318 



THE INDIA RUBBER 'JVORLD 



[July 



1902. 



New Hampshire. . i 

 Massachusetts. ... 25 



Rhode Island 4 



Connecticut 24 



New York 66 



New Jersey 7 



Wisconsin 23 



Minnesota 4 



Iowa I 



Nevada i 



Colorado I 



California 4 



CENSUS OF THE BICYCLE INDUSTRY. 



THE bicycle industry in the United States as it existed in 

 1900 forms the basis of a separate Bulletin of the census 

 for that year, lately issued as No. 176. The number of bicycle 

 factories in operation during the year ending June i, 1900, was 

 312, located as follows : 

 Maine i Pennsylvania 24 



Maryland I 



Kentucky i 



Ohio 34 



Michigan 11 



Indiana 19 



Illinois 60 



The principal details reported regarding these establish 

 ments, compared with the corresponding details (for 27 fac 

 tories) in the census of 1900, were as follows : 



1900. 1890. 



Total capital employed $29,783,659 



Salaried officials and clerks 2,034 



Salaries paid $ 1.753.235 



Wage earners, average number 17.5^5 



Total wages paid $8,189,817 



Miscellaneous expenses 12,252,604 



Cost of materials used $16,792,051 



Value of products $31,915,908 



Of the total value of products reported in 1900, the sum of 

 $9,646,875 applies to other articles than bicycles, including 

 chains, spokes, handle bars, saddles, rims, and the like. Un- 

 doubtedly as a result of this large production of bicycle parts a 

 good many bicycles were put together in the establishments 

 classed as " bicycle and tricycle repair shops," of which 6328 

 are considered in the census, but there is no report of the num- 

 ber of bicycles so produced. At the same time, there were 16 

 establishments, not included in the number mentioned in the 

 preceding table, which reported bicycles as a by product. The 

 production of bicycles, tricycles, and automobiles, by all the 

 concerns reported on, was as follows : 



Number. 

 Bicycles 1,182,850 



Individual chainless 



Individual chain 



It is not probable that there are now thirty factories, all 

 told, laige and small, making bicycles in this country. 

 From the best indications observed by The India Rubber 

 World the production of bicycles in the United States this 

 year will not exceed 600,000. The policy will be pursued, how- 

 ever, of avoiding overproduction, and doubtless better profits 

 will be realized on the wheels sold. At the same time the man- 

 ufacture of bicycle tires, while reduced in volume, and confined 

 to fewer factories, appears to be conducted on a more satisfac- 

 tory basis than at times in the past. 



$2,058,072 

 128 

 123,714 

 J. 797 

 982,014 

 242,018 

 718,848 



$ 



$2,568,326 



Tandem . 

 Motor. 



Tricycles (mainly toys). 

 Automobiles 



42.929 



1,136,122 



3,640 



'59 



26,110 



56 



Value. 

 $23,689,437 



$1,957,329 

 21.488.589 

 210,569 

 32,950 



71.985 

 60,788 



Av. Value. 

 $ 20.03 



$45-59 

 18.91 



57.85 

 =07,23 



2.76 



1,085.50 



The table does not, of course, relate to any automobiles con- 

 structed in other than bicycle factories. The value of custom 

 work and repairing in the bicycle repair shops was $i3,766,033_ 

 which, added to the value of products in the bicycle factories, 

 gives a total of $45,681,941 as the extent of the bicycle industry 



during the last census year. 



♦ » « 



The manufacture of the large number of bicycles reported for 

 the last census year does not imply that an equal number were 

 sold. The market was even then stocked with wheels of earlier 

 production, and it is quite possible that many wheels made 

 in 1900 still await buyers. It long ago became apparent that 

 the productive capacity of the industry had become too great 

 for the domestic demand, but the hope prevailed for awhile that 

 an export market could be found for the surplus production^ 

 The largest export figures, however, measured in values, were 

 attained in 1898, since which there has been a steady decline. 

 Before the close of the census year a crisis existed in the in- 

 dustry which called for a radical reconstruction, leading to the 

 formation of the American Bicycle Co., with $40,000,000 capi- 

 tal, and the control of 35 bicycle factories, besides shops pro- 

 ducing parts. That company has gradually concentrated its 

 facilities, and recently divided its business between two subsid- 

 iary corporations, one each for the automobile and the bicycle 

 trade, and confining the work in the latter to seven factories. 



BOLIVIAN SYNDICATE'S PLANS. 



ON June 14, Mr. Frederick W. Whitridge, of New York, 

 arrived at home, after a visit to Europe in the interest of 

 The Bolivian Co., the syndicate which has acquired a con- 

 cession of the Acre rubber district, in Bolivia. It is through 

 Brazilian territory that the Bolivian syndicate must find an out- 

 let for intercourse with the world. The apprehension of the 

 Brazilian government arising from the fact that Americans are 

 obtaining fiscal rights in and police control over so vast a ter- 

 ritory in Bolivia, bordering on the territory of Brazil, has 

 created a difficulty which has made international partition and 

 ownership desirable. It is likely that the syndicate will also 

 obtain English, German, and also some Belgian capital. Amer- 

 ican interests, however, will predominate. While Mr. Whitridge 

 was dealing with the financial interests of the syndicate. Sir 

 Martin Conway, who negotiated the syndicate's concession from 

 Bolivia, was in Berlin explaining the objects of the enterprise 

 to the German foreign office, which, it it understood, will prob- 

 ably forward the aims of the Bolivian syndicate, in which now 

 foreign as well as American capital is interested. 



A fact which perhaps is not generally understood, is that 

 while the Amazon river proper is open to navigation by foreign 

 vessels, its tributaries have never officially been declared 

 "open." Brazil may, therefore, deny navigation rights on her 

 waterways which connect the Acre district with the Amazon. 

 A proposed treaty with Bolivia, covering this point, was with- 

 drawn by Brazil on the announcement that the Acre conces- 

 sion had been ratified. The matter to which the international 

 diplomatic support above referred to will relate, is the opening 

 of Brazilian waters to foreign commerce— a result in which the 

 world at large may be expected to feel an interest. 



Diplomatic negotiations have lately been in progress be- 

 tween Brazil and Bolivia, as a result of which it is reported 

 that the latter country may be induced to revoke the concession 

 relating to the Acre, and perhaps pay an indemnity to the con- 

 cessionaire to cover the expenditure involved thus far in rela- 

 tion to it. It is not to be supposed, however, that the con- 

 cession will be dropped by its holders so long as a possibility 

 exists of keeping it alive. By the way, there is no basis for re- 

 ports that J. Pierpont Morgan, of New York, and the Rothscilds, 

 of Europe, are interested in the matter. 



A Royal Rubber Trust. — Writing of the rubber gathering 

 situation in the Congo Free State, Tke India-Rubber Journal 

 (London) says: "An enormous Trust, with lesser Trusts act- 

 ing in direct association with the central Trust, rules the whole 

 vast territory for its own ends, and the managing director is 

 King Leopold II." 



Honduras exported during the fiscal year 1900-01 rubber to 

 the value of £^^^(> ^s. id. and in 1899-1900 to the value of 

 ^^4874 9^., according to a British consular report. 



