222 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 



1903. 



than thirty years the Acre has been exploited and held by Bra- 

 zilians who there established their homes as upon the soil of 

 their own country. Even now, says Senhor Nogueira, in the re- 

 pulse of the regular forces of the Bolivian army by the peasants 

 of the Acre, it is patent that Bolivia has no rooted hold of the 

 territory which it covets and which was exploited by the energy 

 and daring of Brazilians decimated by swamp fevers and other 

 hardships which there assume a terrilying aspect. Senhor No- 

 gueira seeks to support his assertions as to the right of the Bra- 

 zilians to this territory by quoting from the treaty of March 27, 

 1867, in which the northern boundary of Bolivia is declared to 

 run westward from the mouth of the river Beni to the Javary, 

 or. " if the sources of the Javary lie to the north of that east 

 and west line,*' then " until it reaches the principal source of 

 the said Javary." 



But here the distinguished Brazilian gets upon troublesome 

 ground and reopens the whole discussion over which the gov- 

 ernments of Brazil and Bolivia are at loggerheads. Everybody 

 knows the location of the mouth of the Beni river, so that there 

 is no doubt about the starting point of the Bolivian frontier, 

 but the treaty leaves a wide open question as to the other end 

 of this boundary line, so that the Acre belongs to either Bolivia 

 or Brazil, according as the treaty is interpreted by one power 



or the other. 



• * * 



The Brazilian Revievv (Rio de Janeiro), though having an 

 English editor, may be regarded as fairly reflecting conserva- 

 tive sentiment at the federal capital of Brazil in regard to the 

 Acre question. From recent issues of the Review the follow- 

 ing statement of its views is condensed : 



" Whether done accidentally or out of sheer stupidity or 

 diplomatic inability to state a plain case in a plain manner, 

 boundary treaties are almost always drawn up in a way that 

 will either admit of as many interpretations as there are liti- 

 gants, or, as is the case with us, of no logical conclusion at all. 

 From the wording of the treaty of 1867 the true boundary be- 

 tween Brazil and Bolivia might be either, or both, or neither, 

 of two lines which the contesting parties are respectively con- 

 tending for. The only way we can see out of the difficulty, if 

 indeed there be any difficulty at all, is to toss up or refer the 

 matter to arbitration. 



" The cession of sovereign rights to a foreign syndicate and 

 the failure of Bolivia to maintain order on our frontier are dis- 

 tinct and separate matters with which the course of the frontier 

 has nothing to do, and can only be prejudiced by attempting to 

 mix up one with the other. It is certain that we have the right 

 to protest against the introduction of a new sovereign entity 

 on our frontier, and equally so to insist on the maintenance of 

 order and on fair and equitable treatment for citizens. That is 

 enough. Let us stick to that and drop the frontier question 

 altogether. 



" Outside our cause for complaint with regard to the con- 

 cession to the American syndicate, we have not the shadow of 

 a grievance against Bolivia, and, if we attempt to assert the un- 

 justifiable pretensions of filibustering adventurers from Ama- 

 zonas and Para, and attack Bolivia in their defense, will not 

 only lose the sympathy and respect of other countries, but de- 

 serve it. 



" No doubt the Acre is virtually Brazilian by right of settle- 

 ment, and it would be a very good thing if it could be made 

 politically a part of Brazil, by purchase or any other arrange- 

 ment, also. But as far as absolute rights go we have none 

 whatever, except to see that our people are not ill treated and 

 that our interests are respected ; the rest are all on the side of 

 Bolivia, which has shown a remarkable degree of patience." 



The Brazilian Revieiv habitually speaks of 20,000 of " our 

 kith and kin " in the Acre region, although Senhor Noguiero 

 of Manaos, quoted on the preceding page, mentions 3000 as the 

 total population of the district. It is asserted in New York by 

 persons familiar with that region that the population is made 

 up largely of adventurers and of derelicts — the latter being rub- 

 ber workers who have been taken up the rivers and deserted by 

 their employers at the end of the season without the means to 

 return to their homes, thus becoming citizens of the Acre with- 

 out any choice. 



The population of Puerto Alonso in February, 1902, was re- 

 ported at 345, including 202 white men and 5 white women. Of 

 the total 271 were put down as of Bolivian origin (of whom 235 

 were soldiers) and only 38 Brazilians — and this is the most im- 

 portant settlement in the district. 



On January 26 General Pando, president of Bolivia, left La 

 Paz at the head of an armed force on a march for the Acre, 

 and so far as is known he is still marching, although informed 

 while on the second day out that Brazil would insist upon oc- 

 cupying the disputed territory pending arbitration. It is es- 

 timated that 126 days will be required for the army to reach 

 the Acre, which will be about June 1. Meanwhile the Acre is 

 probably being garrisoned by troops from Para and Mati&os, 

 who lately started up the rivers. The Bolivian forces on the 

 ground had already surrendered to Placido de Castro, the in 

 surgent leader. 



NICOLAS SUAREZ IN THE ACRE WAR. 



ONE of the items of " war news " that got abroad during the 

 late unpleasantness in the Acre territory, related to an 

 armed conflict between a body of revolutionists and a force of 

 Bolivian rubber workers collected by Sefior Nicolas Suarez on 

 one of \\\% string ales and captained by himself. The report was 

 that the Suarez force gained a decisive victory, the effect of 

 which, however, was nullified a few days later by the surrender 

 of Colonel Rojas, in charge of the regular Bolivian forces on 

 the Acre, to the revolutionist leader. Nicolas Suarez is one of 

 the principal capitalists and largest rubber estate owners in the 

 region of the upper Acre and Orton risers, and is an important 

 figure in Bolivia. When the revolui >n was declared last sum- 

 mer, citizenship in "the independent Acre republic" was of- 

 fered to all residents in the district, Brazilians and Bolivians 

 alike, with the exception of Suarez, to whom no quarter was to 

 be given, he being declared a person dangerous to the interests 

 of the new republic. One of the first moves of the revolution- 

 ists was to sack and destroy two of his rubber warehouses on 

 the Acre river, but Suarez himself escaped to the Orton river, 

 and it is probable that he raised his forces from his workmen 

 on his rubber estates in the latter region. 



There is no other place where the use of India-rubber is 

 more essential than in a factory where high explosives are 

 made. An account recently published of the great dynamite 

 factory of the Hancock Chemical Co., at Dollar Bay, Michi- 

 gan — the center of a mining district, which uses in a year 

 6,000,000 pounds of dynamite — contains numerous references 

 to rubber. Every operative engaged in the factory work 

 proper, must be rubber shod and wear rubber mittens, to lessen 

 the liability of causing explosions either with their hands or 

 their feet. Materials are conveyed about the works with wheel- 

 barrows with rubber tires. Every precaution, in fact, is taken 

 to prevent any of the explosive substances from coming under 

 pressure of metallic bodies. Thus far no serious casualties 

 have occurred. 



