April i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



221 



AmazoTias. instead of being governed as a federal territory, the 

 state might levy taxes as above stated. But why estimate the 

 losses so moderately .' Why not figure cut what the loss 

 would be with state taxes at 40 or 50 per cent.' What would 

 it be with rubber shipments twice as great .' What does Manaos 

 " lose " by not being able to tax the whole earth ? 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN UTOPIA. 



<»'\ X r HAT are your discounts ? " asked the buyer, after show- 

 » • ing the manufacturer a big order for rubber goods. 



" Ten off list " wasthe firm reply. 



"Ten off !" gasped the questioner. " Ten off! Why my last 



big order given to & Co. called for 80 & 10 & 10 



& 5 & i)i. Are you crazy.' " 



" Sane for the first time in many years " replied the other, 

 "and you will find all the rest of the manufacturers in this line 

 just the same. You see, rubber went up so high, and there 

 were so many discounts and concessions and allowances of 

 various sorts that we were all losing money, so we got together 

 in an association and revised the whole business and put it on 

 a basis that is fair to all, and — " 



" But how about terms? You will date these bills Septem- 

 ber, won't you ? " interrupted the other. 



Slowly and pityingly the manufacturer shook his head. 



" That is all a thing of the past, no one does it now. Cash 

 ten days are our terms; all claims for defective goods settled 

 by an arbitrating board within ten days after receipt of goods- 

 No price cutting for any reason." 



" How does the ambitious man build up a bigger business 

 than his easy going rival under the system .' '' 



" Originality, skill, and hustle, are just as much in demand 

 as ever and just as valuable," was the reply. 



" And is the trade prosperous?" 



"Never more so and full of respect for itself; indeed its 

 example is doing much for the industrial world at large. 

 There had been those who claimed that commercial honor was 

 getting to be a thing of the past, but now the friends of honesty 

 are jubilant." 



"Happy, happy rubber trade !" exclaimed the jobber. 



OFFICIAL VISIT TO RUBBER PLANTATIONS. 



IT will be recalled by readers of this Journal that about a 

 year ago a report issued through the United States con- 

 sular service and signed by Mr. Conley, deputy and vice consul 

 general at Mexico City, referred to the American plantation 

 companies operating in Mexico in terms which to say the least 

 were not commendatory. Since the appearance of that report 

 it is understood that Mr. Conley 's connection with the consu- 

 late general has terminated, and from time to time intimations 

 have become public that the head of the office — who was ab- 

 sent on leave from his post at the date of publication of the 

 report — Mr. James Ross Parsons, Jr., would undertake a tour 

 of observation through the planting districts. The Mexican 

 Herald ol March 14 chronicles the return to his post of Consul 

 General Parsons, after a five weeks' trip in southern Mexico 

 which involved more than 2000 miles of travel, including sev- 

 eral hundred miles on horseback and on foot. He journeyed 

 also on hand cars, as well as on railway trains, and spent many 

 days in canoes and steamers on the rivers of Tabasco and Vera 

 Cruz. The //ifra/(/ states that Mr. Parsons crossed the isthmus 

 of Tehuantepec and visited not only many American planta- 

 tions, but also a number ol Jincas of Mexican planters which 

 have been seen by comparatively few Americans. The Herald's 



report concludes: "Mr. Parsons would not give his impies- 

 sions of American tropical enterprises, saying that he was re- 

 quired to transmit his report to the department of state [at 

 Washington! for such disposition as the department saw fit to 

 make ol it." 



"GUAYULE • EXPLOITATION. 



THE company L'Anglo-Mexicana, operating at San Luis Po- 

 tosi, has transferred its " Guayule " rubber business to 

 the newly formed Compaiiia Explotadora de Caucho Mexicano. 

 This company is that referred to in The Indi.v Rubber 

 World last month [page 1S3] as having been formed in Eu- 

 rope to exploit the rubber shrub in question. The company 

 has offices in Mexico; the European headquarters, at 36, Fen- 

 church street, London, are in charge of Messrs. Landauer & 

 Co.:=The Torreon (Mexico) Enterprise m^nUons that exten- 

 sive additions are being made to the jimulco factory of the 

 company referred to above. 



THE CABLE SERVICE ON THE AMAZON. 



A RECENT issue of Folha do Xorte (Patz, Brazil), contained 

 some severe strictures upon the alleged negligence in 

 the cable service on the Amazon operated by the Amazon Tele- 

 graph Co., Limited. As an illustration of the unsatisfactory 

 condition of the service, mention was made of the filing of dis- 

 patches by the Paid correspondent of a Manaos newpaper early 

 one morning, followed by a notification to the correspondent 

 at night: " Owing to the interruption of the cable service to 

 Mandos it has been impossible to transmit your message." The 

 Para newspaper adds : " Silence is carefully preserved in regard 

 to the hour at which the interruption occurred. All this fur- 

 nishes proof of the miserable inefficiency of the service." 



A later issue of Folha do Norte, however, states : " The 

 Amazon Telegraph Co. has ordered a new cable extension to 

 be used in Amazonas, and expects to receive it shortly. This 

 cable is destined to restore the other branches of its expen- 

 sive lines and to improve as much as possible the electrical 

 conditions of the line between Belem [Para] and Mandos, thus 

 instituting a constant and regular service between the two cities 

 of Amazonia.'' 



INDIA-RUBBER GOODS IN COMMERCE. 



EXPORTS FROM THE UNITED STATES. 



OFFICIAL statement of values of exports of manufactures 

 of India-rubber and Gutta-percha, for January, 1905, 

 and the first seven months of five fiscal years, beginning July 

 I, from the treasury department at Washington : 



Italy.— Official returns of values of rubber goods in foreign 

 commerce, converting the lira at 193 American cents : 



1903. 1904. 



Imports $3,680,637 $4,095,35' 



Exports 1,858,321 1,861,816 



