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CERAMICS (Continued from Page 11)
capacity is about 4,300 tons annually. This
total capacity is far exceeded by minimum
civilian requirements, and actual production
reported for April was but 9 percent capacity
rate, due again to lack of coal - consump-
tion amounts to from 3 to 5 tons per ton of
finished ware. Rapidly diminishing stocks
of Saxonian and Czechoslovakian kaolin and
Scandinavian flint and feldspar further in-
hibit industrial recovery.
FLOOR AND WALL TILE
Floor and wall tile are frequently included
in the output of general earthenware plants.
Two factories located in the Bremen Enclave
are important producers of these items, and
one large plant in Wuerttemburg turned out
considerable quantities. The production rate
for floor and wall tile was at 3 percent of
capacity In April, and this limited production
was chiefly due to coal shortage.
The production of tiles for stoves is an
important German industry which originated
in the 16th century when the highly orna-
mental tile covered "Nuremberg Stove" was
first developed. This type of stove is still
a favorite for domestic heating throughout
Germany, and tile requirements are con-
siderable. The manufacture of stove tiles and
glazed building tile in general is curtailed
because of coal shortage. From latest reports
the industry was only operating at about
2 percent of capacity in April.
The abrasives industry in the US Zone is
siderable. The manufacture of stove tiles and
grinding wheel producing district of Frank-
furt/Main accounting for the largest output.
Agricultural whetstones are second in im-
portance, followed by sized abrasived. No
important manufacture of abrasive cloth and
paper is carried out in the Zone. The pro-
duction rate for the entire industry in the
Zone in April was about 15 percent of ca-
pacity. The chief sources of supply of the
principal abrasives used are; The Rhineland
for artificial corundum and PL 203, and Ba-
varia for carborundum. Interzonal trade bar-
riers make procurement of corundum dif-
ficult. Shortages of coal and raw materials
are the limiting factors in further expansion
of the abrasives industry.
OZECHOSLOVAK OFFICER JUSTIFIES
EVACUATION OF'
The removal of Sudenten-Germans from
Czechoslovakia is "an act of historical justice"
and the confiscation of their property is to
eliminate the sowing of seed of new wars,
Lt. Augustin Merta of the Czechoslovak army,
said at a recent I. & E. Orientation lecture
in Berlin.
Terming the removal an entirely political
measure, - he said the "Sudenten Germans"
helped in destroying the Czechoslovakian
Republic's independence in 1938-39. In the
elections in 1935 they voted for Henlein's
Sudenten-Partei which provided Hitler with
an excuse for the Munich conference and thus
for beginning a new war for the German
domination of the world.
"That's why we are transferring the Ger-
omans," Lt. Merto explained, "It is not an act
of revenge but an act of historical justice."
SUDETEN -G ERMANS
The state is confiscating the land of the
German, Hungarian and Czech traitors who
actively assisted the Nazi conquerors, for,
he said, if economic positions of such impor-
tance remained with Germans or Hungarians
who betrayed the country, the seed of new
wars would be sown.
Lt. Merta stated almost 80 percent of his
country's industry is nationalized and in
state-ownership, because much of Czech in-
dustry was in German hands. Private pro-
perty will exist but big elementary industry
is the property of the state, to eliminate once
and for all the possibility of new treachery
of the Germans or even Czech capitalists as
in 1938-39. Industry needs credits, therefore
it was necessary to nationalize the banks
it was necessary to nationalize the banks also.
The Ob-server.
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