November i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



65 



THE RUBBER TRADE AT AKRON. 



BY OUR RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT. 



TO THE Editor of The India Rubber World: There 

 have been no importani developments the past few 

 weeks in the union labor situation with reference to the Akron 

 rubber factories. The Rubber Workers' Union has been quietly 

 at work, however, and claims to have made accessions to its 

 membership which now puts the total in the neighborhood of 

 500. The union claims that its members are still discriminated 

 against and discharged upon slight pretexts by both the Good- 

 rich and Diamond companies, and that they are unable, too, to 

 obtain employment in other local factories if the fact of their 

 being members of the union is knowu. All of these charges 

 the manufacturers insistently deny. Little is heard of the mat- 

 ter in public, and the only outward demonstration of the exist- 

 ence of the union has been a dance, for the purpose of raising 

 funds on October 17, for which 500 tickets were sold. The 

 Central Labor Union has taken up the cause of the rubber 

 workers and declares that the Goodrich and Diamond com- 

 panies will be widely advertised as "unfair." Samuel Gom- 

 pers, president of the American Federation of Labor, has also 

 been appealed to. 



The rubber manufacturers say that they have no cause for 

 uneasiness in the union matter, and that the flurry of Septem- 

 ber, when the alleged differences were made the subject of 

 newspaper articles, is a closed incident. The factories are all 

 busy and, to all appearances, the workmen are for the most 

 part glad that the likelihood of an open rupture with the em- 

 ployers has passed. The Central Labor Union has declared 

 that manufacturers have sought to avoid difficulties by quietly 

 advancing wages. Of this a leading employer said : 



" We have advanced wages no more than usual. There are 

 constant changes in the payroll. As men grow in ability their 

 wages are increased. We deal with the individual in this 

 matter." 



In this last sentence the general attitude of the manufac- 

 turers seems to be embodied. They want to be able to dis- 

 criminate between the good, steady workman and the careless 

 or indifferent class. They insist that in the rubber business no 

 roorafull of men can be put on an entirely equal footing, and 

 in fairness to the men and themselves no entirely uniform 

 scale of wages could be made. One man becomes so skilled 

 that in his hands no goods are spoiled. Another will ruin or 

 injure work in the process of manufacture, frequently. 



♦ ♦ * 



The present condition of the solid vehicle tire business is 

 regarded as critical by many rubber manufacturers and presents 

 a subject of deep interest. At least two-thirds of the solid tires 

 used in the United States are manufactured in Akron. Four 

 of the manufacturers confine their business almost exclusively 

 to this line, while with others it constitutes an important de- 

 partment. 



When the Rubber Tire Wheel Co., of Springfield, Ohio, 

 now the Consolidated Rubber Tire Co., of New York, first put 

 solid tires on the market, they came to Akron to have them 

 manufactured, and, for years The B. F. Goodrich Co. were the 

 exclusive makers. The product made Akron famous for solid 

 rubber tires. Other manufacturers took up the work and the 

 business spread. New concerns started up and rubber manufac- 

 turers already established added this to their line of products. 

 The royalty exacted by the Consolidated Rubber Tire Co., 

 under the Grant patent, made it possible for others to furnish 

 tires at a lower costan^ still maintain a good standard of qual- 

 ity. 



On May 6, 1902. the United States circuit court of appeals, at 

 Cincinnati, handed down a decision declaring the Grant patent 

 void. Had the decision been otherwise, infringing manufac- 

 turers would have been liable for heavy damages ; hence there 

 was great rejoicing and a general feeling of relief. Now that 

 the situation has had time to crystalize, the full force of open 

 competition is being felt. Prices have been gradually coming 

 down, and, before the recent conventions of carriage makers, 

 had reached a point below which they could not go without 

 either sacrificing all the profit or deteriorating the quality. At 

 these conventions it was demonstrated that the carriage makers 

 are the arbiters of the situation. They make the price, and it 

 only remains for the tire manufacturers to furnish the goods 

 that fit. At the present time carriage makers are at a disad- 

 vantage because they have not yet had an opportunity to dis- 

 cover the "psychological point" at which quality ends and 

 prices commence. 



There are clearly two courses open to manufacturers of solid 

 tires, neither of which is very satisfactory. To keep up the 

 standard of quality means a comparatively high selling price, 

 and necessarily a serious curtailment of business for the pres- 

 ent, at least. On the other hand, to meet the present low prices 

 will compel manufacturers to furnish very much poorer tires, 

 which cannot help but prove a disappointment both to seller 

 and buyer. As a naturalresult the tire manufacturers who adopt 

 this course will suffer for a condition created by the carriage 

 manufacturers in their attempt to buy tires at a price which will 

 not secure the quality to which they have been accustomed 

 and which they expect to receive. One of the causes of the 

 present condition may be found in the fact that the present 

 facilities for manufacturing solid rubber tires are at least four 

 times as great as the consumption. According to a leading 

 Akron manufacturer the business now offers no inducement to 

 capital and we may expect soon to see an end to the organiza- 

 tion of new companies to make solid rubber vehicle tires. 



Akron rubber manufacturers are making plans for liberal rep- 

 resentation at the motor vehicle and carriage shows the coming 



season. 



» * * 



At the annual meeting of the Diamond Rubber Co. on Octo- 

 ber 14, all directors and officers were reelected. The latter are; 

 W. B. Hardy, president ; A. H. Marks, vice president and super- 

 intendent: W. B. Miller, secretary; A. H. Noah, treasurer. The 

 business of the company, it is understood, has been most satis- 

 factory the past year, both here and abroad. 



The Combination Tire Co., lately incorporated under New 

 York laws, completed their organization hereon October 13. 

 The officers are : Thomas Clark, of New York, president ; W. 

 R. Harris, of Akron, vice president; W. B. Tuttle, of Akron, 

 secretary and treasurer. Mr. Harris is the inventor of the tire 

 to be manufactured. This tire is fastened to the rim by means 

 of"T's" and transverse wires, doing away with the channel 

 iron. The company will make their rubber goods, having 

 leased a brick building at Main street and Buchtel avenue. 

 The stockholders, with the exception of President Clark, are 

 Akron men. Secretary Tuttle has heretofore been with Tap- 

 lin. Rice & Co., who manufacture rubber machinery, and Vice 

 President Harris has been with The B. F. Goodrich Co. 



The plant of The India Rubber Co. was shut down three 

 days early in October to permit of repairs and alterations. 

 This was the first time that an Akron rubber factory had been 

 closed, except for holidays and Sundays, for more than two 

 years. The India Rubber Co. are now working night and day. 



Although a number of rubber men were aspirants for the 

 championship of the Portage Golf Club this season, the hand- 



