Jul v I, 1903.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



339 



THE INDIA-RUBBER TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



r 



THE 

 CONGO STATE. 



'HE complaints which have so long been rife wilh regard 

 to the treatment of the natives by Belgian concession- 

 aires in the Congo Free Slate have now led to a dis- 

 cussion in the British house of commons, and after 

 what has transpired it would appear necessary for the signa- 

 tory Powers to the Berlin convention to take 

 some decisive steps. I have not the space at 

 command nor any particular qualifications lor 

 discussing the matter in txtenso here, and shall limit myself 10 

 a few casual remarks. The two classes in this country who 

 take any interest at all in the matter are philanthropists, who 

 know nothing of " African ball " or " Mongalla strips." and rub- 

 ber merchants, who may or may not know much about philan- 

 thropy. The former from their disinterestedness and power 

 will undoubtedly prove more influential in promoting the 

 amelioration of the conditions under which the natives suffer — 

 always supposing that what Captain Burrows and others de- 

 scribe is not an exaggeration. I do not find that the " man in 

 the street," to use a convenient expression, takes any interest 

 at all in the matter. That the phenomenal growth in the rub- 

 ber imports of Antwerp showed a decline last year is a fact 

 familiar to those who study the market reports of this [our- 

 nal, but it is not quite clear to what agencies this is attributa- 

 ble. Is it due to decreased yield owing to less coercive meas- 

 ures in collection, or is it because of the inferiority of the pro- 

 duct (recently referred to in this Journal) and the consequent 

 lessened demand by purchasers ? With regard to the disputed 

 area of Bahr-el Ghazal, although we agreed to its management 

 by the Congo State authorities as a temporary expedient, it 

 may be taken that there is no intention on the part of England 

 to yield up what we recognize as being part and parcel of the 

 lands under Anglo- Egyptian domination. 



Naturally the somber and premature ending of the Pans- 

 Madrid rare has given rise to a good deal of discussion and has 

 been made the most of by opponents of automobil- 

 motors ism. The incentive to prize winning in such cases 

 does undoubtedly introduce the baneful element of 

 professionalism, because the winning drivers can 

 make use of their reputation to monetary effect, and when 

 the prizes are great the tendency to exhibit recklessness will 

 exist. A friendly race between amateurs is a different thing, 

 though with the feeling that has now been aroused on the sub- 

 ject it may be taken that very little latitude will be allowed by 

 authorities in the cases of motor contests of any kind. It 

 would certainly be a pity if the big Irish race did not come off 

 for various reasons, and I am glad to say that it has not been 

 prohibited. =— The German tire made by the firm of Louis Pe- 

 ter. Mitteldeutsche Gummiwaaren-Fabrik (Frankfort o/M.) is 

 attracting favorable notice among British automobilists, and it 

 is expected that it will have a good career when the Dunlop 

 monopoly comes to an end.==I read in the dailv press that 

 Mr. John Muir, of Leith, Scotland, has invented a process where- 

 by pigskin is made available as a substitute for rubber in the 

 manufacture of tires, the sale of the American rights of the pro- 

 cess for $5,000,000 being reported.* I know nothing about this 

 business, but the idea of utilizing leather for this purpose is 

 anything but novel. Previously, it has been found that leather 

 did not stand the abrasion of the roads as well as rubber does, 



* Not known in the United States. — The Editor. 



AND 

 TIRES. 



and nothing but failure hid to be reported. — = Up to the pres- 

 ent, motor tire manufacturers have resolutely refused to give 

 guarantees for any minimum time limit as in the case of cycle 

 tires, and this has been rather a sore point wilh purchasers. An 

 exception has, however, now to be noticed, as the Peter tyre 

 referred to above carries a guarantee of 10,000 miles. Exactly 

 how this is to be checked does not seem obvious; a good deal 

 must certain'y be left to the honesty of those advancing claims. 

 Though not exactly a rubber matter, the rise in the price ol 

 petrol is causing concern to motorists. It is said that the yield 

 in America from whence it is imported is decreasing, though 

 how far this is a fact I have no means at hand of ascertaining. 



On the whole the circular referred to in this correspondence 



last month has been received by buyers in a good spirit, its 



necessity being very generally recognized 



MECHANICAL RUBBER The unanimity of the Uade jn lhe maUer 



PRICES- , ' 



was not quite complete because the Dun- 

 lop company remain outside the pale. It is not surprising 

 that the action of this company in pushing its goods at the old 

 prices has been adversely commented on by its competitors 

 who, however, console themselves by predicting for the delin- 

 quents all sorts of dismal results from such mistaken policy. 



The fact that there are now seven journals devoted to the 



interests of the rubber trade, is one that seems to call for a 



word of comment. Of course, there is nothing 



rubber trade surpr ising j n the fact that, in the absence of a 



JOURNALS. r B 



universal business language on the lines advo- 

 cated by Sir F. Bramwell at the last meeting of the British As- 

 sociation, each country in which the trade is carried on to a 

 large extent should wish to have a journal in the vernacular. 

 The journals written in the English tongue probably circulate 

 to a greater extent among foreign manufacturers than is the 

 case with the French and German publications with us. What 

 is the situation in America I do not know, but I can testify to 

 the very slight circulation of the German rubber journals 

 among our manufacturers, and this for an obvious reason quite 

 apart from lack of interest. It is a truism to say that it is no 

 easy task to successfully establish a new trade journal ; a very 

 long list might be compiled of those which have come to an 

 end rapidly, or after a lingering illness induced by the apathy 

 of those whose interests they were intended to subserve. From 

 what manufacturers in various branches of trade tell me, it has 

 been the too liberal employment of scissors and paste that has 

 hastened this end. The subscribers look for originality and 

 are not satisfied unless they get it; the presentment of com- 

 plete market returns are, they say, of very little use, because 

 nowadays, with the amount of circularization and telephonic 

 communication which goes on, such news is always too belated 

 to be of actual service except for the student of statistics. 

 With regard to obtaining this original matter editors fre- 

 quently find a difficulty because those who are best able to fur- 

 nish it are as a rule in positions of subserviency which pre- 

 cludes them from appearing as authors, and one can hardly 

 cavil at this, because it is expecting too much of an employer 

 that he shall contribute to the wellare or education of his close 

 competitors. Altruism is practically non-existent in trade cir- 

 cles, and there is little likelihood of its tenets becoming the 

 rule instead of the rare exception. It is a noticeable fact with 

 regard to the British rubber trade that members of firms re- 



