Irish Lace

In Manhattan, before the U. S. Federal Trade Commission, witnesses testified that Irish lace was a mere trade name. Large quantities of the lace were made in France and China and it was pointed out that the adjective "Irish" designated a type and not the country in which it was made.

One Lindsay Crawford, representing the Irish Free State, said that a determined effort was to be made against calling any product "Irish" that was not made in Ireland. The effort, he continued, is to be directed against those who sell "Irish" poplin, mackerel, butter and other products.

Returning to lace, he went on:

"The statement that the amount of lace imported from Ireland during the last few years was so small as to be negligible is not accurate, because most of the Irish lace went to England and was shipped from there as an English product. In England, the trademark laws are so strict that no one dares to misbrand any article, and so we felt safe enough so far as the English trade was concerned.

"Ireland now has a stable Government, statistics are being kept and, before long, we will be able to make accurate reports concerning our imports and exports. In the meantime, we intend to prevent merchants from calling inferior goods by an Irish name. This injures us and restricts our market."