July i, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



343 



I 





rvihlish.-(l on tlio Isr of r;uli Month by 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING GO., 



No. 395 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 

 CABLE ADDRESS: IRWOHLD. .VBW YORK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, 



lODl'KJK. 



HAWTHORNE HILL, 



AS><UCI.\TK. 



Vol. 40. 



JULY I. 1909. 



No. 4. 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS ON LAST PAGE READING MATTER. 



THE CONGRESS AND BUSINESS. 



IT is inevitable under a representative governinent, such 

 as e.xists in the United States, that the legislative 

 discussion of a matter of such widespread interest as re- 

 vising the tariff schedules should consume nnich time. 

 The Congress frames every law without the initiative or 

 control of any other branch of the government, and not 

 only has every senator and iiK'iiiber the right to be heard, 

 but the constituents of every one may be demanding that 

 he speak publicly in their special interest. 



The diversity of interest on many points leads to dis- 

 cussion, as is intended in the very foundation and theory 

 of the American system. The Congressional Record, dur- 

 ing the special session at Washington, has been running 

 to an average of fifty large pages per day, devoted mainly 

 to the tariff debates, and a perusal of the contents — 

 whatever else they may embrace — suggests a vast amount 

 of intelligent study and forceful argument by men of 

 national reputation for capacity and integrity. Such are 

 ^. the men who are attempting to frame a new tariff law — 

 g something which in no country can be accomplished in 

 ^ a hurry. 



It is to be regretted that business conditions should 

 be disturbed in any sense by the pending of important 

 legislation, but The India Rubber World has contended 



always that the tariff question in America has figured 

 far too large in the public mind, and that such obstruc- 

 tion to trade as now seems to exist — so far as any action 

 by the Congress is concerned — is mostly a "state of 

 mind." 



THE HIGH PRICE OF RUBBER. ,... 



THE topic of chief interest and importance to the rub- 

 ber trade to-day is the high cost of rubber, and this 

 involves the consideration of whether lower prices are 

 a near possibility. It may be that the rates just now pre- 

 vailing will not be long maintained} but no present indi- 

 cation points to. really cheap rubber. A salient fact is 

 that the recent record high prices accompanied probably 

 the largest production of the raw material in any year, 

 from a constantly increasing number of sources, under 

 conditions which preclude any idea that supplies have 

 been under nianipulative control, and in spite of. the fact 

 that the market is soon to receive larger quantities of 

 rubber froni plantations. Clearly the explanation is in a 

 growing demand for rubber in the industries — a larger 

 production of goods either actual or in prospect. 



It is of interest, therefore, to con'sider the probable 

 output of rubber in the early future. The growing 

 production on plantations has been mentioned; there is 

 reason to believe that the Amazon region will continue 

 slowly to increase its yield, year by year, as has been 

 the case for a half century, as the available working force 

 can be augmented. The net total supply from other 

 forest sources, for reasons which The India Rubber 

 World has suggested so often, does not promise any in- 

 crease. Meanwhile the world's needs for rubber grow 

 incessantly. Can the plantations keep pace with the 

 growing demand ? 



From time to time The India Rubber World has re- 

 ported on the progress of typical plantations of Hevea, 

 as it does in this issue, the point of each report being a 

 rapid increase of annual yield and a lower cost of pro- 

 duction. But still the total plantation yield is too small 

 to be of great present importance to the industry ; it is 

 of interest more from the promise which it gives for the 

 future. While all the plantations that have been formed 

 may not prove so successful as "Lanadron" or "Vallam- 

 brosa," for example, undoubtedly many millions of trees 

 already planted will in time become prolific yielders of 

 rubber. But, as we have said, the demand for rubber 

 grows. 



Our friends in the East continue to discuss the cost 

 of their rubber as compared with Brazilian, evidently with 

 the idea that they possess a marked advantage. This has 

 led us to admit to this issue a communication which 

 argues the question from a Brazilian standpoint. What- 

 ever may be true in the end, it is only fair to give both 

 sides a hearing. But so long as present conditions of 

 supply and demand obtain, the world will need all the 

 rubber that can be produced in the Amazon region as 

 matters exist there. And considering that real "Para" 



