THE BROWN SHOE COMPANY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

An Announcement on Jan. 13 that Brown Shoe Co. will close five more plants and more than 100 retail stores, eliminating some 5,660 jobs, was particularly devastating to Southeast Missouri. Four of the plants to be closed are in Southeast Missouri, where about 1,750 workers will be forced out of jobs.

Sadly, shoe plants across Missouri and elsewhere continue to close at alarming rates. No wonder, considering that the U.S. has lost 70 percent of the shoe market to imports. Imported shoes now account for 87 percent of the shoes sold in this country, and China holds a 60 percent share of the U.S. market.

Brown Group Inc., Brown Shoe's parent company in Clayton, Mo., said it will close plants at Caruthersville, Charleston, Piedmont and Mountain Grove, all in Southeast Missouri, and a plant at Selmer, Tenn. The closings will take place between April and June.

A report in today's Southeast Missourian business section reveals the grim figures on what has happened to the shoe industry in the United States. Twenty-five years ago more than 233,000 workers produced 642 million pairs of shoes, representing 79 percent of the U.S. market. By 1988, the work force fell to only 84,000 workers and production to 300 million pairs of shoes, for a market share of just 20 percent. Today, the market share of U.S.-made shoes is a meager 13 percent.

Missouri, of course, has taken the brunt of the shoe industry pain because the state is second only to Maine in total shoe production. Not including the latest casualties, over the past five years in Southeast Missouri alone 4,000 workers have been eliminated from the shoe-production work force. Not only has Brown been hard hit by the imports, among other closings in the area since 1975 have been International and Florsheim shoe plants.

The problem isn't that U.S. shoe workers are overpaid. Their wages, in fact, are considerably less than those of workers who produce most other commodities in this country. The problem is that imported shoes come from countries where workers are paid very low wages, and those foreign-made shoes are sold at much cheaper prices than are domestically-produced shoes.

The only immediate hope for the U.S. shoe industry is intervention by the federal government, and this is unlikely. Missouri U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, whose 8th District includes Southeast Missouri, long has advocated restraints on shoe imports. His pleas, however, repeatedly have fallen upon deaf ears in Congress. Neither did two presidents -- Ronald Reagan and George Bush -- respond to the congressman's requests.

It is easy to be bitter about the plant closings. But Barney Miller, columnist and former publisher of the Dexter Daily Statesman points out: "It must be remembered that these Brown Shoe Company plants are moving to Mexico for the same reason that they came to Piedmont, Caruthersville and Charleston in the first place. More than two generations ago they came to small-town Missouri to find a hard-working and loyal work force that was willing to work for modest wages. There were few, if any, restrictions on working conditions back in those days, and the workers drew modest wages for hard work and good, solid production.

But along came restrictions and regulations, together with a demand for more reasonable wages, and the industry answered the siren song coming from Mexico, or other countries, for even lower wages, few restrictions and an eager work force."

While the North American Free Trade Agreement hasn't officially kicked in, one wonders if it had anything to do with Brown Shoe Company's decision. We expect it did not. Still, we supported NAFTA with the expectation that it would cost this country some lower-wage jobs in the short term, in exchange for the creation of more higher-wage jobs for the long term. For many in Southeast Missouri, the trade doesn't look so good right now. And until this country gets a handle on proliferating regulations and taxes, it won't look much better in the future.