Music Trade Review
Issue: 1913 Vol. 57 N. 24 - Page 5
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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
The Workmen's Compensation Act.
P
IANO manufacturers and all employers of labor in New York
State are interested in the new proposed State labor legisla-
tion. The payments provided for in the workmen's compensation
bill prepared at the recent Albany conference, and which is
scheduled for introduction when the Legislature meets this week are
higher than in any State or country that has adopted a compensa-
tion system in respect to victims of industrial accidents.
The injured employe, in case of total disability, is to receive
66^3 per cent, of his wages during his life, and in case of permanent
partial disability 66 2 /$ per cent, of his wages for various periods—for
fifteen weeks for the loss of a little finger up to 312 weeks for the
loss of an arm. The maximum weekly compensation, however, is
not to exceed $15, and the minimum, no matter what the wages, is to
be $5 weekly. In case of death within two years after the accident
the dependents, if there are any, are to receive the full benefit for ten
years, with a maximum of $5,000 and a minimum of $1,500. Medi-
cal attendance is allowed for, and the compensation in case of death
is the flat sum of $5,000.
These rates are much higher than the rates of adjacent and
competing States. The National Association of Manufacturers,
which regards them as too high, estimates that under the bill the
cost to the employers of New York will be double the cost of com-
pensation provided for by the laws of Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut and New Jersey; that the cost here will be 85 per cent,
more than in Michigan, 30 per cent, more than in ultra-progressive
California, and 20 per cent, higher than in Ohio, which now has the
highest rates.
How far New York can go in pushing compensation above
that in other States is a matter for the most careful consideration.
It is obvious that if too heavy a burden is placed on an employer,
which he can lighten by moving his plant to another jurisdiction, a
blow will be struck at New York's prosperity. It is not feasible
to confer benefits materially higher than those conferred elsewhere.
This fixed economic fact may not be ignored by the Governor and
the Legislature. The compensation should be adequate, but it
should not be enough seriously to penalize manufacturing in New
York. Governor Glynn made the following statement on Monday,
outlining the Workmen's Compensation Act:
"The bill which I have finally determined to submit to the
Legislature is the result of careful study of the rights of all con-
cerned. Following are its essentials :
"All employes in hazardous trades must be insured by their
employers. These employers may insure in any one of four ways,
all of which will be on a parity—self-insurance, mutual company
insurance and insurance in a State fund. The insurance through
the State fund will be on precisely the same plane as in any other
way. The provisions of the act will be administered by a State
board of five commissioners, which will pass upon all claims. Ap-
peal may be taken, however, from their decision to the Appellate
Division and Court of Appeals.
"The State Treasurer is made custodian of the State insurance
fund, and it may be invested subject to the same regulations as the
investments of saving banks.
"Provision is made for accumulating a surplus by the applica-
tion of 10 per cent, of the premiums until a surplus of $100,000 has
been accumulated, and thereafter 5 per cent, until the commission is
satisfied the surplus is sufficient to cover the 'catastrophe hazard.'
"To make the State insurance fund self-supporting in its
administration and maintenance all penalties collected are to be
used for the payment of these expenses.
"One new feature is the classification of employers in related
industries. This will permit the formation of associations for the
prevention of accidents.
"One of the most striking characteristics of the measure is the
promjnence given to accident prevention. Those who have partici-
pated in the conferences are convinced it will put New York in the
forefront of the nation-wide movement to reduce the enormous
loss in maimed limbs which has burdened American industry."
Closer Credits In the Piano Trade.
F
EW things have made such a strong appeal to piano manufac-
turers at large as the interview with George W. Gittins, presi-
dent of Kohler & Campbell, which appeared in The Review last
week and in which he came out flaf-footed in favor of closer credits
in the piano trade and of limiting dealers' credit to twelve months.
The opinions of Mr. Gittins are not those of a theorist, but rather
those of a practical and live piano man who is in close touch with
the situation throughout the country and is in a position to speak
with authority and from facts. The appeal for closer credits is not
simply a piece of advice offered for the sake of having something
to say that will create talk, but the plan is being put into actual
practice by Kohler & Campbell and it is stated that the twelve
months' limit will be strictly enforced after the opening of the new
year with the few accounts that at present extend over that period.
