As to Manufactures We have at York Town, on York River, one poor Potters' work for earthen Ware, which is so very inconsiderable, that there has been little less of that Commodity imported since it was Erected, than there was before.[196] The 1735 report was equally depreciating,[197] while the following year Gooch opened his report with the comment: "The same poor Potter's Work is still continued at York Town without any great Improvement or Advantage to the Owner, or any Injury to the Trade of Great Britain."[198] The 1737 report on Trade and Manufactures even contained a special subheading: "Potters' Work." There then followed: "The Potter continues his Business (at York Town in this Colony) of making Potts and Panns, with very little Advantage to himself, and without any dammage to Trade."[199] One wonders why Gooch's persistence in mentioning this enterprise in such terms almost annually did not lead the Board of Trade to question his reasons for mentioning it at all if the pottery was so insignificant. Perhaps they did question it, because in the next report, filed in 1739 after a two-year interval, Gooch dismissed the pottery succinctly, almost impatiently, as though to turn aside further questions that might be raised: "The poor Potter's Operation is unworthy of your Lordships notice." Gooch then proceeded with an admission that: The Common People in all Parts of the Colony, and indeed many of the better Sort, are lately gott into the use of Loom Weaving coarse cloth for themselves and Negroes; And our Inhabitants on the other side of the Mountains, make very good Linnen which they sell up and down the Country. Nor is the making of Shoes with Hides of their own Tanning less practiced, tho' the Leather is very Indifferent.[200] It was easier, of course, to admit that the "common People in all Parts of the Colony" were engaged in domestic manufactures than to allow attention to concentrate on a single commercial, industrial enterprise. Only with difficulty could sanctions have been brought to bear against home industries throughout the colony--a single manufactory reported almost annually for eight years was quite another matter. To have lasted this long, the "poor potter" must have been less than poor, and his pottery must have had an importance that either had to be revealed by truthful statement or dissimulated. It appears that Gooch chose the latter course: the pottery being a large enterprise was noticeable; being noticeable it had to be reported; but being large it contributed to the wealth of the colony while competing with British imports which did not, and therefore it should be condoned. Gooch made a practical decision which may reflect his obligation to the colonists: the pottery works had to be downgraded in his reports and attention distracted from it. The "Poor Potter" and his Wares