Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
and putting them out to injure the piano reputations of their com-
petitive forces.
There is no more of this kind of work, or at least the cases are
so rare that we hear of them only occasionally.
N
EDWARD LYMAN BILL, - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorial Stall:
GEO. B. KELLEK.
L. K. BOWKRS.
W. N. TYLER.
WM. B. WHITE.
F. II. THOMPSON.
KMILIE FRANCES RATER.
L. J. CHAMBERLIN,
A. J. XICKI.IN.
BOSTON OFFICE:
KUXEST L. W A I T T , 17i> Tremont St.
CHICAGO OFFICE:
K. I'. VAN HAHLINUEX. 1!».V1!»7 Wabash Ave.
T E L E P H O N E S : Central 4 1 4 : Automatic 8 PHILADELPHIA OFFICE: MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL: ST. LOUIS OFFICE •*
K. W. K.UTF.MAX.
i:. C. TuKiiHY.
CHAW. X. VAN BI:KKN.
SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE: ALFRED METZOER, 4125-427 Front St.
CINCINNATI, O.:
NINA ITCH-SMITH.
Published Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue, New York
Entered 'at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION, (Including postage), United States, Mexico, and Canada, .fli.OO per
year ; all other countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.00 per inch, single column, per insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount is allowed. Advertising l'ages, $50.00 ; opposite
reading matter, $75.00.
REMITTANCES, in other than currency form, should be made payable to Edward
layman uill.
Directory of Piano The directory of piano manufacturing firms and corporations
~
. ~
found on another page will be of great value, as a reference
Manufacturers
f o r dealers and others.
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE NUMBER 1745 GRAMERCY
NEW
YORK,
J A N U A R Y
20, 1906
EDITORIAL
J
ANUARY appears to be a month in which unusual interest is
manifested in association work—local as well as national. We
have had within our gates during the week the executive committees
of the two national organizations. Some of the members of these
committees have traveled thousands of miles in order to be present
and meet with their fellow associates here in New York in the dis-
cussion of those matters which are obviously of interest to the dif-
ferent departments of trade.
When we take a retrospective glance at association work, it
must be admitted that it has been both healthful and helpful to trade
interests. While many criticize the organizations for not having
accomplished more, yet is this criticism just? It is impossible hardly
to formulate, much less put through, radical measures in any organ-
ization which is held together simply by the desire to promote gen-
eral interests, without interfering with the liberties of the individual
members in the operation of their several enterprises.
I
T would be ridiculous to suppose that any industrial organization
originally formed for the promotion of the welfare of an in-
dustry should make iron-clad rules which each member would be
compelled to follow 7 and to obey.
A great many of those who have criticized association work
seem to feel that there should be some radical reforms undertaken
in order to demonstrate that the association is really doing some-
thing. Radicalism in a trade association is an impossibility; to
attempt it would be to destroy the association.
As a matter of fact, the music trade associations have accom-
plished a good deal, and they would have been worth all that they
have cost in time and money if they had won but one point, and
that the development of a better understanding between members of
the industrv.
T
HE fact that the manufacturers' association complaint depart-
ment has not been active during the past twelve months shows
that rather a peaceful state of affairs exists in the industry. And
who can deny that the association has helped to encourage the bring-
ing about of this harmonious condition? The fact that there is an
organized body of men who have a committee appointed to receive
complaints acts as a deterring force to those who formerly have
believed in all kinds of "knocking," even to the extent of securing
through surreptitious means pianos handled by their competitors,
EW YORK extended the glad hand to the visiting delegates,
and a pleasant entertainment was tendered at the New York
Athletic Club last Tuesday night, where everything was conducted
in such a wholesome and enthusiastic way that it made the guests
happy to be in good old New York. The results of the business
sessions are referred to elsewhere in this issue.
T
HE Boston Music Trade Association gave its annual function
last Saturday night, and it was one of the most successful
affairs ever held by the organization. There has been a revival of
interest in association work in Boston, and some of the members in
expressing themselves to The Review did not hesitate to say that
they propose to take a warmer interest in association work than they
had during recent years.
One thing is certain—that the members of the Boston music
trade propose to make their organization a greater force for the
good of the industry than ever before.
T
HE Chicago association will have a banquet and vaudeville
entertainment next week, so that the scene of association fes-
tivities is transferred from the East to the West; and it is stated
that next month the San Erancisco local organization will have quite
an elaborate spread. So from the Eastern seaboard straight through
to the Pacific coast there appears to be an activity in organization
work which presages well for its future.
A
NUMRER of gentlemen prominent in the supply trade of New-
York have been seriously discussing recently the advisability
of forming an association composed of the various manufacturers
in the supply trade.
While the move has not as yet assumed definite form, it is proba-
ble that an informal meeting will be called in this city within the
next week, so it seems the association germ is thriving in good form,
because with the supply organization we will have the music trade
pretty thoroughly covered. The piano manufacturers, the dealers,
the local trade associations, the salesmen's national organization,
and now the supply men, will make up a prettv fair-sized list for a
modest industrv.
I
T depends upon what viewpoint you witness a battle. A well-
seasoned member of the trade recently remarked some two or
three years ago, concerning a well-known institution: "1 am sure
methods are wrong, and they will go to pieces. Our travelers say
that they are turning out goods on all sorts of terms and conditions,
and they can't succeed. They must go to the wall."
Yet in spite of those dire predictions this same concern has
gone on adding to its visible wealth each year, and if our friend
had visited the factory where the goods were turned out, when he
made the prediction, he would have seen a state of activity which
would have caused him to believe that he was even then suffering
from dry rot or some like disease; because, as compared with his
own plant, the business was showing a life which showed a healthy
condition of the enterprise.
It all depends which way critics view a battle. At the battle
of Shiloh newspaper correspondents were criticized. They saw the
broken and disorganized regiments along the river bluffs, and they
were persuaded that the Union army was hopelessly beaten. General
Buell, landing in advance of his men, and beholding the great body
of discouraged stragglers, asked Grant what preparations he had
made for defeat.
"I haven't despaired of whipping them yet," was the answer of
the man with the cigar. Grant did not consider the rear of an
army a vantage ground for correct observation. In a similar way
it seems doubtful if the rear guard is a good position from which to
criticize a successful business antagonist.
A
S a matter of fact, most successful men are severely criticized
at times, and there are men in every industrv who feel that
they understand the business thoroughly, so that it is. not possible
for any rival to eclipse them.
Edison knows a good deal about electricity and mechanism,