Music Trade Review
Issue: 1900 Vol. 31 N. 3 - Page 5
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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
transactions in every other city in the
land. If Mr. Blake has been monkeying
with the wind of piano misrepresentation
he will reap the whirlwind of trade con-
demnation.
We are gradually working out into a
purer trade atmosphere, and it is only
a question of a comparatively brief time
before the matter of fake sales as well
as commissions and all kindred trade
evils will have reached a point of innoccu-
ousness.
In New York there has been placed upon
the statutes recently a law which declares
guilty of a misdemeanor any person or per-
sons who shall do business under any as-
sumed name or under any designation,
name or style, corporate or otherwise,
other than his own real name without fil-
ing a certificate prescribed by law with
the county clerk.
No one can question but that this law
is a step in the right direction. It re-
moves fake concerns from competition with
regularly organized business institutions,
and the piano merchants of New York
State should recollect that such a law now
exists, and that when they meet any com-
petition which is legally "fake " they can
immediately suppress the offenders. The
penalty provided in such a case is a fine not
exceeding $500 or imprisonment for not
more than one year, or both.
The legitimate trade of the entire coun-
try manifests an interest to drive all dis-
honest competition out of business.
KINDS OF CREDIT.
/CONFIDENCE, after all, is the basis of
^ ^ credit, and without credit the vol-
ume of business can be reduced to a pitiful
figure in this and in all other trades.
But how different the terms between
bank credit and mercantile credit. Does
it occur to the merchant when buying his
goods on credit, that the transaction is es-
sentially the same as borrowing money
from a bank?
Goods represent money. Money was
paid for them by the manufacturer, and
for the time the manufacturer's capital is
in the goods. Lending his capital, that is
his merchandise, out on credit, is the same
as lending the actual dollars of the bank;
for the specified time given the merchant
has borrowed the capital of the manufac-
turer, and yet how different the transaction
is condu, "ed in the separate cases.
In the case of the bank, to obtain a loan
of capital the borrower must show his abil-
ity to meet the debt, he must oftentimes
furnish security in the shape of an en-
dorser or collateral, and he must meet the
note on the very day it falls due. In the
case of the merchant; he sometimes resents
enquiries regarding himself. Goods are
furnished without any security, and too
frequently the manufacturer does not get
his money on the date that the notes fall
due. In many cases the notes become
long drawn out and there is considerable
expense in their final collection.
Some may say that the manufacturer
has a profit on his wares that justifies the
additional risk of his capital. The truth is
the manufacturing profits have steadily
been reduced on all lines of goods, and to-
day the profit of the manufacturer is re-
duced to a very small point, a slight re-
ward for the labor and talent in conduct-
ing business enterprises and as interest on
his capital.
The banker has absolute security and in-
terest counting up all the time. Still
there are some who are eternally howling
about the huge profits of manufacturing
enterprises. They have been tremendous-
ly reduced in all lines of trade. The piano
industry, in common with others, has suf-
fered in a reduction of profits, and too
often in this industry what appears on the
face to be a fair profit is cut down by sub-
sequent demands from dealers in the shape
of rebates, and sometimes ridiculous claims
are allowed simply to keep on good terms
with the dealer and retain him. There is
an awful lot of tommyrot which has crept
into business dealings which can only be
removed by using a little more common
sense. The nearer we approach true busi-
ness lines, the better it will be for every
one concerned.
The honest dealer will be benefited as
well as the manufacturer.
IMPORTANT DECISION.
A N interesting legal decision appears in
another portion of The Review—page
27—where a superior court judge of Mass-
achusetts has placed an injunction per-
petually restraining a zither concern from
making or selling any zither like that of
the plaintiff, which was the Flagg Manu-
facturing Co.
This is an interesting decision for it
goes farther than any before on record,
and gives the manufacturer who first puts
an article of distinctive appearance on the
market the right to get an injunction
against other manufacturers who imitate
such articles with the intention to profit
by the enterprise of others.
