The Pleasantville press., 1912-10-30
Seventh Article.

has held second rank in pottery man
ufactures, which are distinctly the
product of tariff protection, and Tren-
ton has been and is the great center
of this manufacture. Begun in prim-
tive way, with comparatively rude
processes and making only the cheaper
and palmer Dishes the industry has de-
veloped on the artistic side to a high
degree and turns out beautiful ware
that has taken the place of many of the
best sorts, produced in Europe and for
merly largely sold in the United States
teries confess their surprise at the per
fection of American ceramic art.
New Jersey has a wealth in clay that
lay idle and useless until tariff protec-
tion made it available for manufacture.
Then it obtained commercial value.
From the clay banks have been taken
millions of dollars of wealth, and the
future supply is inexhaustible. All
this would have been useless if means
had not been provided for profitably
utilizing the clay.
AS far back as 1779 John S. McCul-
ly began the making of pottery at
Trenton in a modest way, not realiz-
ing that he was founding a great in
dustry He made flowerpots and 9th
er rudely fashioned and cheap objects
But it was not until 1862 that there
was any advance. In 1859 a firm be-
~ra,, 1o 70 of ruhifo vrarp
but, in point Of fact, Trenton had no
pottery industry worth noting until the
period of the Morrill, tariff began.
In 1861 that tariff was enacted, the
duty on pottery being raised from "a
per cent to 40 per cent, which was the
protective rate, while the former duty
was the revenue rate. Pottery manu-
facture had been languishing. The tar
iff instantly gave it new vitality. In
the decade between 1861 and 1871
many establishments were started, and
such progress was made both in the
volume of the industry and the char
acter of the product that in the Cen
tennial exhibition in Philadelphia in
1876 the ceramic exhibition by the
Trenton potteries astonished the Euro
pean visitors and was a revelation to
Americans.
The influence of this successful com
petition in fine wares with foreign
made pottery was felt Immediately
and stimulated the industry. In 1882
there were in Trenton sixteen potter
les with about 1000 hands. Today
there are upward of forty large estab-
lishments, which employ more than
10000 hands, and the finer products of
these factories vie with the best in Eu-
rope In 1909 the total product was
valued at $13, 10000.
Among the noted wares turned out
In Trenton are the Lamberton china.
used in first class hotels; the Irish
belleek. delftware, ETC., all finely beau
tiful. The porcelain vases and other
art wares of Trenton are exquisite.
Porcelain for electrical fixtures is sent
to all parts of the world, and Trenton
tiles for decorating interiors, the man
ufacture of which was begun in 1882,
are in many thousands of public and
private buildings. A thousand hands
are employed in tile making.
Trenton has always been protec-
tive tariff town One has only to point
to the forty big potteries as one reason
why. If there had been no protective
tariff there would be no potteries. or
the industry would be confined to the
making of fiowerpots and rough kitch-
en- ware. The celebrity that Trenton
has earned abroad for her artistic pot
terry would not exist. Trenton would
be comparatively insignificant dot on
the New Jersey map. for her manu-
factures have been the source of her
growth in population and wealth, and
her manufactures are the result of the
tariff protection that President Taft so
vigorously and courageously upholds
against the assaults of free trade.
What the effect would be of a reduc-
ton of the tariff to revenue basis.
eliminating protection, as Mr.. Wilson
proposes to do, hardly needs to be ex-
planned. Directly and Indirectly the
welfare of every man. woman and
child in Trenton depends on the pros
aerity Of the pottery and other large
industries of the city that are built
up by tariff protection and are sustain
ed by it, The whole social edifice Of
Trenton is built upon industrial pros
perity. Shall any wanton hand de-
stroy that prosperity?
Let US recall the last Democratic pc
riod in our national government SO
disastrous to the industrial and bust
ness interests, and point to some sug
gestive election figures in Mercer
county
In 1892 Grover Cleveland was elect
ed president on a platform hostile te
tariff protection. The Democrats then
as now, held up the bogy Of high prices
and kept out of view the important
consideration that the first essentia
was work and wages. without which
the question of prices had no meaning
for the wage Garner, since without em
lpIoyment he could buy nothing at any
price
The Democratic platform was seduc
tive to those workingmen who do no