Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
REVIEW
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
President and Treasurer C. L. Bill, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Vice-President,
. B. Spillane, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Second Vice-President, Raymond Bill, 373
'ourth Ave., New York; Secretary, Edward Lyman Bill, 373 Fourth Ave., New York;
Assistant Treasurer, Wm. A. Low.
J
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
RAY BILL, B. B. WILSON, BRAID WHITE, Associate Editors
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EDWARD VAH HARUNGEN, V. D. WALSH, E. B. MUNCH, LEE ROBINSON, C. R. TIGHE,
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under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
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j
are dealt with, will be found in another section of
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TELEPHONES—NUMBERS 5983—6983 MADISON
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NEW YORK, NOVEMBER'12, 1921
SQ.
No. 20
ENDORSING THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
T
HE action of the members of the Chicago Piano and Organ
Association and other prominent factors in the Chicago trade
last week in endorsing the activities of the Music Industries Cham-
ber of Commerce and pledging their co-operation in the carrying
out of those activities represents a most interesting development and
should serve to check some of the rumors that have been going
around regarding dissatisfaction on the part of some trade interests
with the Chamber's policies..
There are, perhaps, a number of things the Chamber could do
that are not being done, in the view of certain individuals. There
are other things that might be handled differently, but the remedy is
not simply a general veiled attack on the entire organization, but
rather definite arguments clearly presented as to why this and that
should be done, or some system changed.
The Chamber is not something outside of the trade and away
from trade influence. It is itself of the trade and subject, through
the proper channels, to such regulations as the individuals in the
music industry .directly, or through associations with which they are
affiliated, see fit to urge.
The endorsement of the members of the Chicago trade, repre-
senting the West as it does and coming at this particular time, is sig-
nificant and it is characteristic of the Westerners to live up to the
spirit of such endorsement.
THE DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE
USINESS men who regard the conference of the nations in
Washington looking to an agreement for the limitation of arma-
ment as something of simply political importance and of little direct
significance to them except as plain citizens, interested in what their
Government does as a general thing, have failed to study or under-
stand the economic possibilities of that conference.
The cost of war and the preparations for war eat up a sur-
prising proportion of the Nation's revenue without providing any
direct benefit in return. Of the three and three-quarter billion dol-
B
1921
lars appropriated for Government needs for the fiscal year ending
July 1, 1921, 77]/ 2 per cent was for war purposes and only 22^4
per cent for other Government activities, including public works, the
operation of the various Government departments, education, the
postal service, etc.
The situation has not changed during the present fiscal year
and the proportions remain about the same, which means that more
than 75 cents out of every dollar paid by the business man to the
Government as taxation goes for war purposes. If some of this
money can be saved the effort will be worth while.
The limitation of armament is not going to bring relief overnight,
but if the conference is successful it will mean that the tax burden
of the future should be considerably lighter, allowing, of course, for
the natural activities of the Government. We can't dodge the war
expenses of the past, but we can in some measure prevent some of
the war expenses of the future.
The industry at the present time is celebrating the fact that
the Senate has relieved it of excise taxes in excess of $10,000,000
annually, but all the rest of the taxes remain. Any conference that
is calculated directly or indirectly to reduce the expenses of the
Government either in the matter of armament or in some other
direction is a matter of direct and vital interest to business men and it
would seem well to 'evidence the fact.
Y.,
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NOVEMBER 12,
THE SMOKE BEGINS TO RISE
A
COUPLE of months ago it was possible to stand on the hills
overlooking Pittsburgh and see the city clearly outlined below
with no smoke cloud to intervene. This fact was significant, be-
cause when there is no smoke in Pittsburgh business is bad. Now
come reports from the steel districts about Pittsburgh, Youngstown,
Gary, etc., indicating renewed activities, not simply a spasmodic
starting of ,the mills, but rather a steady return toward normal. In
the automobile and tire centers through Ohio the various plants are
again getting under way on a very substantial basis. In the furni-
ture centers of Michigan the same rule holds good.
That this resumption of industrial activity, even though on a
limited scale, has a distinct effect on business is proved in reports
from wholesalers and retailers of musical instruments who have had
occasion to notice the sudden spurt in the volume of sales as well
as the improvement in collections. There are still sections where
these dealers have as yet failed to see much "smoke," but, taking the
country as a whole, October saw an encouraging volume of retail
business and the prospects are that the improvement will continue
until after the first of the year.
The settlement of the railroad question, temporarily at least,
the renewed activity in industrial circles and the removal of farm
crops and cheaper money have a psychological as well as a practical
effect upon the average merchant. It takes an unusual type of man
to really do his best selling in the face of conditions that he feels dis-
courage selling. When the turn comes he is in a frame of mind to
exert his best efforts, for he feels that they will be rewarded. And
the turn has come.
THE BOGY OF UNEMPLOYMENT
T
HERE appears to be an inclination among business men in certain
sections to place too much importance from a purely commercial
viewpoint on the existing unemployment situation. The newspapers
speak of many millions being out of work with an abandon that has
become a habit when figures are handled. The Government in turn
offers statistics that cut down the total materially. The representa-
tives of the workmen themselves have their own figures to offer to the
public to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.
Careful analysis, however, made by unbiased business men, indi-
cates that the unemployed are chiefly of the laboring class, the per
diem type of employe who, even in times of prosperity, faces periods
of unemployment between jobs. On a cold, practical basis-, these men,
even under the most favorable conditions, are not to be considered as
likely prospects for sales of pianos or other musical instruments of
like value. While the proportion of skilled men out of employment
may be higher than usual, such men make up only a small percentage
of the grand total.
There are certain sections, of course, where local conditions make
the unemployment problem serious from a business point of view,
but taking it in gereral that problem has apparently little to do with
the volume of piano sales.