If the legal decision of Judge Bradley
were adopted universally, it would practi-
cally prohibit the operations of what we
may term piano case imitators, for it is an
obvious fact that there are a number of
manufacturers who place upon the market
cases which are nothing more nor less than
reproductions of styles which the originate
ors have devoted considerable time, money
and skill to originate. This is an inter-
esting decision and it might not be in very
bad form for some of our manufacturers
whose preserves have been poached upon
to a large extent by imitators to make a
test case of some of them in other courts.
The decision of Judge Bradley would cer-
tainly stand as a precedent.
IT IS NOT LUCK.
INTERESTING figures regarding the
foreign commerce of America are pre-
sented in another portion of The Review.
According to our special report, the total
foreign commerce of the United States
during the fiscal year 1900 is three hun-
dred and twenty million dollars greater
than that of 1899, and the foreign com-
merce of this country for the first time in
the fiscal year record crossed the two bil-
lion dollar line. With such amazing figures
to show, woiild it not be a national calam-
ity to substitute in place of the present
wise administration one laden with theories
and isms, none of which are practical. It
is not " Republican luck," as some allege,
which has sustained the present party in
power. It is that same kind of luck which
builds a successful business institution.
For, after all, the United States Govern-
ment is nothing more nor less than a gigan-
tic business institution, the largest of its
kind in the world, and when it is ruled by
correct governing principles, all have con-
fidence in it and business is good.
ANOTHER TRUST DISAPPEARS.
/^\N Tuesday by a practically unanimous
vote, the stockholders of the National
Wall Paper Co., capitalized at $38,000,000,
and popularly known as the Wall Paper
Trust, decided to dissolve the corporation.
Outside competition and the demands of
the trade for goods identified with indi-
vidual manufacturers forced the abandon-
ment of the combination. In no industry
is there the demand for wares identified
with individual manufacturers that there
is in the piano industry, and when such a
combination as The Wall Paper Trust dis-
solves on account of that reason it proves
the utter impracticability of the existence
of a piano trust.
T H E man who stated that the truest test
of a man's friendship was his willing-
ness to lend money, was contradicted the
other day by the perennial borrower who
stated the real test occurs when you strike
a man for the second loan.
T H E old-time summer festivals of manu-
facturers and men seem to have de-
parted. There are some who still religi-
ously adhere to the ancient traditions, but
as a whole, the interest has materially
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
transactions in every other city in the
land. If Mr. Blake has been monkeying
with the wind of piano misrepresentation
he will reap the whirlwind of trade con-
demnation.
We are gradually working out into a
purer trade atmosphere, and it is only
a question of a comparatively brief time
before the matter of fake sales as well
as commissions and all kindred trade
evils will have reached a point of innoccu-
ousness.
In New York there has been placed upon
the statutes recently a law which declares
guilty of a misdemeanor any person or per-
sons who shall do business under any as-
sumed name or under any designation,
name or style, corporate or otherwise,
other than his own real name without fil-
ing a certificate prescribed by law with
the county clerk.
No one can question but that this law
is a step in the right direction. It re-
moves fake concerns from competition with
regularly organized business institutions,
and the piano merchants of New York
State should recollect that such a law now
exists, and that when they meet any com-
petition which is legally "fake " they can
immediately suppress the offenders. The
penalty provided in such a case is a fine not
exceeding $500 or imprisonment for not
more than one year, or both.
The legitimate trade of the entire coun-
try manifests an interest to drive all dis-
honest competition out of business.
KINDS OF CREDIT.
/CONFIDENCE, after all, is the basis of
^ ^ credit, and without credit the vol-
ume of business can be reduced to a pitiful
figure in this and in all other trades.
But how different the terms between
bank credit and mercantile credit. Does
it occur to the merchant when buying his
goods on credit, that the transaction is es-
sentially the same as borrowing money
from a bank?
Goods represent money. Money was
paid for them by the manufacturer, and
for the time the manufacturer's capital is
in the goods. Lending his capital, that is
his merchandise, out on credit, is the same
as lending the actual dollars of the bank;
for the specified time given the merchant
has borrowed the capital of the manufac-
turer, and yet how different the transaction
is condu, "ed in the separate cases.
