December i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER ^A^ORLD 



7^ 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN CANADA. 



THE International Rubber Co. has been incorporated under 

 letters patent to manufacture, purchase, and sell rubber 

 boots and shoes, and all goods and articles of which rubber is 

 or may be a component part, and the various materials, com- 

 pounds, and substances entering into the manufacture of any 

 such goods. The capital stock is $50,000, and the incorpoia- 

 tors are John J. McGill, William Strachan, and Adolphe V. 

 Roy, of Montreal ; Walter W. Allen, of New York ; and Ben- 

 jamin K. Hotchkiss, ol East Orange, New Jersey. 

 THE WATERPROOF CLOTHING TRADE. 

 At a meeting of Montreal manufacturers of waterproof 

 clothing, employing some 600 hands, the following resolution, 

 moved by E. L. Rosenthal, of the Strathcona Rubber Co., and 

 seconded by H. Wener, of the Montreal Waterproof Clothing 

 Co., was adopted : 



We, the waterproof clothing manufacturers of Montreal, wish to place 

 ourselves on record as being strongly in favor of adequate protection to 

 Canadian labor in all its branches. We believe the important industry 

 we represent should be duly protected against the slaughtering tactics 

 of the United States manufacturers, and we are equally agreed that the 

 cotton manufacturers from whom we obtain a large supply of our raw 

 material should be adequately protected. 



The manufacture of rubber clothing, begun in Montreal 

 some thirteen years ago, was at first fairly prosperous. The 

 manufacturers claim now, however, that prices of goods to the 

 consumer have been reduced one-half since the beginning. 

 The particular grievance at present is that, while manufactur- 

 ers in the United States have no regular market in Canada, 

 they at times flood that country with goods at a price which 

 would about cover the cost of the cloth. =^ It is doubtful 

 whether the Canadian market is flooded with any cheaper 

 goods in the line of waterproof clothing than are oflered con- 

 stantly by Itinerant dealers throughout the United States. 

 During the past month two stores have been run in New York 

 city by a concern hanging out the sign " Goodyear Mackintosh 

 Co.," and advertising waterproof goods at " 25 cents on the 

 dollar." 



The Toronto Clothier and Haberdasher says that nine firms 

 in Canada are engaged in making waterproof clothing, and that 

 last year they employed over 700 hands and produced §600,000 

 worth of goods. The industry is protected by a duty of 35 per 

 cent., which has been reduced to iV}:^ per cent, as against 

 British manufacturers. " Last year the value of imports of wa- 

 terproof garments from Great Britain was $177,362 and from 

 the United States, $53 .'48. The number of garments, however, 

 that came from the United States was much larger than from 

 Great Britain. The increase in duty against the United States 

 is not asked with the object of advancing the price to the 

 Canadian consumer. The Canadian manufacturers ask no ad- 

 vance in tariff against British made garments. They simply 

 ask that the Yankees be not allowed to slaughter their surplus 

 in this market. The Canadian manufacturer will also ask that 

 fancy proof mbber cloth on which there is, at present, a duty 

 of 30 per cent., be placed on a free list, as none of this class 

 of cloth is made or is likely to be made in Canada. If this 

 were done 100,000 garments now imported for ladies' wear from 

 England will be made in Canada. At present there is a duty 

 of 15 per cent, on woolen cloth weighing under 7 ounces to the 

 square yard. This is the cloth which is used for waterproofing, 

 and it is said that all att-empts to manufacture it in Canada 

 have failed. It is in fact the raw material for the waterproof 

 garment industry, and as such the manufacturers will ask that 

 the duty be reduced to 7}^ per cent." 



Mr. S. Vineberg, manager of the Scottish Rubber Co., of 

 Montreal, visiting Winnipeg, was quoted by the Free Press of 

 that city as not having been represented at the meeting of 

 waterproof makers, and not desiring any change in the tariff 

 on waterproof clothing as against the United States. He said 

 that the slaughtering of American goods on Canadian markets 

 was done only to a very limited extent, and that a higher tariff 

 would be no protection against this. 



