October i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



13 



BAD CONDITIONS IN THE ACRE RUBBER DISTRICT. 



By Senhor Franco Vieira.* 



IT is an urgent necessity for the government to provide 

 legislation for the seringaa (rubber camps). At the 

 present time the proprietors of the lands are left without 

 any security. 

 After the treaty of Petropolis, by which the government 

 purchased from Bolivia nearly the whole of the department of 

 Upper Acre, Colonel Cunha Mattos, at that time the prefect, 

 promulgated a land law, providing for a term of two years, 

 during which the owners of the seri/igats were to mark the 

 boundaries of their lands, so as to obtain title thereto, the said 

 owners paying to the Union, however, a sum which, unless we 

 are mistaken, was fixed at i;-ioo of a real per square meter. 



The same regulations provided for a term of six months, 

 during which those who had prospected and taken possession 

 of lands could take out a provisional title, in order to secure 

 the occupation of the explored lands. 



According to our information, about 30 provisional titles 

 were issued, while there were recorded at the office of the sec- 

 retary of the prefecture 10 to 12 final titles which had been 

 issued by the government of the state of Amazonas, as well as 

 those granted by the Bolivian government. It will be well to 

 add that both governments received money for the sale of the 

 lands in question, and there can be no doubt, therefore, that 

 the owners of final titles issued by either of the said govern- 

 ments have at this time the uncontestable right of ownership 

 to the lands in question. 



It was thus understood by the colonel ex prefect, as is shown 

 by the following instance : When the Messrs. Joaquin Alves 

 Maia and Fiusas Porto h Cia., proprietors of the .5«7«^(7« of 

 " Soledade," the first named of those on the left and the last 

 named on the right bank of the Acre river, applied for the titles 

 of ownership to the said seringaes, on the ground that they had 

 previously paid the purchase price to the government of Ama- 

 zonas, there being scarcely due more than the last instalment, 

 their application was granted, the balance of the purchase price 

 being collected by the revenue office at Porto Acre, and the re- 

 spective titles of ownership issued. 



The above were the only titles granted, because, in spite of 

 the fact that many other lands were in the same condition, no 

 more titles were issued on account of the receipt by the pre- 

 fect of a copy of a telegram from the secretary of the interior, 

 addressed to the special delegate at Manaos, in which the sec- 

 retary declared that the prefects did not possess the right to 

 give a decision in regard to the sale of lands, the government 

 of the Union alone being competent to do so. 



This resolution, which seriously affected the interests of the 

 proprietors of seringaes, was unfavorably received by the in- 

 habitants of Acre, who, since the revolution, had been anxious 

 to have their rights confirmed, the more so as many of them 

 had been occupying the lands for more than loor 20 years past, 

 and had wasted their youth in such an unhealthy place, suffer- 

 ing the severest privations, only to see themselves at the pres- 

 ent time deprived of all security of possession. 



We feel sure, however, that the government, being now bet- 

 ter informed, will take action for the care of the interests of 

 the population of Acre, whose resources are at the present time 

 exhausted, the greater part of the land owners finding them- 

 selves in this condition because they gave all they could for 

 * In the Jornai do Brasil (Rio de Janeiro) 



the support of the revolution against Bolivia, as they were 

 anxious to have the department of Upper Acre become the 

 property of the Brazilian government. 



Only those who traveled through this region and were able 

 to observe the patriotism by which the population is inspired, 

 have seen how, after the end of the revolution, many citizens 

 who were formerly wealthy, turned to the cutting of rubber 

 trees, as they had become absolutely poor, and were, moreover, 

 dispersed among the towns of Pata and Amazonas. 

 Not one of these had received an indemnity. 

 What these people demand to-day is the securing of their 

 rights, the respecting of their interests, and such legislation as 

 will secure to them the fruits of their honest labor. 



The territory is immensely rich, and if the government will 

 facilitate immigration and provide labor laws in accordance 

 with the requirements of the region, we shall within a short 

 time see Acre become a state well worthy of standing by the 

 side of Pard and Amazonas. The rubber crop alone would 

 suffice to bring about such prosperity, because, besides the 

 present large export, it will be well to keep in mind that the 

 greater part of the department of Upper Acre remains to be 

 explored, the rubber lands there being still virgin territory. 



If the department of Upper Acre exported last year more 

 than 2,000,000 kilograms of India-rubber, besides the Caucho 

 ■A.nAse}>tamliy, without having the labor which it requires, we can 

 imagine what the result would be if the current of immigra- 

 tion were directed towards it. The production would, without 

 exaggeration, be three or four times larger, and thus secure 

 to the government a fabulous revenue, well capable of wiping 

 out within a short space of time the deficit resulting from 

 the purchase of the territory. 



In order to bring this about, it will be sufficient for the gov- 

 ernment to extend aid to those desiring to go to Acre, which 

 would not be very expensive, a third class passage from any of 

 the northern states to Upper Acre, Puriis, or Jurud, not costing 

 more than 300 milreis.* Now, as each immigrant would produce 

 at least 600 kilos [=i322;V pounds] of India-rubber, at the 

 rate of 7 milreis, or a total of 4200 milreis, on which a duty of 

 18 per cent., or 756 milreis would be levied, this amount 

 would within the first year pay for the passage and leave a not 

 inconsiderable balance. 



In making up the above figures, we have taken into account 

 those who may die in the territory in question, as many of the 

 survivors will produce twice the above mentioned quantity and 

 even much more. The government has, moreover, facilities at 

 its command for making shipping contracts, thereby largely 

 reducing the price of the passage as quoted above. 



In the meantime, the proprietors of sertngaes who come down 

 each year in search of help, can make contracts with a few per- 

 sons only, because the cost of loans of capital is enormous, and 

 whenever payment is not promptly made, the rate of interest 

 at harvest time rises above 20 per cent. 



Consequently, the proprietor of a seringal who would require 

 500 to 600 men, works with 100 men only, or at least with only 

 a few more, for, if he has a surplus of 20 or 30 men, an equal 

 number of those he has assisted will go away to see or visit 

 their families. 



It was impossible to take a census of the department in ques- 



* With exchange at 17 pence, equal to $103.41, gold. 



