The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-10-22
Seventh Article.

For more than decade New Jersey
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
Europeans who visit the Trenton pot
teries confess their surprise at the per
lection of American ceramic art.
New Jersey has a wealth in clay that
lay idle and useless until tariff protec-
ton made 1t available for manufacture
Then it obtained a 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 probably
utilizing the clay.
AS far back Ms 1879 John s. McCul-
ly began the making of pottery at
Trenton in modest way, not realiz-
| ing that he was founding a great In
dustry. He made fowerpots and 9TH
er rudely fashioned and cheap objects
But it was not until 1862 that there
\ -. a., l..
gan the manufacture of white ware
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
III instantly gave it new vitality. In
the decade between 1851 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
1875 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
these factories vie with the best in Eu
rope. In 1909 the total product was
valued at $13.139000
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 anc
private buildings. A thousand hands
are employed in tile mating
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 mann
features 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
vtU0rouSlv aud f.nur., syAauSi.- .,nfss.i.l..