Whether general business conditions are due to the high cost
of living or the cost of high living, the fact remains that the piano
manufacturers, everyone of them, have been brought face to face
with increased expense in every department of their business. The
cost of materials of every sort have gone up higher, wages are
higher, the cost of maintaining plants in the matter of taxes, in-
creased valuation, the restrictions and demands of factory laws,
has advanced. All these factors add to the actual cost of the fin-
ished piano an amount that is far from being covered by the slight
advances in wholesale prices that have been made by some manu-
facturers. The result is that the profits of the piano business, as
Mr. Gittins states, are cut down to a very low point, and to require
the manufacturers to carry their dealers for a lengthy period under
such conditions is in the nature of a direct imposition.
The drawing in of credits to the twelve month limit will not
have the disastrous effect on the retail trade that some pessimists
are fond of predicting, for when the dealer has his time of credit
cut clown he wiJJ naturally be inclined to put his own house iri order
to place his business on a basis that will permit him to meet the
obligation to his manufacturer with promptness. If the final result
is the cutting down of retail credits to a two-year period the result
will be wholly desirable rather than the reverse. As a matter of
fact it has been predicted that the recognized two-year limit on in-
stalment sales will make its appearance in the piano trade at an
early date, although the terms at which pianos, and especially
player-pianos, are being sold at present seems to indicate that the
two-year instalment period is a long way off.
Closer credits will have the direct effect of forcing the dealer
to so handfe his business as to meet his obligations, and therefore
keep his business in better shape. Every failure of a retail house
within the past couple of years has served to prove on the surface
of it that the trouble was not through the limiting of credits, but
rather through the loose methods of extending credit for indefinite
periods. If Mr. Gittins' advice is put into practice by other manu-
facturers, just as he is doing it, the volume of business may be
slightly curtailed, but the great volume that remains will be clean,
wholesome and healthy business.
E
ACH year, each holiday season, serves to bring to the atten-
tion of the piano merchants more strongly than ever the
fact that the days when the bulk of the piano sales of the year
were made at holiday time has passed. At the present time there
is, of course, a slight increase in business about Christmas time,
but the dealers have been selling since summer and are prepared
to handle the holiday trade as an incident. The purchasing of
pianos and player-pianos nowadays does not depend on the
season of the year, but rather upon the ability or the inclination
of the prospect to buy at any particular time, and if the psycho-
logical moment occurs in July why wait until December to
close the sale?
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
The Workmen's Compensation Act.
P
IANO manufacturers and all employers of labor in New York
State are interested in the new proposed State labor legisla-
tion. The payments provided for in the workmen's compensation
bill prepared at the recent Albany conference, and which is
scheduled for introduction when the Legislature meets this week are
higher than in any State or country that has adopted a compensa-
tion system in respect to victims of industrial accidents.
The injured employe, in case of total disability, is to receive
66^3 per cent, of his wages during his life, and in case of permanent
partial disability 66 2 /$ per cent, of his wages for various periods—for
fifteen weeks for the loss of a little finger up to 312 weeks for the
loss of an arm. The maximum weekly compensation, however, is
not to exceed $15, and the minimum, no matter what the wages, is to
be $5 weekly. In case of death within two years after the accident
the dependents, if there are any, are to receive the full benefit for ten
years, with a maximum of $5,000 and a minimum of $1,500. Medi-
cal attendance is allowed for, and the compensation in case of death
is the flat sum of $5,000.
These rates are much higher than the rates of adjacent and
competing States. The National Association of Manufacturers,
which regards them as too high, estimates that under the bill the
cost to the employers of New York will be double the cost of com-
pensation provided for by the laws of Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut and New Jersey; that the cost here will be 85 per cent,
more than in Michigan, 30 per cent, more than in ultra-progressive
California, and 20 per cent, higher than in Ohio, which now has the
highest rates.
How far New York can go in pushing compensation above
that in other States is a matter for the most careful consideration.
It is obvious that if too heavy a burden is placed on an employer,
which he can lighten by moving his plant to another jurisdiction, a
blow will be struck at New York's prosperity. It is not feasible
to confer benefits materially higher than those conferred elsewhere.
This fixed economic fact may not be ignored by the Governor and
the Legislature. The compensation should be adequate, but it
should not be enough seriously to penalize manufacturing in New
York. Governor Glynn made the following statement on Monday,
outlining the Workmen's Compensation Act:
"The bill which I have finally determined to submit to the
Legislature is the result of careful study of the rights of all con-
cerned. Following are its essentials :
"All employes in hazardous trades must be insured by their
employers. These employers may insure in any one of four ways,
all of which will be on a parity—self-insurance, mutual company
insurance and insurance in a State fund. The insurance through
the State fund will be on precisely the same plane as in any other
way. The provisions of the act will be administered by a State
board of five commissioners, which will pass upon all claims. Ap-
peal may be taken, however, from their decision to the Appellate
Division and Court of Appeals.