In the case of the bank, to obtain a loan
of capital the borrower must show his abil-
ity to meet the debt, he must oftentimes
furnish security in the shape of an en-
dorser or collateral, and he must meet the
note on the very day it falls due. In the
case of the merchant; he sometimes resents
enquiries regarding himself. Goods are
furnished without any security, and too
frequently the manufacturer does not get
his money on the date that the notes fall
due. In many cases the notes become
long drawn out and there is considerable
expense in their final collection.
Some may say that the manufacturer
has a profit on his wares that justifies the
additional risk of his capital. The truth is
the manufacturing profits have steadily
been reduced on all lines of goods, and to-
day the profit of the manufacturer is re-
duced to a very small point, a slight re-
ward for the labor and talent in conduct-
ing business enterprises and as interest on
his capital.
The banker has absolute security and in-
terest counting up all the time. Still
there are some who are eternally howling
about the huge profits of manufacturing
enterprises. They have been tremendous-
ly reduced in all lines of trade. The piano
industry, in common with others, has suf-
fered in a reduction of profits, and too
often in this industry what appears on the
face to be a fair profit is cut down by sub-
sequent demands from dealers in the shape
of rebates, and sometimes ridiculous claims
are allowed simply to keep on good terms
with the dealer and retain him. There is
an awful lot of tommyrot which has crept
into business dealings which can only be
removed by using a little more common
sense. The nearer we approach true busi-
ness lines, the better it will be for every
one concerned.
The honest dealer will be benefited as
well as the manufacturer.
IMPORTANT DECISION.
A N interesting legal decision appears in
another portion of The Review—page
27—where a superior court judge of Mass-
achusetts has placed an injunction per-
petually restraining a zither concern from
making or selling any zither like that of
the plaintiff, which was the Flagg Manu-
facturing Co.
This is an interesting decision for it
goes farther than any before on record,
and gives the manufacturer who first puts
an article of distinctive appearance on the
market the right to get an injunction
against other manufacturers who imitate
such articles with the intention to profit
by the enterprise of others.
If the legal decision of Judge Bradley
were adopted universally, it would practi-
cally prohibit the operations of what we
may term piano case imitators, for it is an
obvious fact that there are a number of
manufacturers who place upon the market
cases which are nothing more nor less than
reproductions of styles which the originate
ors have devoted considerable time, money
and skill to originate. This is an inter-
esting decision and it might not be in very
bad form for some of our manufacturers
whose preserves have been poached upon
to a large extent by imitators to make a
test case of some of them in other courts.
The decision of Judge Bradley would cer-
tainly stand as a precedent.
IT IS NOT LUCK.
INTERESTING figures regarding the
foreign commerce of America are pre-
sented in another portion of The Review.
According to our special report, the total
foreign commerce of the United States
during the fiscal year 1900 is three hun-
dred and twenty million dollars greater
than that of 1899, and the foreign com-
merce of this country for the first time in
the fiscal year record crossed the two bil-
lion dollar line. With such amazing figures
to show, woiild it not be a national calam-
ity to substitute in place of the present
wise administration one laden with theories
and isms, none of which are practical. It
is not " Republican luck," as some allege,
which has sustained the present party in
power. It is that same kind of luck which
builds a successful business institution.
For, after all, the United States Govern-
ment is nothing more nor less than a gigan-
tic business institution, the largest of its
kind in the world, and when it is ruled by
correct governing principles, all have con-
fidence in it and business is good.
ANOTHER TRUST DISAPPEARS.
/^\N Tuesday by a practically unanimous
vote, the stockholders of the National
Wall Paper Co., capitalized at $38,000,000,
and popularly known as the Wall Paper
Trust, decided to dissolve the corporation.
Outside competition and the demands of
the trade for goods identified with indi-
vidual manufacturers forced the abandon-
ment of the combination. In no industry
is there the demand for wares identified
with individual manufacturers that there
is in the piano industry, and when such a
combination as The Wall Paper Trust dis-
solves on account of that reason it proves
the utter impracticability of the existence
of a piano trust.
T H E man who stated that the truest test
of a man's friendship was his willing-
ness to lend money, was contradicted the
other day by the perennial borrower who
stated the real test occurs when you strike
a man for the second loan.
T H E old-time summer festivals of manu-
facturers and men seem to have de-
parted. There are some who still religi-
ously adhere to the ancient traditions, but
as a whole, the interest has materially
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