October i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER V/ORLD 



the company decided to lease the estates being only about 

 ^500, whereas previously, under the old system, they had 

 amounted to nearer £6000 or ^8000 at the end of each season. 

 But the company found it impossible to do away altogether 

 with the credit system, as it could not get sufficient men. I 

 believe that the properties now owned by the Brazilian Rubber 

 Trust have, since they were worked by an English company, 

 produced on an average nearly as much rubber as the Visconde 

 de Sao Domingos, the Brazilian owner, obtained from them, 

 that is, about 250 tons per annum. But the English proprietors 

 have never got more than 60 tons, and the average is only 

 about 50 tons. What has become of the balance, the 200 tons ? 

 There is little doubt that something like that amount of rub- 

 ber each year was sold to the rubber pirates. Consequently, 

 the Brazilian Rubber Trust, though directed with some knowl- 

 edge, has, like all the other foreign companies, failed to suc- 

 ceed. 



What is the remedy ? I am afraid there is none so far as 

 the foreign company is concerned, except foreign labor. The 

 Brazilian owner will, after due warning, promptly shoot the 

 first rubber stealer or river pirate he comes across. He may 

 not do the shooting himself, but the thief will be shot all the 

 same, and nothing will happen. If the representative of a for- 

 eign company were to follow this example, that gentleman, and 

 perhaps some of his staff, would be pretty certain to spend a 



few years in prison, even if worse did not befall them. They 

 are strangers in a strange land, and all their neighbors (natives) 

 who are engaged in exploiting rubber, are their rivals and there- 

 fore their enemies. I have very little doubt that the Brazilian 

 firm, to whom the Brazilian Rubber Trust have leased their es- 

 tates, will earn very considerable profits every year, and will 

 pay their rent promptly in advance, as they did the first year. 



The experienced Brazilian seringuiero knows how to work 

 these estates to advantage. He knows how to checkmate the 

 " river " thief ; how to prevent his rubber cutters from selling 

 elsewhere. If necessary to his own existence and success, he 

 can, and will, remove the offender from the face of the earth. 

 The foreigner lacks the experience, and even if he has lost all 

 respect for the sixth commandment, he dares not break it in 

 Brazil. 



There is little more to be said. Good foreign laborers. 

 Chinamen or Japanese, who will work for a wage at anything 

 they are set to do, seem to me essential to the success of the 

 foreign company working rubber properties m Brazil. I may 

 add here that Barbadian niggers and their like are useless. 

 Needless to say, the foregoing observations do not apply to the 

 exploitation of rubber estates in Africa, Mexico, Peru, parts 

 of Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, or any other rubber producing 

 country where fairly efficient labor can be obtained for a com- 

 paratively small wage. 



CAUSES OF THE DETERIORATION OF CONGO RUBBER. 



By G. van den Kerckhove (Aniiuerp). 



EDITORIAL NOTE. 

 This article, giving the opinions of a well known rubber expert, 

 has been compiled from an interview with that gentleman in /-.' 

 Gazetti Cotoniale (Brussels, August 24), which journal, in view of 

 the downward tendency in the value of rubber imported from the 

 Belgian colony in Africa, has instituted an investigation into the 

 methods of production of Congo rubber, in the hope of leading to 

 an improvement in the same. 



IN connection with the conditions now existing in the rub- 

 ber trade of the Congo region, allow me to state that there 

 are several causes which underlie the rise or decline in 

 the value of all crude products, and notably rubber. All 

 grades of rubber have not depreciated in the same relative de- 

 gree ; yet the products of the Congo basin have been particu- 

 larly affected in this regard because of the very unsatisfactory 

 condition in which they arrive in the European markets. 

 Please notice that I use the word condition and not quality, for 

 it has become the too general belief, and erroneously so, that 

 it is the quality of the Congo rubber that has declined. I am 

 free to admit that the excessive over production of some two 

 or three grades of rubber has led to a shading of the quality, 

 but this is by no means general. 



When I take into consideration the enormous quantity of 

 rubber produced in the Congo Free State, I am still of the 

 opinion that the African contment will yet furnish this mate- 

 rial in excellent qualities. The chief defect in the crude pro- 

 duct lies in the oxidation of the gum, this oxidation being 

 fostered by the long detentions in improper housings at the 

 entrepots near the places of collection. It is a fermentation, 

 in fact, which renders the gum viscous or sticky. In most 

 cases this is not the result of negligence on the part either of 

 the black collectors or the white receivers. Let properly con- 

 structed storehouses be erected and placed at the disposal 

 of the receivers, and they will send the gum in the best state 

 of preservation to the European markets. As long, indeed, as 



the raw product continues to be subjected to the present ir- 

 rational conditions in Africa, we need not hope for any marked 

 change in the character of the material shipped. True, dur- 

 ing the transportation from the storehouses at Leopoldville, 

 Matadi, and other places, to the sea the rubber is subjected 

 to the deteriorating influence of the sun's rays, yet the char- 

 acter of this action is of less grave a nature than that pro- 

 duced by defective storage. In fact, in the former case the 

 package is affected only upon one side, easily seen in spots 

 on the exterior, while in the latter case, the whole package 

 is affected. 



Again, if the balls of rubber have remained long in a defect- 

 ive storehouse where they may have contracted noxious germs, 

 their presence for a lengthened period in the hold of a ship 

 carrying them to Europe, will, of course, hasten the oxidation, 

 whereas if the gum be in a perfectly healthy condition when 

 shipped it will not deteriorate from a short detention in the 

 hold. But should a consignment of even healthy rubber re- 

 main, let us say two months, in the unventilated hold of a 

 ship, especially in the tropics, it is certain that it would be seri- 

 ously affected. Of course during the months of July, August, 

 and September, even the repositories of Europe must be care- 

 fully looked after ; for certain soft gums become bad during 

 this season, even in the storehouses at home. On the other 

 hand, if a consignment of rubber reach the European markets 

 in a slightly damaged condition, its lying in a defective store- 

 house at home during the heated term will undoubtedly cause 

 an aggravation of its viscous character; while the storage in 

 the cold months may be prolonged indefinitely without any 

 deleterious results. 



In Africa, as you well know, there are two sources of supply 

 for the commercial rubber, viz : the vines {Landolp/iia) and 

 trees of several species. The gum obtained from the trees is 

 less liable to become sticky, though this is not the only reason 

 that rubber from other places should reach the European mar- 