RUBBER FOOTWEAR MARKET. 

 The conditions in the rubber footwear market in Canada 

 [says the Canadian Shoe and Leather Journal] are very satis- 

 factory. The business so far this year has been in excess of the 

 same time a year ago, so manufacturers and jobbers report, and 

 there is general satisfaction over the entire results. 



CANADIAN IMPORTS OF RUBBER MANUFACTURES. 

 The value of imports of manufactures of India-rubber and 

 Gutta-percha into Canada during the fiscal year ended June 30, 

 1902, as officially stated, shows an increase both in the imports 

 from the United States and in the total, as has been the case 

 regularly for several years past : 



United 

 States. 



Gfe.it Other Total 



Britaia. Countries. Value. 



Duties 

 Collected. 



^150,775 $ 36,901.92 

 30,289 7.64409 



Boots and shoes. .$150,616 $ 159 $ . 



Belting 29,399 S90 



Clothing and wa- 

 terproof cloth. 54,020 179.937 230 234,187 61,073 18 



Hose 50,903 9^7 51.370 17-85355 



Packing and mats. 37,639 844 565 39.048 13,60698 



Sheeting 19,388 56 507 19,95' 4. 983.08 



All other 183,253 34.959 30.697 248,909 59,635.84 



Total $525,218 $217,812 $31,999 $775,029^201,698.64 



Total, igoo-oi.. $434,590 $154,944 $ 21,738 $611,272 $163.01244 



Total, 1 809-00. . 401,867 118,111 19083 539,061 149006.80 



Total, 1898 99. 359.037 119.523 15.130 4^3.690 134,71769 



Total, 1897-98. . 255,525 (rt) 147,706 403,231 112,688.41 



Total, 1896-97. . 209.776 (a) 110,127 313.903 



Total, 1895-96.. 217,536 (a) 139.745 357,281 



(a) Included in '* Other Cojotries." 



The proportion of imports from the United States during 

 the past fiscal year was 67.7 per cent. ; in 1897-98 it was 63 3 

 per cent. The imports of German goods, though not large, 

 show a steady increase. They amounted to $17,862 in value 

 in 1897-98 and $30,016 last year — constituting most of the 

 goods from " Other Countries" in the table. 



There may also be noted the imports of the following arti- 

 cles, not classified by the Canadian customs as " rubber goods," 

 but having a relation to the industry : 



United Gteat Other Total Duties 



Imports. States. Britain. Countries. Value. Collected. 



Webbing, elastic and 



non elastic $106,881 $46,170 $3,687 $156,738 $28,352.25 



Stockinettes for rubber 



footwear 39.968 6,963 .... 46,931 6,693.30 



Duck, for rubber belting 



and hose 136,253 1.248 I37,50l free. 



Rubber thread, elastic . 2,263 ... .... 2,263 free. 



The expirts of Canadian rubber manufactures were much 

 larger than in any former year. Their distribution was : 



To— Value. To— Value. To— Value. 



Australia $42,635 Belgium $ 579 UnitedStatet$i8g,664 



Great Britain.. 36.824 Chile 192 



Newfoundland 20.424 Dutch W. Ind. 117 Total $322,572 



New Zealand . 21,540 Germany 3.019 Total, 1901. . 151,656 



British Africa. 421 Italy 213 Total, 1900 . 170,488 



Brit. E. Ind. . 219 NorwaySwe. .. 343 Total, 1899 . 133332 



Hong Kong. . 13 St. Pierre 25 Total, 1E98. . 77,685 



Brit. W. Ind.. 8 Switzerland 27 Total, 1 897 . 26,121 



Aus.-Hung'y. 4 Turkey 305 



Such exports to the United States increased from $57,772, in 



the preceding year. Australia and New Zealand took more 

 goods, as also did Great Britain. 



