74 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December i, 1903. 



shares. But the public has little sympathy for the pur- 

 chasers of "gold bricks," and these will have to suffer in 

 silence, or perhaps join the whitewash man and the dis- 

 carded butcher. 



Meanwhile the manufacture of the goods needed for 

 the world's consumption will be carried on, by large or 

 small aggregations of capital, as may contribute to the 

 greatest good of the greatest number, and the laws of the 

 land will be kept in accord with the needs of the people. 

 The greatest business in the country and the most firmly 

 grounded social order — constitutions and states, even — 

 must share the fate of the humble whitewasher when they 

 no longer fit in with the world's ruthless scheme of pro 

 gress. 



THE UNITED STATES RUBBER CO.'S PLANS. 



/'~^ERTAIN reports which appeared lately in this journal, 

 ^-' in the current presentation of the news of the trade, 

 relative to the plans of the United States Rubber Co. for 

 securing rubber more directly from the regions of the 

 Amazon and the Congo, have, for some reason not yet 

 clear, been received in Europe with incredulity. We may 

 quote, for illustration, the following lines from the latest 

 number to hand of an esteemed contemporary in Dres- 

 den : 



To THE Editor of the GummiZeitung : In regard to the article 

 under the title " From America — New Enterprises of the United States 

 Rubber Co.," appearing in the November 7 number of your valuable 

 publication, we take the liberty of calling your attention to the announce 

 ment reprinted in the founial dc Bi ttxelUs^ of October 8, which states, 

 under the title " Choscs du Congo," that " no propositions have been 

 made to the government of the Congo Free Stale in regard to the rubber 

 production, nor has any conversation betv.een his Majesty, the king of the 

 Belgians, and the president of the rubber company across the ocean taken 

 place." B. & c. 



We wish to remark that the article referred to — after ignoring many 

 former reports — was taken from the American trade paper. The India 

 Rubber World. It is well known that this paper is generally very 

 trustworthy, and therefore we took it for granted that actual facts were 

 given. Why are such untruths sent into the world ? Does the United 

 States Rubber Co. need them for stock exchange purposes? That, cer- 

 tainly would be significant I — Gummi-Zeitung. 



The India Rubber World does not know upon what 

 authority the above named Brussels newspaper speaks. 

 But it does know the authority for its own references to 

 negotiations which have been begun in behalf of the 

 United States Rubber Co., looking to a closer connection 

 with the Congo rubber trade, and hence has no reason to 

 withdraw any statement made hitherto in its columns. 

 The above quoted testimonial to the trustworthiness of 

 The India Rubber World's news, by the way, is highly 

 appreciated, and it is hoped that our German contempo- 

 rary may never find reason to express a different opinion 

 of this journal. 



It is quite true, ot course, that the negotiations of the 

 United States Rubber Co. in the direction referred to may 

 not soon, if ever, lead to any results. The company have 

 already entered into a contract with the concessionaires for 

 the Acre territory to take any rubber which the prospective 

 Bolivian Syndicate may be in a position to offer, but, 

 judging from the present unsettled condition of that ter- 

 ritory, no rubber froni there can be looked for soon. 



How far these new plans of the United States' Rubber 

 Co. may have been meant to influence stock exchange 

 prices only the inner management know. But it is not 

 usual, in " rigging " the stock market, for the operators to 

 begin by taking the public into their confidence years be- 

 fore the earliest possible realization of their plans. The 

 news about the United States Rubber Co. above referred to 

 was not first promulgated through the sources usual for af- 

 fecting the stock market, and was unaccompanied by any 

 indication of a " bull " raid. Besides, the exchange quota- 

 tions for these issues have declined steadily since the 

 Congo-Acre reports appeared, on smaller transactions than 

 usual — none of which things would have been probable 

 if the object of these reports had been to induce the jiub- 

 lic to buy " U. S. Rubber." 



The truth is that the theory obtains, in industrial Amer- 

 ica, that it is good economy to control all the elements of 

 production within any given branch. The great steel com- 

 bination, for example, owns iron mines, coal mines, and 

 transportation facilities, in order that it may not be at the 

 mercy, at any stage of the making and marketing of its 

 products, of a subsidiary class of producers. The same 

 theory was exemplified in the great establishment of Herr 

 Krupp, of Essen, whose tragic death was reported during 

 the month. Evidently the United States Rubber Co., be- 

 ing a larger consumer of crude rubber than any other com- 

 pany in the world — say about $10,000,000 worth yearly — 

 are planning to buy their rubber at absolutely "first 

 hands," in pursuance of the theory above suggested, and 

 it will be of interest to watch the result. The complete 

 success of the company's plans doubtless will give them 

 some advantage in the purchase of raw material as over 

 the methods of the past, but it will not give them any 

 control over the supply required by any other consumers. 



THE BATTLE OF THE GOLF BALLS. 



THE Professional Golfers' Association, which includes the 

 leading professional playersof Great Britain, has decided 

 after a discussion of the new rubber cored ball, that it is not 

 conducive to the advancement of golf as a game of skill. It 

 urges that only Gutta-percha balls be used in the open cham- 

 pionships next year. 



The interest of The India Rubber World in thisannounce- 

 ment is twofold. As a helper, according to its ability, of the 

 rubber trade, it naturally is pleased to have the invention of a 

 rubber man win so much success as to arouse bitter opposition. 

 And then the Editor plays golf, and has met upon the links so 

 many other rubber men that he is sure that the I'eaders of this 

 journal share his double interest. 



From the rubber standpoint, the thing is simple enough. The 

 rubber cored ball has proved itself a good thing — so good, in- 

 deed, that it has practically pushed itself along. And its push- 

 ing itself along is pretty certain to continue until it gets the 

 field thoroughly within its grasp. It has already secured the 

 friendship of the leading tournament players, and, if it didn't 

 cost so much, everybody would use it for the daily exercise on 

 the links. 



There is more complexity to the question from the golfer's 

 point of view. He hesitates about giving the new ball his un- 

 qualified approval. For it is an acknowledged fact that the 



