stable basis. Just so long as
the business men of this country expand their
credits so enormously, just so long will there
come these periodical panics. The history of
the past shows this to be the case, and experi-
ence also shows with every revival of good
times there is a still greater increase in the
expansion of credits, so that the day of reck-
oning must come the sooner.
There is no legislation that we know of
which can affect the real condition of things,
but it must rest with the business men of the
country themselves whether they shall con-
duct business on a stable basis or on one of
expansion, with the consequent loss of con-
fidence and its resultant panic.
AVERAGES TO BUSINESS—Application of the Law.
The average man comes to business about
the same time every morning, pursues the
same routine during the day, and finishes his
work at the same hour. The causes which last
year actuated him to put forth greater effort
during the busy season are most likely present