316 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July i, 1907. 



Mrs. Miner support with unstinted and unostentatious gener- 

 osity. Mr. Miner is an enthusiastic Canadian, but yet not a 

 narrow one. Indeed as he has large business nitcrests in tlie 

 United States he is often in Boston and New York, and keeps 

 in touch with the rubber business as well as anybody in the 

 Americas. Although born in Canada he is from New England 

 stock, his mother being born in Vermont, and while his father 

 was born in Canada, his grandfather was a Connecticut Yankee 

 and a graduate of Dartmouth College. 



RUBBER IN THE CANADIAN TARIFF. 



THE new Canadian customs tariff act. assented to April 12, 

 1907, involves several changes in the rates applicable to im- 

 ports of manufacturers of india-rubber and gutta-percha. The 

 language of the several paragraphs relating to these commodities 

 is given below, together with the new rates and those effective 

 under the acts of 1894 and 1897. By may- of explanation it may 

 be stated that, in addition to the "general" tariff, special "prefer- 

 ential" rates are provided for the products of Great Britain and 

 certain British dependencies named in the act, and also an 

 "intermediate" rate for the products of other British colonies or 

 possessions or foreign countries under certain conditions, in- 

 volving reciprocal benefits. It may be noted that Australia does 

 not appear in the list of British countries entitled to the "prefer- 

 ential" tariff. The duties here, specified are ad valorem: 



617. India-rubber boots and shoes. General tariff, 2$ per 

 cent.; British preferential, 15; intermediate, 22J/2. 



Rate under the act of 1894 — 30 per cent, on arctics and gal'ttrs and 

 25 per cent, on rubber boots and* shoes without uppers of cloth or other 

 materials. Rate under act of 1897 — 25 per cent. 



618. Rubber cement and all maaiufactures of india-rubber and 

 gutta-percha not otherwise provided for. General tariff, 27]/^ per 

 cent.; British preferential, 15; intermediate, 25. 



Rate under the act of 1894 — 325^ per cent, on belting and 25 per 

 cent, on the other articles. Rate of 1897 — 20 per cent, on belting and 

 25 per cent, en unspecified articles, t 



619. India-rubber clothing and clothing made waterproof with 

 india-rubber; rubber or gutta-perCha hose, and cotton or linen 

 hose lined with rubber; rubber mats or matting and rubber pack- 

 ing. General tariff, 35 per cent.; Ifritish preferential, 22 J/4 ; inter- 

 mediate, 30. I 



clothing and 32 J4 per cent. 011 tlie 

 rr— 35 per cent, on the whole. 



620. Webbing, elastic, over ona inch wide. General tariff, 20 



per cent.; British preferential, laj^ ; intermediate, ij'A- . 



Not specified in the nreceding tariff acts. 



t 



The above comparison may be summarized thus : 



Duties unchanged on footwear,: clothing, waterproofed clotli, 

 hose, packing, matting and mats. 



Duties higher on belting and all other manufactures of india- 

 rubber and gutta-percha not mentioned in the preceding para- 

 graph. [The imports of belting last year aiuounted to $40,437 in 

 value, and the goods classed as "All other" to $414,828, or 51 

 per cent, of the total imports of rubber goods.] 



Under the previous tariff (that is, since July i, 1898), imports 

 from Great Britain were admitted at a reduction of 25 per cent, 

 from the general tariff. This concession, however, has not given 

 Great Britain a leading position in the Canadian rubber goods 

 trade, as these figures will show — indicating the value of rubber 

 goods imports for the past three fiscal years : 



1904-05. 1905-06. 1906-07. 



Total imports $978,215 $825,390 $811,743 



From Great Britain 334.646 164,996 99.695 



Rubber tires are specifically mentioned in the new tariff acti — in 

 paragraph 592, which embraces, among other things, "tires of 

 rubber for vehicles of all kinds, fitted or net." The rate is 35 

 per cent., general tariff, 22J/2 per cent. British preferential, and 30 



Rate of 1894 — 35 per cent, on 

 othtr articles named. Rate of 189 



per cent, intermediate — the same as named in paragraph 619, 



already quoted. ,„ _ 



I HE Free Li-st. 



Cru<le materials remain free, as before, paragraph 6l6 reading 

 as follows : "Rubber and gutta-percha, crude caoutchouc or india- 

 rubber, unmanufactured, powdered rubber and rubber on gutta- 

 percha waste or junk; hard rubber in sheets but not further 

 manufactured, and recovered rubber and rubber substitute." 



The following articles are also admitted free : 



Seamless cotton or linen duck, in circular form, of a class or 

 kind not made in Canada, for use in the manufacture of hose 

 pipe. 



Rubber bulbs for vaccine points. 



i''illets of cotton and rubber not exceeding 7 inches wide, im- 

 ported exclusively for use in the manufacture of card clothing. 



Rubber thread, not covered. 



Rubber heads for whips. 



THE SHOE MACHINERY SITUATION. 



THE Massachusetts legislature has passed, after a long con- 

 test, what is known as the "Shoe Machinery bill," aimed 

 specially at the form of lease in use by the United Shoe Ma- 

 chinery Co., who supply machines and outfits in large numbers 

 to shoe manufacturers. 



The new law provides that no person or company shall, after 

 July I, 1907, make it a condition in the sale or lease of any ma- 

 chine or implement that the purchaser or lessee shall not buy 

 or lease machinery or materials, from other persons. But if the 

 owner of any machine shall be protected by patent rights, he may 

 require that any purchaser or lessee thereof shall purchase or 

 lease from him such component parts of the machine as may 

 be required during the continuance of such patents. And nothing 

 in the act shall be construed to prohibit the appointment of agents 

 or sole agents to sell or lease machinery. A violation of 

 this act is punishable for each offense by a fine not exceeding 

 $5,000. 



The number of machines out under lease by this company in 

 the United States on March I, 1907, was 57,777, an increase for 

 the year of 8,877. The company have also a large factory at 

 Leicester, England, and many machines under lease abroad. The 

 Massachusetts legislation affects conditions only in that state, of 

 course, and does not apply to leases made before July i. But 

 legislation aimed at restrictive leases is pending in Great Britain, 

 and may be proposed in other of the American states, in case 

 the questions involved shall not first be settled by the United 

 States supreme court in a waj to 'rendSr such 'enactments with- 

 out effect. 



It does not appear tliat the Massacliusetts law was supported 

 by the shoe manufacturers, with whom an agreement was reached 

 by the Shoe Machinery company several years ago, providing for 

 the form of lease that has since been in force. The Shoe Ma- 

 chinery company opposed the Massachusetts law, as it says, not 

 for fear that it would affect the company injuriously, but on the 

 principle that the industry should be as free from restrictive 

 legislation as possible. The United Shoe Machinery Co., by the 

 way, are practically without competition in their field, so that 

 the restrictive clauses now prohibited have had no effect, because 

 there has been practically nothing to keep out. The Shoe Ma- 

 chinery Company will prepare new forms for leases, likely to in- 

 volve a higher cost to manufacturers, and a larger income for 

 tlie company. 



The Shoe Machinery Company is embraced in the United 

 Shoe Machinery Corporation, formed under the New Jersey laws 

 May I, 1905. The latter also controls the companies in Eng- 

 land. France, Germany, Switzerland. Australia and Argentina. 

 The earnings last year were $4,183,000. On June 14 a stock 

 dividend was declared, amounting to 173,000 shares of common 

 stock. 



