Evening star., 1933-01-11
BY MERWIN HI. BROWNE.


The American rag rug industry is do
ing more than merely live up to its
name. Because of ruthless japanese
competition, fostered by starvation
wages and a deprecated currency, it
has become the American "tattered"
rug industry.
Once these rags covered riches. To-
day, the tatters cover torn industry,
reduced to q shambles by foreign manu-
facturers, who, despite a 40 per cent ad
valorem American tariff hurdle. have
all but forced the domestic manufac-
turer completely from his home market.
Only step behind in condition are
the American grass and cotton rug In
dustries. The winds of an American
depression blow billows through field
after field of American grass which once
was the backbone of the domestic SUM
mer rug industry. Today, America
Summers on japanese grass rugs, and
the ships which carry American cotton
to Japan to be manufactured into VII
ton and velvet rugs to compete with the
domestic product, carry these and otner
Japanese products as ballast on the
return trip to the United States.
OfficiaI Figures.
To those who are skeptical regarding
the effect of the japanese competition,
and continue purchasing the foreign
made articles in the belief that argu-
ments to the contrary are specious ar
guments of high tariff protectionists, u
Is only necessary to refer to the ofnciai
industrisl figures on these three allied
industries. These figures show:
Because of the foreign competltlon,
total sales of the entire domestic rug
industry dropped from S200,000,00O In
a peak year to SAC, ,o0o, 900 last year.
2-The weekly wage in the domestic
industry dropped from an average Oh
sos to an average Of $16.
2-The domestic Oriental rug indus
trv has been practically eliminated. N
1922. only 100000 square yards OF THIS
tvpe rug were imported from abroad:
II is expected that final figures Will
show the total import of these rugs dur
ing 1892 was 1000, 900 square yards.
AFfve years ago, there were l49
American concerns manufacturing the
"hit or miss" variety of rag rug. To-
day. due to the japanese competition,
there are not more than five such con-
Germs.
5-F1ve years ago, more than loo'ooo
Americans manufactured rag rugs IN
their homes Not home manufactures
these rugs today. =.
GA grass rug manufacturer, m
sworn testimony in the files OF tMne M
Treasury Department, declares: II
something is not done to curtail impor-
tations our mills practically Will not be
open for Spring business. We are being
driven from our own market.
Undersell Americans.
Simple arithmetic affords the an
swer to why the Japanese and other
foreign rug manufacturers are making
of the domestic rug manufacturer
vanishing American" 1t is not diffi-
cult to understand why a Japanese rag
rug, 24x36 inches, and landed mere,
duty paid, at 10 cents, should take the
market from an American made rug,
similar In size and texture, which alone
costs nearly 36 cents to make, even
though the American rug Is heavier,
will wear longer, and is manufactured
under absolutely sanitary conditions.
To meet such radical conditions the
American rug manufacturers took rad
ical action. Determined to present a
united front in their plea for assistance
to the American Government, these
competitors got together for the first
time and revealed trade secrets to one
another for mutual protection.
For instance, it costs one American
grass rug manufacturer $500 to make
rug 9x12 feet. The Japanese manufac-
turer lands an identical rug here, duty
paid, for $3.50. The 8x10-foot Amer
lean rug costs $489 to produce. The
same Japanese rug Is landed here, duty
paid. for $3.50. The 6xl2-foot Amer
lean rug costs $4.40 to produce. An
Identical Japanese rug is landed here at
$2.34. The 4.5x75-foot rug, American
made, costs $206 to produce. The
japanese rug Is landed at SLOT.
The American grass rug industry in
vestrnent is approXimated at $40, ,000,-
900. In normal times, about 10000
persons are employed. Today, manu-
facturers assert, mot 1,O00'' are en-
ployed.
Industry on Last Legs.
Manufacturer after manufacturer has
told the Government that the American
rag rug industry is Con its last legs.
The gaudy japanese product has super-
seded the American product in prac-
tically every village, town and city in
the United States. There was a una
! nimity of opinion that four or five years
ago there was domestic market for
the American product, as evidenced by
the 149 producing firms in existence at
that time. There was equal unanimity
that there is no profit for the five re-
naming manufacturers Of today, be-
cause Of the cut-throat competition Of
fered by the japanese product.
Cotton rugs, woven to initiate Orien-
tails, have been coming into this coun-
try at an alarming rate from japan,
Czechoslovakia, France and Belgium.
The Wilton and xrolyot rr.r y,.ay.,rfon