"The State Treasurer is made custodian of the State insurance
fund, and it may be invested subject to the same regulations as the
investments of saving banks.
"Provision is made for accumulating a surplus by the applica-
tion of 10 per cent, of the premiums until a surplus of $100,000 has
been accumulated, and thereafter 5 per cent, until the commission is
satisfied the surplus is sufficient to cover the 'catastrophe hazard.'
"To make the State insurance fund self-supporting in its
administration and maintenance all penalties collected are to be
used for the payment of these expenses.
"One new feature is the classification of employers in related
industries. This will permit the formation of associations for the
prevention of accidents.
"One of the most striking characteristics of the measure is the
promjnence given to accident prevention. Those who have partici-
pated in the conferences are convinced it will put New York in the
forefront of the nation-wide movement to reduce the enormous
loss in maimed limbs which has burdened American industry."
Closer Credits In the Piano Trade.
F
EW things have made such a strong appeal to piano manufac-
turers at large as the interview with George W. Gittins, presi-
dent of Kohler & Campbell, which appeared in The Review last
week and in which he came out flaf-footed in favor of closer credits
in the piano trade and of limiting dealers' credit to twelve months.
The opinions of Mr. Gittins are not those of a theorist, but rather
those of a practical and live piano man who is in close touch with
the situation throughout the country and is in a position to speak
with authority and from facts. The appeal for closer credits is not
simply a piece of advice offered for the sake of having something
to say that will create talk, but the plan is being put into actual
practice by Kohler & Campbell and it is stated that the twelve
months' limit will be strictly enforced after the opening of the new
year with the few accounts that at present extend over that period.
Whether general business conditions are due to the high cost
of living or the cost of high living, the fact remains that the piano
manufacturers, everyone of them, have been brought face to face
with increased expense in every department of their business. The
cost of materials of every sort have gone up higher, wages are
higher, the cost of maintaining plants in the matter of taxes, in-
creased valuation, the restrictions and demands of factory laws,
has advanced. All these factors add to the actual cost of the fin-
ished piano an amount that is far from being covered by the slight
advances in wholesale prices that have been made by some manu-
facturers. The result is that the profits of the piano business, as
Mr. Gittins states, are cut down to a very low point, and to require
the manufacturers to carry their dealers for a lengthy period under
such conditions is in the nature of a direct imposition.
The drawing in of credits to the twelve month limit will not
have the disastrous effect on the retail trade that some pessimists
are fond of predicting, for when the dealer has his time of credit
cut clown he wiJJ naturally be inclined to put his own house iri order
to place his business on a basis that will permit him to meet the
obligation to his manufacturer with promptness. If the final result
is the cutting down of retail credits to a two-year period the result
will be wholly desirable rather than the reverse. As a matter of
fact it has been predicted that the recognized two-year limit on in-
stalment sales will make its appearance in the piano trade at an
early date, although the terms at which pianos, and especially
player-pianos, are being sold at present seems to indicate that the
two-year instalment period is a long way off.
Closer credits will have the direct effect of forcing the dealer
to so handfe his business as to meet his obligations, and therefore
keep his business in better shape. Every failure of a retail house
within the past couple of years has served to prove on the surface
of it that the trouble was not through the limiting of credits, but
rather through the loose methods of extending credit for indefinite
periods. If Mr. Gittins' advice is put into practice by other manu-
facturers, just as he is doing it, the volume of business may be
slightly curtailed, but the great volume that remains will be clean,
wholesome and healthy business.
E
ACH year, each holiday season, serves to bring to the atten-
tion of the piano merchants more strongly than ever the
fact that the days when the bulk of the piano sales of the year
were made at holiday time has passed. At the present time there
is, of course, a slight increase in business about Christmas time,
but the dealers have been selling since summer and are prepared
to handle the holiday trade as an incident. The purchasing of
pianos and player-pianos nowadays does not depend on the
season of the year, but rather upon the ability or the inclination
of the prospect to buy at any particular time, and if the psycho-
logical moment occurs in July why wait until December to
close the sale?
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