AN ETHICAL CODE,  SITUATIONAL ETHICS:
What's the Difference?

What is the difference? And besides, so what? what difference does the difference make . . . to me? Plenty -- especially if you own a string instrument or a bow, or are thinking of buying either. Exactly what that "plenty" means will come home to readers of the letters which follow: the first being the query which I addressed to Hans Weisshaar, and the second, his reply to me.

2. At the time of this correspondence, Mr. Weisshaar was President of the American Federation of Violin & Bow Makers, Inc. and I was the first elected Secretary of this newly constituted organization. For the Federation's healthy growth, I believed that we -- the members, but especially the' officers -- simply had to confront moral-ethical issues that were, and are, basic to the way we practice our craft. As is obvious from the letters themselves, I found certain procedures deceptive and, therefore, especially intolerable, namely:

(1) the regraduation or "thinning-out" of many instruments' essential original parts, and

(2) the wide-spread but covert payment of bribes, kick-backs, "commissions" to music teachers and other trusted professionals -- a practice which secretly turns these advisors into salesmen in disguise, shills for shifty dealers. Indeed, I was convinced that these practices in particular were unethical and, probably, criminal.

3. At the very least, I knew that we could destroy the public's trust in and respect for us, for the Federation and its members. I knew that evasion would destroy that trust. We needed to "come clean" as professionals. We needed to tell the public what many of us were routinely doing.

4. Readers can decide how successful I was. I trust that the contrast between genuine ethical guidelines and a "go with the flow" ethics will stand out. The letters are printed complete and without alteration.

RIN:067 Letter to Hans
RIN:068 Reply from Hans

RIN:034 The UNABRIDGED Code of Ethics of the AFVBM

Other related articles regarding adherence to the American Federation's Code of Ethics.

RIN:019 The Embalmer as Restorer 'It has been said that 95% of all damage done to instruments in the last 300 years has been done by members of the luthier (violin making) profession and not by the musicians themselves.' Strad magazine, April 1993 -Helen Wallace

RIN:009 Violin Dealer Leaves Trail of Angry Victims
RIN:011 Restoration Workshop at Oberlin
RIN:041 The E.N.D Process
RIN:075 Chicago Mortician?
RIN:038 MALPRACTICE- Consumer Advisory