The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1912-10-18
Seventh Article.

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Dent TAFT 44as Done 30 Foster II.
Seventh Article.
For uore thuu deende New Jersey
has held second rank il pottery InnD-
ufuetpres. which are distinctly the
product q tariff protection, und Trep-
ton has beet and is the great center
If this manufacture. Begun In pr.ilD-
tive way, with comparatively rude
progresses and making only the chenIei
aud palmer dishes the industry has de
Helopsd Oh the artistic side 70 high
degree aud turns cut beautiful ware
that has taken the place Of many OF The
best sorts produced ia Europe md for.
merry largely sold 10 the United States
Europeans who visit she Trenton pot
teries confess their surprise u the per
fectiou u American ceramic art
Kew Jersey has a wealth IL clay that
lsy idle and useless until taria protee-
tion made Il available fOr manufacture
Then fl obtained commercial value
From the clay banks have been taken
millions II dollars Of wealth. and the
future supply is inexhausubie. All
this would have been useless II means
had not been provided for proftsbiy
utilizing the clay.
As far back os 1873 John S. MeCul-
~ began the making OF pottery at
Trenton in modest way, not realiz-
ing that be WAS founding a great In
dustry lie made i0werpOts and 9th
er radpJy fashioned and cheap objects.
But II was not until 1862 that there
WAS amy advance. In 1850 a firm be
Ran the manufacture Of white ware,
but Ia point of fact. Trenton had no
pottery industry worth noting until the
period Of the Morrill, tariff began.
Ia 1861 that tariff WIS enacted, the
duty on pottery being raised from "a
per cent 10 80 per cent, which was the
protective rate while the former duty
was the revenue rate. Pottery manu-.
facture had been Ianguishing The tar.
IN instantly gave IL new vitality. In
the decade between 1861 and 1871
many establishments were started. and
sueh progress WIS mnde both In the
volume Of the industry and the char
meter Of the product that IN the Cen
tennIai exhibition IN Philadelphia In
1876 the ceramic exhibition by the
Trenton potteries astonighed the Euro
pean visitors ana was II revelation TO
Americans.
The influence Of this successful com
petition IN fine wares with foreign
made pottery was felt Immediately
ana stimulated the industry. In 1892
there were Ia Trenton sixteen potter
les, with about 1000 hands. To-day
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 Flu
rope, Ia 1909 the total product was
valued at Sl3, 10000.
Among the noted wares turned out
IN Trenton are the Lamberton china,
used 80 first class hotels the Irish
bclleek, delftware etc, all finely beau.
tiful The porcelain vases and other
art wares Of Trenton are exquisite.
Porcelain for electrical fixtures is sent
10 all parts Of the world, aud 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 n protec
tive tariff town One has only 10 point
10 the forty big potteries as one reason
zgIA ~ fhnT.t Ind Imam M npnfaTf IL a.
tariff there would bo no potterles. or
the industry would be confined To the
making OF flowcrpots and rough kitch
en ware The celebrity TINT Trenton
has earned abroad for her artistic pot.
terry would not exist Trenton would
be n comparatively Insignificant dot on
the New Jersey map, for her manu-
features have been the source Of her
growth IN population and wealth and
her manufactures are the result OF the
tnritf protection that President Taft so
vigorously aud courageously upholds
against the assaults of free trade.
What the effect would be OF reduc-
tion of the tariff to Il revenue basis
eliminating protection, as Mr. Wilson
liNl'N'f wv Wv iAihiN lttiH w pt VA
planned, Directly and Indirectly the
welfare of every man. woman and
child In Trenton depends ON the pros,
aerlty of the pottery and other large
Industries of the city that are bullt
up by tarIf protection aud are sustain
ed lay IT, The whole social edltlcc OF
Trenton Is built upon Industrial pros
perlty Shall any wanton baud de
stroy that prosperlty2
Let uR recall tho last Democratic pc.
riod Ia our national government. 80
disastrous to the Industrial and busl
ness Interests, and point TO some sug
gostiyc election figures IN Mercer
county
In 1892 Grover Cleveland was elect.
ed president on platform hostile to
tariff protection Tho Democrats then.
~ now, held up the bogy of high prices
ana kept out OF view the important
consideration that the first essential
was work and wages, without which
the question Of prices had no meaning
for the wage Garner, since without ON,
ployment he couid t.uy nothing at nm,
price
The Democratic platform was seduc.
tive 10 those workingmen who do not
think. In Mercer county, which In.
cludes Trenton, the Republican candi.
date for congress received plurality
of $50.
Two years later, In 1894, after the
effects of the Democratic tariff policy
had been felt, there was another cleo.
tlon for congress and the Republican
plurality Ia Mercer was 4.653.
In 1896 In the election for congress
that year the Republican plurality In
Mercer county was 1877. The figures