Vol. XIX, No. 5. 
fa AUG 27 191 
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK 
September 1917 
F we are not mistaken there are signs 
that the Great War may end sooner 
than military experts have figured, 
probably sometime this fall or early 
winter. Anyway let us hope that it 
will, and let us begin to look at 
conditions, not as they are now, 
but as they are likely to be after 
the war. 
One great, big fact stands out. 
After the war the world will be burdened with an enormous 
debt and heavy taxes.';"] We will not be as badly hurt as the 
Europeans, but we will have our share of the damage to repair. 
This burden cannot now be avoided, but it may be lightened by 
a better organization of business. We must discard our old 
and foolish conception of democracy as a social organization 
in which the individual may do as he pleases, and of business 
as a means of getting the best of the other fellow and filling 
our pockets with his money. The result of this policy is that 
a few have their pockets full, and many barely scratch a living. 
Fortunately the end of the war will mean the beginning 
of a new economic era. Extreme individualism must go. 
The soak-the-public and beat-the-competitor policies must go. 
There must be co-operation, help and good feeling, where 
there was harsh competition, greed and jealousy. This ap- 
plies to small just as well as to big business. It applies to the 
china decorating business as well as to the big industries. 
In the August Keramic Stujdio Miss Reynolds called 
attention to the good results which some Chicago music teachers 
have obtained by forming a co-operative Society to secure 
lessons, instead of following the old method of hunting for 
pupils individually, and she was wondering if china decorators 
could not help each other in some similar way. They cer- 
tainly can do it and should do it. 
We have in mind the establishment of Clubs all over the 
country, in all towns which are important enough to gather 
a substantial number of members. These should be real 
Business Clubs, quite different from the various keramic 
societies in vogue until now. These Societies have done ex- 
cellent work in raising the standard of good decoration and 
should continue this good work. But they are exclusive, 
only the top notchers can get in, and, however invaluable 
their campaign of education in good craftsmanship may be, 
they do not help practically and directly the average china 
painter in her business, in finding a market for her work, in 
buying her supplies, etc. 
The new Clubs should be run on a business basis. They 
should be incorporated so that members will not be individ- 
ually responsible in case of losses. Each new member should 
become a stockholder by the compuulsory purchase of one 
share or more. Annual dues should be substantial enough to 
allow paying a salary to a manager, renting a place for the 
display and sale of china, etc. These details should vary in 
each Club according to conditions and location, and Clubs 
should not be too numerous, as in very small places they would 
not be practical and the smaller the membership would be the 
smaller the chances of success. Decorators in small towns 
should join the Club of a neighboring large town. 
There are innumerable ways in which the Clubs could be 
of benefit to their members, besides helping them to buy sup- 
plies and sell work. One would be to secure at regular intervals 
the services of the best teachers in the country for a short 
period of practical lessons. They could afford to pay these 
teachers well and it would be in the end a saving to members. 
Think of the waste of the present system when a decorator has 
to travel from Florida or Oregon to Chicago or New York to 
get a few high price lessons from a well known teacher, and 
think of the many students who cannot afford this big expense. 
Another point. A strongly organized League of China 
Decorators would have eventually something to say about 
the china which is supplied to its members. Decorators who 
try to do art work, better work than commercial decoration, 
should have the best wares available. In present conditions 
they have the worst. European and Japanese potteries un- 
load on them their seconds which they would not use them- 
selves. American china manufacturers are also willing to let 
you have their seconds which you may find at department 
stores and elsewhere, but they are not interested in making good 
china specially for amateurs. As one china maker told us 
once: "I know that these decorators use a lot of china from 
Europe now, but what do they do with it, where do they sell 
it, I do not see it anywhere, it is not a business." There is 
some truth in that statement. With a substantial organiza- 
tion of their business, china decorators would soon be in a 
position to promote the manufacture of an American china 
having the qualities of the best European wares and free from 
imperfect pieces. Just now the task is hopeless. 
As the motto of the Clubs would be "Help others and you 
will help yourself," they should not confine themselves ex- 
clusively to the interest of their members, they should be in 
touch with each other, each Club being only a cog wheel in 
the general scheme of a Cooperative League of China Decora- 
tors. In order to accomplish this, Keramic Studio would 
gladly open its columns free to the Clubs, for correspondence, 
suggestions, information of all kind about details of manage- 
nemt, business innovations, etc. In exchange for this some 
arrangement should be made which would insure a direct 
and effective support of the Magazine. Keramic Studio 
cannot prosper unless the china business recovers from the 
blow struck by the war and is reorganized on a more efficient 
and businesslike basis than it has been so far. On the other 
hand, although we do not dare to say that the china business 
could not live without Keramic Studio, all will agree that the 
disappearance of the Magazine would be another serious blow 
added to the disorganization caused by the war. Keramic Studio 
needs the china decorators and we are vain enough to say that 
china decorators need Keramic Studio. Let us help each other. 
With the effective support which we think could be given 
Keramic Studio by this scheme of Co-operative Business Clubs, 
it would be possible for us to improve and broaden the Magazine, 
to make it more helpful than it has ever been. We have had for 
a long time many ideas and plans in mind, which the recent de- 
cline in business has nipped in the bud, but which we have not 
given up. However we must first know what conditions will 
be after the war and we must see if the women decorators of 
the country are capable and willing to help revive the business 
by making it more efficient than it was before the war. 
(Continued on page 77) 
