Evening star., 1954-05-23
Life-or-Deafh Issue
In Tariff Is Seen
By Pottery Center
Continued From First Page.)

SO,OOO persons IN Oh10 ana west
Virginia. The livelihood Of these
people for a century and a quar-
ter has depended on the manu-
facture of dishware.
Some Of the inhabitants of this
section today are descended from
those early settlers who brought
their skills from England, tapped
the clay hills on the Virginia side
Of the Ohio and peddled the
products Of their wheels down
river on flatboat.
Flood Of Goods From Japan.
Today, the markets built up
through the years are disappear
ing under the flood of goods from
abroad. The resurgent japanese
are doing the most damage to
East Liverpool-but Western Eu-
rope is contributing, too.
What has happened around
here since 1947-48, when East
Liverpool had its "best" year.
shows up in the figures. Employ
ment is down from 5000 to
about $500. The work week is
80 hours instead of the standard
40. Sales had dropped by last
year from $40 million to $22 mil
lion. And the payroll for seven
major potterieS Of the area had
fallen from $25 million to $16
million.
If it had not been for the Jobs
available in nearby Pennsylvania
steel mills, a lot of people would
have been looking for work in
this area. The current peace
time decline in steel production
dimS the future outlook.
In this situation, of course,
the pottery workers want no part
Of liberal trade program. The
tariff barriers must be higher and
stronger If they are to survive.
AS a matter Of fact, in some re-
spects the situation here has
passed the point where tariffs
can help any longer. The duties
on Japanese pottery already are
above 70 per cent, and any fur
ther hike would be meaningless.
GnnI~~ T~k.H n-~A-.As-
What East Liverpool really
wants Is an absolute restriction
on the quantity of pottery i'm
ports-at any price. But that is
not in the cards. So they must
not in the cards. So this COM
munity must content itself with
fighting any extension of recipro-
cal trade-for one year, no less
tina nthree. It wants nothing to
do with anything except total
protection.
It is not hard to understand
why.
Joseph NJ. Wells. grizzled gen.
eral manager Of Homer Laughlin
China Company of Newell, West
Virginia. pulls out a mail order
catalogue to demonstrate what
he and others of the craft are
facing.
A fine, 96-piece china dinner
set imported from Japan-the
kind the average American
housewife would use only on Spe-
cial occasionS-retails for $685..
This is 50 less than Homer
Laughlin. largest pottery maker
in the world, has to charge for
a 12-place setting of the do
mestic. semi-vitreous or semi
porcelain ware that has COM
moner usage in the home. To
duplicate the fine china would
cost the American company 5000.
Or again:
Hall China, of East Liverpool,
the country's largest maker of
teapots. turns out priced pro-
duct at SIPS. But the British who
have to pay 20 to Is per cent in
tariffs, still come along with the
same thing for SO cents-and
throw in supply of tea to boot.
1--WE could dry up unless we get
help" That is the grim comment
Of Robert E. Boyce, youthful
president of Harker Potter, which
has been in business at Chester,
West Virginia, since 1840, and
is the oldest outfit of its kind in
the United States.
1--WE don't get much attention
In Washington because we are a
small industry" he adds, echoing
. complaint often heard.
The truth is that the pottery
industry-and other small busi-
nesSes in pottery's situation -
get a lot of attention in WASH
ington. Their complaints carry
weight out of proportion to their
numbers for a good reason: The
economic remedy to the East
Liverpool situation may be OBJ
vious, but it poses a tough prob
lem when you try to apply it to
q living community Of this sort.
The Story In A Nutshell.
The basic trouble is that Amer
lean workers get such high pay
that they cannot compete in in
dustries like pottery where labor
represents a large proportion Of
the costs. A Japanese pottery
maker gets around 19 cents an
hour. His American counterpart
in East Liverpool gets $1.68 an
hour. There is the story in q
nutshell.
American industries can COM
pete-can, in fact, defy compe-
tition - when they operate on
a mass production basis. Both
Homer Laughlin and Hall are
NQ.l.tl4ggllyll