142 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[Februaby I, 1907. 



The Congo Railway at Citas. 



If any one point can be referred to as the actual center of the 

 rubber trade in the vast Congoland — a region larger than Europe 

 — it would appear to be some where on Stanley Pool, and if a 

 more definite location is asked for, it is not too much to indicate 

 as the place the "Citas" site illustrated herewith. 



CHANGING CONDITIONS ON THE CONGO. 



A NEW convention between the Societe Abir and the Congo 

 ^^ Free State, authorized by a decree of September 12, 1906, 

 provides that the company shall abandon the privileges granted 

 to it under the concession of 1892. The condition is that the com- 

 pany shall be entitled to receive, on the quay at Antwerp, at the 

 uniform price of 4.50 francs per kilogram (=139.4 cents per 

 pound), all rubber which may be produced on the area covered 

 by the Abir concession, the price to be subject to revision every 

 five years. This agreement to be in force until September 26, 

 1952, though the terms may be amended at the end of each 

 period of twelve years, on conditions which have not been made 

 public. 



A similar new arrangement has been announced in regard to 

 the Societe Anversoise du Commerce au Congo. The new con- 

 vention is to be effective until December 31, 1952. 



No statement yet made public serves to explain the change of 

 status of these two companies, which are among the most im- 

 portant holding concessions in the domaine privc in the Congo 

 Free State. The Belgique Financiere, after quoting The India 

 RrnnER World's statistics of the arrivals at Antwerp of rubber 

 for the account of the various concessionaire companies, remarks 

 that the falling off on the part of several of them indicates a 

 crisis in their affairs which may call for help from the state. 

 It regards the new conventions with the Abir and Anversoise 

 companies as the first step in this direction, though it fails to 

 point out the beneficial feature of the new plan of operation. 

 The amount of rubber credited to the two companies during 

 three years was as follows (weight in kilograms) : 



1903. 



Societe Abir 951,000 



Societe Anversoise 525.500 



1904. 1905. 



316.918 358,673 

 106,380 89.510 



Both the companies named here have been enormously profit- 

 able. The Abir company (Anglo-Belgian India-Rubber and Ex- 

 ploration Co.) has 2000 capital shares, "without designation of 

 value." Mr. E. D. Morel, who has made a study of the Belgian 

 Congo companies, states that the original paid up capital was 

 232.000 francs (=$44,776). In a single year the dividends 

 amounted to 4,200,000 francs (=$810,600), and the shares have 

 been quoted as high as 25,250 francs, giving a total stock ex- 

 change value of $9,746,500. In 1898 the company made a new deal 

 with the Congo Free State, whereby the latter became possessed 



of one-half of the capital shares, and the state has participated 

 in the great earnings referred to. For some time past the profits 

 of the Abir company have been declining, and a recent quotation 

 for the shares was 5,500 francs, or only one-fifth of the highest 

 price recorded. A year or two ago the company made an in- 

 vestment in a rubber plantation in the Malay peninsula. 



The Anversoise company's capital is in 3400 shares, without 

 mention of value, though generally spoken of as 500 franc shares. 

 This would be equivalent to $328,100. In a single year the net 

 profits reached $769,458.55. The earnings of this company have 

 also declined notably, accompanied by lower quotations for their 

 shares. 



The rubber shipped by these two companies to Antwerp has 

 been among the best received at that market, the Abir company's 

 products including the Lopori grades, and those of the Anversoise 

 the Mongalla rubber. Most of the rubber of these classes sells 

 at the Antwerp auctions at 10 to 12 francs per kilogram, which 

 is equivalent to 895^2 cents to $1 per pound. At a fixed price of 

 39.4 cents per pound to the trading companies it would seem 

 that a very handsome profit is in sight. 



RUBBER EXHIBITS AT MARSEILLES. 



'T'HE French colonial exposition held at Marseilles in Septem- 

 •*■ ber proved of much interest, and was successful from every 

 point of view. It was particularly interesting on account of the 

 rubber exhibits which occupied so prominent a place among the 

 products of all of the colonies represented. Beautiful and exten- 

 sive palaces were erected respectively for Indo China, Mada- 

 gascar, and West Africa, and in all of these were shown speci- 

 mens of rubber — forest and plantation — together with very many 

 photographs illustrating methods of dealing with rubber in all its 

 stages before reaching the factory. The rubber exhibit from 

 Madagascar was notable on account of the number of different 

 plants contributing to it, nearly all of which plants, by the way, 

 are to be found only in that island. 



By the way. Dr. Henri /umelle, writing in La Caoutchouc et 

 la Gutta-Percha, says that the black rubber of Madagascar is the 

 product of species of Landolphia (creepers), "pinky" Madagascar 

 of three species of Mascarenhasia (trees), and the white rubber 

 of southern Madagascar of the Euphorbia Intisy (tree). 



During the exposition a colonial congress was held at Mar- 

 seilles, for the discussion of the development of colonial resources. 

 Lectures of interest and importance were delivered in relation to 

 rubber exploitation in Africa and Indo-China, and also in Cen- 

 tral America and Brazil. The lecturers were merchants, colonial 

 administrators, explorers, and others having practical knowledge 

 of the topics discussed. 



The congress, considering the success of the schools instituted 

 in West Africa by M. Yves Henry, for instruction in methods of 

 collecting, coagulating, and preparing rubber [see The India 

 Rubber World, .\ugust i. 1906 — page 346], voted to recommend 

 similar measures in all the French colonies. A resolution was 

 adopted calling upon the colonial administrations to give attention 

 to the movement of crude rubber, with a view to repressing 

 fraudulent practices. A further resolution recommended that the 

 chambers of agriculture and commerce established in each col- 

 ony be consulted in regard to establishing stations for the ex- 

 amination of rubber before its export, with a view to the issue 

 of certificates of quality of the rubber. 



RtTBBER EXPORTS FROM FRENCH WEST AFRICA. 

 [From La Caoutchouc et la Gutta-Percha.'] 



Colonies. iqoi. 1902. 1903. 1904- 1905. 



Senegal kilos. 361.428 549.873 817.354 1,001,815 l,oi7,3ir 



French Guinea 1,038.808 I,li;4.8n3 1,487.805 1,495.671 1,415.829 



Ivorv Coast 704.825 912.388 1,166.812 1,536.045 1,179.879^ 



Dahomey 5.890 1,575 1,964 4.130 4.002^ 



Total hilos. 2.110,951 3,618,729 3,473,935 4,037,661 3.617,021 



