214 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April i, 1906. 



reputable goods the better for tlu -ciu lal trade. Every 

 ounce of pure rubber that the world can at present furn- 

 ish is needed for purposes which a:lmit the suljstitution 

 of nothing else. Hence, until rubber culture has in 

 course of years renewed the now depleted supply, every 

 really successful effort to replace this substance in its 

 less geueral uses is a relief. 



Rubber occupies among non metallic substances a po- 

 sition akin to that of platinum among the metals. For 

 certain uses it is incomparable to anything else. Like 

 platinum it is produced in amount relatively so small 

 that the discovery of a new use or the sudden increase 

 of an old one produces an immediate and powerful ef- 

 fect upon the market. The search for new sources of 

 rubber — like that for new platinum deposits, has been 

 only moderately successful, but fortunately rubber can 

 be cultivated, while the platinum supply cannot be re- 

 plenished. In each case the growth of the electrical arts 

 produced a greatly increased demand. 



It is fortunate that experience has taught methods of 

 replacing rubber for insulating purposes, else the price 

 of the raw material would be still further enhanced. We 

 look to see further advances made .so that rubber can be 

 set apart for its more valuable and important uses, and 

 other mateiials be used where only the minor qualities of 

 rubber are .sought to be duplicated. Thus vulcanite can 

 for certain purposes be adequately replaced, just as pure 

 rubber and rich rubber compounds can be replaced in insu- 

 lating wires. The e.Ktensive present use of high voltages 

 has considerably modified too the demands for insulation. 

 At the highest line pressures nothing but bare wire is used 

 since no practicable thickness of even the very best insu- 

 lation is able to stand up long against the combination of 

 weathering and voltage strain. 



At the next lower range of pressures, employed for in- 

 stance in arc lighting, insulation is likewise of only mod- 

 erate value and its purposes are .served .satisfactoril}^ by 

 the so-called weather proof wires. In interior work on 

 the contrary, although the voltages tend to increase, 

 first class rubber insulation is not only adequate but 

 most valuable, and will be in constant demand in in- 

 creasing quantities in spite of the extensive use of 

 "slow burning" wire, auimproved form of the " under- 

 writer's " wire of twenty years ago, under special condi- 

 tions. Thus in spite of the lessened use of rubber cov- 

 ered wire for some purposes, there remains a demand for 

 it which is quite all the available rubber supply can com- 

 fortably stand in addition to the other nuiltifarious calls 

 for it. Ihitil there is a larger supply of th-e raw mate- 

 rial, a largely increased demand for rubber insulation 

 would be rather a dubious blessing. 



RUBBER DAY IN CONGRESS. 



THE promoters of the "Colorado rubber" scheme 

 have been trying to get a lift from the United 

 States government. Evidently private investors have 



niii bctn putting up money fast enough ; an official in- 

 dorsement of "rabbit weed" from Washington might 

 help the .sale of company shares. At any rate, a Con- 

 gressman from Colorado brought in a t)ill to lease to a 

 rubber company in that state, as he expressed it, "a 

 very small tract of useless non agricultural land " in the 

 public domain. Now the preamble to this bill states 

 that the company in question — 



h.is after an exhaustive search, extending over several States and 

 Territories, determined that the plant [Picracfenia floribunda 

 u/i/is] has reached its highest development (so far as the percent- 

 aj;e and quality of its gum is concerned) in the specimens found 

 on the tract of desert land describeil below [viz. : in the bill). 



The land involved, it appears, can be bought for all 

 time for a little more than $6000, but the company seek- 

 ing to avert the threatened rubber famine by developing 

 a new source of supply — this company capitalized (on 

 paper) for hundreds of thousands of dollars — rather than 

 buy outright the pick and choice of " rabbit weed " land 

 for $6000, prefers to get control of it through political 

 "pull." 



But the course of a bill in Congress does not always 

 run smooth. Perhaps the introducer of the " Colorado 

 rubber" bill had annoyed some of his fellow members, 

 an amendment was proposed, avowedly to prevent — 

 this infant rubber concern from being either partly purchased or 

 crushed out by the great rubber trust of the United States, and al- 

 most the balance of the world — 



an amendment proposing that in the event of the 

 "rubber trust" going into "rabbit weed," the leased 

 lands should revert to the government. But the father 

 of the bill declined the amendment. 



The bill was before the House on March 16— on a 

 request for unanimous consent for its consideration —at a 

 time when the heated passions excited by the recent de- 

 bate over the creation of a new State or two had not 

 cooled off, and one Congressman felt incensed because 

 the Speaker was willing to have the rubber bill come 

 up, while, as reputed, using his official position to ob- 

 struct more important legislation. Here is an extract 

 from the Record : 



Mr. Sh.^cklefori). - - - Who stands to-day between a pro- 

 gressive, enlightened people and the statehood to which they are 

 entitled ? You sir [addressing the Speaker] ; only you. You 

 crack your whip and a majority of the H use comes at your feet. 

 You turn your thumbs down and the House deals a death blow to 

 prostrate, bleeding Oklahoma. - - ■ 



Mr. T.\wnev. Mr. Speaker, I make the point of order that the 

 gentleman is not speaking to the question before the House. 



The Spe.\ker- The Chair was not able to hear the remarks 

 of the gentlemen and does not know whether that point of order 

 was well taken or not 



And so the talk ran, touching anything but rubber. 

 But the end had to come some time ; was there unani- 

 mous consent to consideration of the Colorado rubber 

 bill? The deciding speech fills only a line : 



Mr T.\wn'EV. Mr. Speaker, I object to the con.sideration. 



On a later day, however the Colorado bill was brought 

 up again in the House and passed. But not until a 

 meiuber from Massachusetts had risen " to show that it 



