August i, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



397 



nearly a year old, still remains perfectly liquid. Friends in 

 Amazonas, Africa, and other tropical countries have been con- 

 stantly sending us samples of latex which usually arrived in a 

 state of fermentation, with the exception of such as had been 

 saturated with ammonia. This most important feature of the 

 latex you sent us is that it contains no anunonia and reacts 

 slightly acid." 



A EUBBER CONGRESS IN THE ACRE. 



Apropos of an article on "The Rubber System of the 

 Amazon," in the last issue of this paper, which was dis- 

 tricts as remote as parts of the new Federal territory of 

 the Acre, it is interesting to note that a rubber congress, based 

 upon official initiative, is to be held this month in that terri- 

 tory. There follows a translation of an announcement of this 

 "Congresso Industrial Seringueiro," which appears in the Rcz'ista 

 of the Amazonas Commercial Association, at Manaos, in the form 

 of a circular letter addressed by the prefect pro tern, of one of 

 the districts of the Acre territory to the president of the asso- 

 ciation named : 



Senna Madubeira, 

 Department of Alto Purus, May 5, 1909. 



Senhor Waldemar Scholz, President of the Commercial Associa- 

 tion of Amazonas: 



Sir: Whereas the essential interests of the Acre regions 

 require that prompt measures be taken for protecting, safe- 

 guarding and developing their greatest source of wealth. 

 Rubber, as well as in regard to other matters of great im- 

 portance, all of which are in every respect foreign to the field 

 of politics, and whereas it is a fact that these matters can 

 only be practically and efficiently discussed by direct ex- 

 change of opinions between the owners of rubber producing 

 lands and the manufacturers interested in their product, it 

 has been decided to hold in this city a great Congresso In- 

 dustrial Serengueiro (industrial convention of rubber pro- 

 ducers). 



I therefore beg to invite you to have your association rep- 

 resented in the proceedings of the said convention, which 

 will hold its initial session on the 8th day of August next, 

 at I p. M., and its final session on the 22nd of the said 

 month. 



Thanking you in advance and assuring you of my high 

 esteem and appreciation, I am 



Respectfully yours, 



SAMUEL BARREIRA. 



The following comments on the same, from the Rcznsta, may 

 be regarded as an official expression from President Scholz : 



"Our satisfaction at receiving the above circular can readily be 

 conceiv'ed. Ever since last year we have been continuously and 

 most earnestly preaching, both by example and exhortation, and 

 finally through the columns of this publication, the .necessity of 

 our reawakening in order to guide our extractive industry into 

 new channels. 



"With this end in view, we have been unsparing in our efforts 

 in every direction. The new by-laws of our Commercial As- 

 sociation even now contain two provisions, under one of whic'' 

 our delegates n\ the interior of the state and in the Acre ter- 

 ritory have been appointed, while the other provides for a con- 

 vention of the representatives of agricultural, manufacturing and 

 commercial interests, which is to meet every second year in 

 this city [Manaos]. In accordance with the decisions of the 

 said states, we have already commenced to make the necessary 

 preparations far the said convention. 



"While expressing our satisfaction at the initiative taken by the 

 organizers of the industrial convention of rubber producers, we 

 desire and herew-ith advise that other localities take the same 

 initiative, in order that at the time of the meeting of the general 

 convention which will be held in due time in this capital 

 [Manaos], we may already have at our disposal certain valuable 

 data which may serve as a partial foundation on which to base 



the radical anil linal solution of the great industrial and agricul- 

 tural problem of Amazonas. 



"Accepting the invitation extended to us by the estimable 

 prefect pro tern, of the department of Alto Purus, we shall entrust 

 our delegate in Senna Madureira, Dr. Geraldo Barbosa Lima, 

 with the task of representing us at the industrial convention of 

 rubber producers, with the assurance that the same will splendidly 

 fulfil his duty." 



The executive head of the Associagao Commercial do Ama- 

 zonas, Mr. Scholz, is also the head of the rubber commission 

 firm of Scholz & Co., who have long been the largest exporters 

 of rubber from Manaos and who rank third among exporters 

 from all the Amazon ports combined. This firm, before July I, 

 1905, was styled Witt & Co. The former head of the firm — and 

 still a partner in it — Mr. Nicholoa Henrique Witt, took an ac- 

 tive part in the International Rubber Congress in London last 

 year, and his paper entitled "Notes on the Growth and Production 

 of Para Rubber in Brazil" formed an interesting contribu- 

 tion to the official report of the meeting. The fact that these 

 gentlemen are to be identified with the coming congress at 

 Senna Madueira is alone a guarantee that its proceedings will 

 be of interest and importance. 



It is timely to recall that Mr. Scholz was the Amazon mer- 

 chant interviewed in The India Rubber World June i, 1904 

 (page 298), on the question "When there is a heavy advance 

 in crude rubber prices who pockets the additional cost?" Prices, 

 by the way, were then exceptionally high. Mr. Scholz said that 

 the money went to the seringaes, and he added : "Our houses are 

 very large buyers of rubber, but only on a commission basis. 

 We never engage in any speculation, and the price of rubber is 

 not a matter of concern to us. The rate of commission is the 

 same, whether the market is high or low, though, of course, the 

 higher the market the larger the volume of commissions on a 

 given transaction. Prices are made by supply and demand; if 

 manufacturers are eager for rubber, when stocks are small, prices 

 go up. just as they go down when the conditions are reversed. 

 But when prices do go up, it means more money for the man in 

 charge of gathering rubber and shipping it to the prime markets, 

 as Manaos and Para." 



ALMOST A WAR OVER RUBBER. 



The diplomatic imbroglio involving Peru and Bolivia about 

 which the newspapers have had so much to say during the month 

 grows out of a boundary dispute between those republics. This 

 is a dispute of long standing, which was referred for arbitration 

 to the president of Argentina. When his award was made public 

 in Bolivia the public dissatisfaction was expressed in a manner 

 offensive to the authorities of Argentina, which republic at once 

 broke off diplomatic relations with Bolivia, and a grave crisis, 



Rubber Terkhorv in Disi-lte. 



[ I'Vom the New York Times. ) 



