December i, 1906.] 



THfc. INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



97 



AMERICAN CONCESSIONS IN THE CONGO. 



TT is announced that some very important concessions in 

 -^ the Congo Free State have been obtained by American 

 capitalists, thoujih full details must await certain oITicial and 

 Icsjal formalities. But it is safe to assume that the new con- 

 cessions involve neither the taking over of King Leopold's 

 interests in the Congo, nor the displacing of any f()//a'iiVO«- 

 aires holding rights hitherto in that region. From the 

 meagre details made public it would appear that the Ameri- 

 cans have been granted a concession to work and trade in 

 rubber in certain sections of the Domain prive (national do- 

 main) not exploited heretofore, just as concessions have been 

 obtained and developed by the Belgians for years past. In 

 other words, there is one more rubber trading concession on 

 the list — another district is to be opened — and what distin- 

 guishes it particularly is that it is held by Americans, and 

 by a syndicate commanding enormous wealth. 



One of the first acts of the Congo Free State was to reserve, 

 as a national domain, all lands not under cultivation. The 

 reservation would of course embrace the rubber areas, and 

 these have been worked under concessions, each having def- 

 inite territorial limits. It would appear that the concession 

 to the Americans covers (i) a large area on the south bank of 

 the Kassai river, extending to its junction with the Congo, 

 and (2) a strip along the Congo, beginning some distance 

 above the mouth of the Kassai. The Kassai, by the way, 

 is the largest of the affluents of the Congo, and the valley 

 drained by it has produced a large share ef the rubber com- 

 ing from the Free State. The profitable Kassai syndicate — 

 the "rubber trust "of Central Africa — operates throughout 

 the great region watered by the Kassai and its affluents, but 

 its sphere of influence does not extend to the mouth of that 

 river. 



The rubber concession referred to will be taken over by 

 the American Congo Co., incorporated October 17, 1906, un- 

 der the laws of New York, with a nominal capitalization of 

 $510,000, and with a temporary board of directors. The ac- 

 tual capitalization will be determined when the amount re- 

 quired has been agreed upon. 



It is understood that the new concessionaires will not con- 

 fine their interest to rubber. For year sthe desirability has 

 been discussed of railwa3's to connect more closely the basins 

 of the Kassai and some other streams, and the American 

 .syndicate interested in rubber is expected to form a second 

 company for railway building and operation. Still another 

 probably will be organized for developing a mining conces- 

 sion. The Congo country is known to be rich in minerals, 

 and the syndicate is understood to have had the advice of 

 John Hays Hammond, probably the ablest living mining ex- 

 pert. 



This is not the first instance of American interest in the 

 Congo. Stanle}-, the practical discoverer of the great river, 

 was an American. The United States were first to recog- 

 nize the Congo Free State when it asserted statehood. One 

 of the first two trading comiianies to gain concessions in the 

 Congo was organized and headed by (jeneral Sanford, an 

 American. Subsequently, however, all trace of American 

 influence and capital disappeared from that region. 



Colonel Samuel V. Colt, of the United States Rubber Co. 

 said in an interview that neither he nor his company was 

 interested in the American Congo Co. He welcomed its ap- 



peai /cause manufacturers were benefited by everj-- 



thing that tended to increase or cheapen the supplj' of raw 

 rubber. He was glad to hear that the new company meant 

 to introduce improved methods of preparing rubber. Col- 

 onel Colt said further : 



" The concessions of the American Congo Co. do not con- 

 flict with negotiations by the United States Rubber Co. in 

 the Congo Free State or elsewhere, but supplement them. 

 High cost of the crude article tends to restrict the manufac- 

 tured output, since that price is exactly one-half of that of 

 the finished product. I should like to emphasize decidedly 

 the fact that the United States Rubber Co. desires to en- 

 courage anything that tends to increase the supply and les- 

 .sen the cost of the crude article. " 



THE RUBBER "VALORIZATION" SCHEME. 



ir^HERE has been introduced into the Brazilian congress 

 -*- a bill providing for a "valorization " scheme for rub- 

 ber, similar to that for cofiee which becomes effective for 

 coffee on December i . The congress adjourned shortly after 

 the introduction of the bill, without action on the bill, but 

 the subject doubtless w-ill be revived. The new president. 

 Dr. Affonso Peuna, is reported to be favorablj' disposed to- 

 ward the project. 



The coffee valorization plan is meant to protect the inter- 

 ests of planters by establishing a minimum price that will at 

 least cover the expenses of production, and thus guard them 

 against loss. The government, in effect, is pledged to buy 

 coffee at the official price. The original plan involved the 

 raising of a loan in Europe to supply funds for such govern- 

 ment purchases, but this was changed to the extent of inter- 

 esting large commercial firms and bankers identified with 

 the coffee trade in Europe and America, who agree to create 

 the necessary loan. The proposition is essentiall3' a bank- 

 ing one, the capital being loaned to the state of vSao Paulo, 

 the chief coffee state. The amount named in the despatches 

 is $20,000,000. The government's purchases of coffee will 

 be shipped to designated agents at New York, Havre, and 

 Hamburg. 



Naturally the rubber producers make the same claim to 

 consideration at the hands of the government. Producers or 

 owners of rubber, under the valorization proposal, would be 

 entitled to deposit it at designated docks and to receive pay- 

 ment from the government at the price of the day. The 

 right of exportation would be reserved to the rubber pro- 

 ducing states — as Para and Amozonas — and would be carried 

 out in their behalf. The general government would be 

 authorized to take up a home or foreign loan of not more 

 than $50,000,000 with which to finance purchases of rubber. 



One of the largest rubber importers in the United States 

 saj-s : " Before such a plan as that proposed can be brought 

 into play it will be necessary to negotiate a loan and $50,- 

 000,000 at least will be needed. London bankers, however, 

 are not readj' to furnish the funds for such a scheme as they 

 consider it poor policy for a government to enter into mer- 

 cantile business. " 



Tiiic Alford Rocjcwood Co., an importing firm at Bogota, 

 write to the bureau of manufactures at Washington that from 

 inquiries they have made they have learned that there is 

 plent3- of Chicle gum in Colombia. 



