Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
tion of flagrant violation of bank, insurance and corporation laws.
It is a sad commentary on American laws or their enforcement,
when we review the shocking disclosures of the past few years,
and figure that not one of the great criminals has been safely lodged
behind the bars.
The shakeup which we have had here only shows how many
thousands and even millions of people suffer indirectly by the dis-
honest actions of the few financial buccaneers, but the condition
is local and superficial, due wholly to the dishonest methods of
men in control of the great financial institutions which have simply
been used as pawns in the mighty gambling game. We are not
confronted with any great calamity such as threatened in 1893,
for instance, when distrust of the stability of the currency shook
the foundation of the financial and commercial fabric of the entire
country! Our currency to-day is as stable as Gibraltar. In short,
the production and the distribution of wealth over our three million
square miles of territory are going on regardless of the troubles
which are agitating this little island of Manhattan.
O
NE great trouble which may ensue from this present condition
will be the withdrawal of so much money from circulation.
It will naturally be some time before people regain their confidence
and the withdrawal of funds from banks and trust companies and
hoarding them will be responsible for a monetary shortage that
undoubtedly will continue for some time. If the people who draw
out their money, instead of putting it in safe deposit vaults, would
take advantage of the present prices which are being paid for gilt
edged securities they would act wisely. They would secure a profit-
able investment and at the same time refrain from injuring the
interests of the people to the extent that they do in hoarding their
currency at a time when it is most needed. We want to-day good
calm reasoning. It is necessary to keep cool. The country is all
right arid presents an opportunity of a lifetime to the man with a
cool head. There has been a sort of dementia financia sweeping the
city and the men who withdraw their money from the banks are
helping to keep the fever spirit going.
W
E should recollect that hoarded money is dead money. It
pays no wages, it buys no groceries, it pays no piano in-
instalments and it shelters no families. For an industry to be
prosperous, for business to be profitable, for employment to be con-
stant, money must be in circulation. A piano merchant must re-
ceive money for his instruments and in turn must pay that money
over to his employes and to the factories which produce what he
sells and which in turn pay it out to their workmen from whom it
goes to the endless chain of butchers, grocers, and storekeepers, thus
keeping money in constant circulation.
Money in itself is of no value to anybody. It does not belong
to the edible commodities until exchanged for food. It does not
keep off the rain until it is exchanged for rent. It does not protect
from the cold until it is paid out for clothing. Idle money is one
of the most useless commodities in the world and the depositors
who have acted hysterically throughout this whole panic and re-
tained their money in hiding have only added to make the business
condition more acute.
The public already has recovered its senses sufficiently to look
around for remunerative investments. The American disposition
is essentially sanguine and a people of that temperament are in-
capable of long hoarding money in secret hiding places. It is con-
ceded therefore that the millions of deposits withdrawn from the
bank and trust companies will very shortly begin to stream into the
stock market where opportunities for safe investment are remark-
ably numerous at the present moment.
A PPARENTLY a strong effort is to be made to pass the Inter-
l \
State Commerce law with a view to preventing the railroads
from making any change in the interstate freight rates without
first giving the shipper an opportunity to be heard. Under the
present statutes the railroad companies are simply required to file
their tariff which thereafter becomes effective in thirty days. If
the shippers feel aggrieved they can apply to the Inter-State Com-
merce Commission and in the meanwhile the new rate goes into
effect and no matter what injuries the shipper may sustain he has
no redress until a decision is reached and before that time months
may have elapsed. It is time this autocratic ruling were changed.
TILR VEIN
It's a pretty good time to keep cool.
Persistency is one of the greatest points in business success.
Yes, New York is still on the map and doing business up-to-date.
One must keep everlastingly at it to win out in these days of close
competition.
Gee whiz! but there has been some hot times in the old town lately,
night and day at that.
Do not be afraid to let people know that you are in business and
where that business is.
The man who doesn't believe in himself has trouble in convincing
others that he is the real thing.
For a thing everybody admits doesn't pay, the lie is a long time
getting out of the stencil market.
What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, but suppose the
goose doesn't have enough to pass on.
Don't join the crowd which is pulling money out of the banks or
you'll be one of those who are pulling the country to pieces.
Dementia financia is a mighty bothersome complaint when you have
money in a bank that is tied up and you need the cash for payroll.
When a trade paper is all the time abusing the methods of the men
in the industry where it is published, look out for the trade paper editor.
He will bear watching.
Good advertising may create a temporary demand for an article with-
out merit, but all the advertising in the world will not bolster up a
fraud product very long.
The man who loses his head through senseless fear is worse than
the idiot who rocks the boat or the fool who shouts "fire" in a crowded
theater when he sees a puff of smoke.
HIS RESOLVE.—"Now, Johnson," said the teacher, "what have you
made up your mind to do best for yourself this year?"
Johnnie (pointing over his shoulder at an adversary)—"I's made
up me mind ter lick dat feller ev'ry time he t'rows spitballs at me,
ma'am, that's what I have."
Every salesman in a store should know the contents of the daily
advertisement put forth by the firm for whom he is working. He is not
up-to-date unless he possesses this knowledge.
A SETTLEMENT.—"Are you going to settle anything on your daugh-
ter?" asked the young man with the cigarette and languid air, of the
piano magnate.
"Well, it rather looks if she marries you that she is going to settle
something on me," replied the parent.
" WANTED A PROFESSIONAL DISCOUNT.—A charming young lady
went into a piano store in an inland town and asked to see some pianos.
After selecting what she desired, she hesitated for a moment.
"Do you make any reductions in your prices on instruments to clergy-
men?" she asked softly.
"Certainly, madam," said the salesman, with great promptness. "Are
you a clergyman's wife?"
"N-no," said the young lady.
"Ah, a clergyman's daughter," said the piano man as he rubbed his
hands together, jubilantly.
"N-no," was the lady's hesitating reply. Then she leaned toward the
salesman and spoke in a confidential whisper: "But if nothing happens
I shall be engaged to a theological student as soon as he comes home
from college this term.
HONORS EVEN.—A well-known piano salesman waited patiently
until the manager had finished his fish story; then he said, as he leisurely
sipped his cocktail:
"I want to tell you something that happened to me right up in that
wild district where you say you landed a string of a thousand in half a
day. You know Jack and I went up there two summers ago in an auto-
mobile?"
"Yes. I remember," answered the smooth one.
"Well, sir, we lost our way, and for five days and nights we couldn't
sight a farm house or a human being."
"Have any food with you?" asked the manager.
"Not even a sandwich."
"What did you live on?"
"Soup—soup, morning, noon and night."
"Soup? But what did you have to make soup out of?"
"Why," said the piano man, without even the suspicion of a smile,
"the first day we got lost the auto struck a stone and turned turtle. Thank
you; yet one more with a little lemon peel in it."