The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-05-25
Trade Treaties Hit
By Representative
Congressman Lewis Con-
demns Reciprocal Trade
Agreements


U. S. Secretary of States office for
the purpose of conducting Reciprocal
Trade Agreements during the years
1889 and 1910, and spoke against the
appropriation as follows:
"Mr. Chairman, this is the first
time l have addressed this House, and
| sincerely regret that | have to take
the floor in opposition to measure
that is sponsored by my good friend
the gentleman from South Carolina
(Mr. McMillan) whom | love sincere
ly; but the people of my District, the
interests of my District are being de-
stroyed by this Reciprocal Trade
Agreement policy that this item if in
serted in this bill will tend to foster.
What are those industries?
represent District that is largely
agricultural. We raise practically
everything in the Eighteenth District
of Ohio that can be raised in our sec
tion of the country. We have dairy
farms. Our dairy farmers are selling
their milk cheaper than it costs them
to produce it. Where do they sell it ?
They sell it in the Pittsburgh market.
Pittsburgh is the central market for
all that section.
Yesterday a delegation of men rep
resenting the milk industry of Ohio
met me out here in the Hall and told
me what is happening to their indus
try. The dairy farmers are gong in
to bankruptcy, and they are forced in
to bankruptcy by the price of milk
fixed in Pittsburgh. This price has
been fixed, as the gentleman from
Wisconsin said, by importation of for
eign milk from Canada. This is not
guess. They have traced the milk,
they told me yesterday, and found that
it is coming from Canada. The sur
plus supply that is beating down the
price of milk in the Pittsburgh area
comes from Canada. What else is hap
pening?
We have turned over the making of
glassware by hand to the japanese
under this policy. Oh, you say, we
have no reciprocal trade agreement
with Japan, and this is true; but, Mr..
Chairman, Japan is the chief benefici
y
ment policy, because under the most
favored-nation clause they benefit by
every one of the 10 trade agreements
made with other countries. Come with
me down into my District and | will
show you the smokeless stacks of glass
mills in Bellaire, and men out Of work,
tramping the streets with nowhere to
| Crn fc, ioh ho1
this policy turned the glass markets
of America over to the producers of
Japan (Applause).
Then there is the pottery industry.
In 1887 more than 100000 dozen
pieces of potteryware came into this
country from Japan alone, and as a
result the potteries Of my District are
working part time, if they are work
ing at all. My District contains the
greatest pottery center in the United
States, the City of East Liverpool,
Ohio, where it is practically the sole
industry, and as result of this policy
OF trading our markets to the pro-
ducers of pottery ware in foreign
lands the American markets have been
largely taken over by the Japanese
products.
| also have in my District great
coal-mining industry My District pro-
duces more coal than any other Con-
gressional District in the State of
Ohio, and yet in 1887 quota agree
ment was entered into between the
United States and Russia, whereby
E
be admitted to American markets free
of ali taxes, while at the same time
our coal miners were out of work
Does this make sense? Is it sound
policy that gives the markets for
American coal to the coal miners of
Russia instead Of the coal miners of
the United States?
My District also is great steel
producing District, and under present
conditions steel from Belgium and the
steel-producing centers of Europe is
sold in the United States, at all points
within 200 miles of the seacoast,
cheaper than American steel can be
produced in my District and sold in
that same area. Does this make sense?
Is it sound policy to trade off the mar
kets of the products of tens of thous-
ands of people, who derive their liv-
ing from the production of steel, to
the steel-producing centers of Europe?
| insist that such policy, if continued
and persisted in, will deepen the de-
preston rather than tend to lift us
out Of it. How can we expect re-
covery of business in all Of these in
dustries that | have named if we in
sist on turning over our legitimate
markets in this country to the products
of similar industries in foreign lands.
We are selling the American people,
by this policy, "down the river" and
under protestations of humanitarian
ideals we are deepening and prolong-
ing the depression"
Congressman Lewis today also sign
ed a petition to take the Anti-Lynching
Bill away from the Committee and
bring it on the floor of the House for
vote. The Committee has had the
Bill for several months and has ap-