May 10, 1921 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



31 



Schultz Reviews Business Conditions 



National Piano Manufacturers Association Holds Annual Meeting at Drake Hotel in Chicago 



Business conditions of the country are carefully reviewed by 

 Otto Schulz of Chicago, president of the National Piano Manufac- 

 turers Association and of the M. Schulz Company, in a report 

 made at the annual meeting of the association at the Drake Hotel, 

 Chicago, on May 10. Mr. Schulz also made reference to the labor 

 situation in the piano making industry, with certain recommenda- 

 tions; and covered the excise tax and railroad rate problems, 

 both of which are of extreme importance to the piano makers. 



The meeting of the piano manufacturers was held in conjunction 

 with the giant convention of music trades. 



The nominating committee of the National Piano Manufacturers 

 Association has presented the following names, which were to be 

 acted upon at the May 10 meeting: 



For secretary James T. Bristol of Chicago. 



For treasurer Charles Jacob of New York. 



For membership committee W. B. Williams of New York; A. 



A. Mahan of Fort Wayne, Ind.; Ava W. Poole of Boston; Hobart 

 M. Cable of La Porte, Ind.; A. Dalrymple of New York. 



in part President Schulz's address follows: 



"Since last we met in annual convention in February of 1920, 

 more than a year has -passed, with almost every day showing new 

 conditions and accompanied by many perplexing problems. In 

 the words of a recent review, we have lived amid the bickerings 

 of a contentious world. At the beginning of this period we were 

 confronted with the scarcity of material and labor, and although 

 costs and selling prices were both at the highest point, the pro- 

 duction was far short of the demand. This condition was gradu- 

 ally altered during the year 1920, until at its end we found matters 

 entirely reversed; material in excessive supply, labor besieging our 

 doors for employment, and demand absolutely non-existent. These 

 later conditions have continued to prevail and promise to remain 

 w^ith us, though in possibly a lesser degree, for some time to 

 come. 



"The severity of general business depression is reflected In fig- 

 ures of bank clearings showing nearly 25 per cent less than last 

 year's figures. The slowness of readjustment in prices and wages, 

 both in the vast steel industry and in the railroad field. Is a potent 

 factor in holding back any quick return to normal conditions. 

 Foreign trade Is languishing, although the balance continues 

 favorable to us, amounting in the eight months to March to over 

 two and one-quarter billion dollars, as compared with slightly 

 under two billion dollars for the same period last year. There 

 are, however, unmistakable signs which reflect coming improve- 

 ment in the situation and give promise of a definite, if slow, 

 betterment in all branches of trade. The decline in borrowings 

 by member banks, coupled with an influx of gold to the amount 

 of about $125,000,000 thus far in 1921, has brought about an 

 increase in the Federal Reserve Bank reserve percentage from 

 about 43 to around 53. The credit strain is relaxing and the 

 tendency towards easier money is clearly apparent. Unemploy- 

 ment is diminishing. The buying power of the country does not 

 seem to be waning, but on the contrary retail trade is excellent. 



".As to the labor situation: At the time of the last convention, 

 several manufacturers in New York and Chicago were working 

 under an agreement with piano makers* unions. 1 am pleased 

 to state that there are no such agreements in operation now in 

 Chicago, and I know of none on the part of any piano manu- 

 facturer connected with this association. The members of this 

 association are now able to operate with the full rights of American 

 citizenship. 1 recommend that a resolution be passed at this con- 

 vention adopting the declaration of labor principles of the National 

 Association of Manufacturers of the United States of America. 



"Without Intending to anticipate the report of the committee 

 on vocational training, I would strongly urge the members of 



this association to give some thought to the training of piano 

 makers in a way necessary to preserve the skill of the industry. 



"A recent Federal Reserve report says, 'Business is feeling the 

 weight of heavy taxation, for not only are the federal and >t,.ti, 

 taxes to be reckoned with, but additional income is necessary to 

 practically all of the municipalities, because of higher costs of 

 administration and the elimination of revenues which formerly 

 came from liquor licenses and other sources.' But as if all this 

 were not of itself sufficient, our Industry during the past year has 

 had to bear the crushing pressure of an excise tax, which the 

 government originally levied as a war measure but has seen fit 

 to continue into the present year of peace. Your officers, together 

 with the officers of the Chamber, have worked hard with the 

 previous Congress and more so with the present to remove this 

 unjust tax on our product. A brief summary of the present sit- 

 uation of their fight on this question may be found in the Monthly 

 Bulletin No. 10 of the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce. 

 In this report the Chamber advocates the passage of the Smoot 

 bill, and says, 'The Smoot bill is to a large extent in accordance 

 with the recommendations made by the Chamber's legal com- 

 mittee in its report on Federal Tax Revision, which has formed 

 this basis of the policy pushed energetically by the Chamber 

 during the last few months. It provides for a one per cent tax 

 on the sale of all goods, wares, and merchandise, and eliminates 

 a large number of the war time excise taxes, including that on 

 musical instruments.' 



"Our traffic committee will analyze the present railroad sit- 

 uation, which has been very hard on every branch of trade. The 

 recently advanced rates are too high to permit transportation 

 costs to be easily absorbed in general competition. The effect, 

 unless a remedy Is speedily found, will be to confine business to 

 local territory, since the cost of transportation into territory 

 where similar local production exists will prohibit the possibility 

 of meeting such local competition. When a New York miller can 

 have a bushel of wheat shipped to him by steamer from Argentina 

 for a third of what it would cost to bring it by rail from Minne- 

 apolis, and when cottonseed cake can be shipped from Texas to 

 Holland more cheaply than from Texas to Kansas, 'something is 

 wrong with transportation charges,' declares one spokesman for 

 the farmers of the Middle West. President Harding is giving deep 

 thought to the railroad situation, and it will be remembered that 

 he said in his message to Congress: 'Freight-carrying charges 

 have gone higher and higher, until commerce is halted and pro- 

 duction discouraged.' Naturally the high cost of rail transporta- 

 tion makes it Impera'lve to develop for use every possible water- 

 way. But this point will be covered by the report on Internal 

 Waterways, and I shall therefore refrain from going into that 

 subject. 



"The chairman of the committee on conservation of national 

 resources will discuss the question of forest preservation. 1 can- 

 not too strongly urge our members to acquaint themselves with 

 the opportunities offered by the Forest Products Laboratory of 

 the U. S. Forestry Service at Madison, Wisconsin. This labor- 

 atory is supported by the Federal Government, exists solely to dis- 

 cover the best ways and means in all kinds of use of woods, for 

 the benefit of manufacturers and commercial users. It has ex- 

 perimented and obtained thoroughly practical and scientifically 

 accurate results in various problems submitted to its experts by 

 manufacturers in connection with drying, gluing, sawing, mechan- 

 ical properties of wood, boxing and crating, veneers, plywood, etc. 

 This laboratory is conducted as e.tclusively for the benefit of wood 

 users as the Department of Agriculture is conducted for the benefit 

 of the farmer. If its services are freely called for, the government 

 (Contitiiird oil patjv 4-) 



