March i, 1903.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



197 



the three last calendar years, of the United States returns of 

 crude rubber imported from Germany in the same period- 

 weights in pounds : 



1900. 1901. 1902. 



Exports reported by Germany 5,912,320 6.390,780 8,502,340 



Imports reported by United States.. 1,428,339 1,832,558 2,393,998 



No doubt if figures were at hand which permitted a closer 

 adjustment of the periods of time than is now possible, the 

 total exports under the head of rubber from Germany to the 

 United States would be found to balance pretty closely the 

 combined imports credited to Germany by the United States 

 for crude rubber and scrap. 



It is evident that Russia must be a very large exporter of 

 rubber waste. Grouping in one table the imports by thediflfer- 

 ent countries from Russia, so far as reported — fiscal years for 

 the United States and calendar years in other cases — we have ; 



1S99. 1900. 1901. 1902. 



United States /i'i<«</j- 3,323,258 5.047,516 6,212,765 8,536,237 



Germany 7,267,260 4.061,420 4,325,200 4,309,140 



Great Britain 2,196,992 4,260,928 4,150,160 



Austria-Hungary 67,980 



Allowing 3,000,000 pounds to have been imported by Great 

 Britain in 1902, the above table indicates an average annual ex- 

 port by Russia, for four years of upwards of 14.000,000 pounds. 



AUSTRIAN RUBBER SCRAP MOVEMENT— 1 902. 



[F'.om Official Returns.] 



From— Pounds. To— Pounds. 



Germany. 140,580 Germany 441,100 



Russia 67.980 Hamburg 20,900 



Roumania 23,760 Great Britain 5,280 



Great Britain 7,920 Sweden 3,960 



Other countries 7,920 Other countrie": 4,180 



Total 248.160 



Total, 1901 406,120 



Total 47 r ,900 



Total, 1901 211,860 



JOBBERS AS DISTRIBUTORS OF RUBBER FOOTWEAR. 



AT the second annual convention of the National Shoe 

 Wholesalers" Association of the United States, held in 

 Boston on February 4, Colonel Samuel P. Colt, presi- 

 dent of the United States Rubber Co., spoke for the 

 manufacturers of rubber shoes on "The Relations of Rubber 

 Manufacturers to Wholesalers and Retailers." He said, in be- 

 ginning, that about four-fifths of the product of the United 

 States Rubber Co. is sold to wholesalers (jobbers), and only 

 about one-fifth direct to retailers. Colonel Colt continued : 



" While there may be a present tendency in certain lines of 

 goods to pass by the middlemen, the fact that most of the job- 

 bers of rubber footwear are also jabbers of leather footwear, 

 and that the two lines can be handled together more economi- 

 cally than either by itself, is a special reason for my belief that 

 for a long time to come the manufacturers of rubber footwear 

 will continue to sell the larger portion of their product to the 

 wholesaler. 



"'Under what conditions should the rubber manufacturer 

 sell to the wholesaler .■■ ' This may be said to be the live ques- 

 tion of the hour in which you as well as ourselves are deeply 

 interested. 



" Shall the manufacturer, after parting with his title to the 

 goods, attempt to control the price at which these goods shall 

 be resold, or shall he leave such price to be regulated by agree- 

 ment between the wholesalers themselves, or to be governed by 

 the natural laws of trade ? 



" The first method, namely, the control of the price by the 

 manufacturer, as you all know, has been in vogue for some 

 years past. Although it has its advantages, we cannot overlook 

 the fact that one of our states after another has passed laws to 

 prohibit the control of the price of a commodity after the title 

 or ownership has passed to another. Further, we know that 

 such restriction on the part of the manufacturer may be said to 

 have the effect of ' holding an umbrella ' for such other manu- 

 facturers as sell their goods direct to the retail trade, or for 

 such as sell them to the wholesaler without restriction. 



" It would therefore seem as though the question of the price 

 between the wholesaler and the retailer is one that should be 

 more properly regulated by the wholesalers themselves, and 

 that the organization of the National Shoe Wholesalers' Asso- 

 ciation of the United States has now reached a stage of perfec- 

 tion where this important matter can, with safety and justice 

 to all concerned, be left in their hands. 



" It is the ambition of the United States Rubber Co., first, to 



manufacture the best rubber boots and shoes that can be 

 made; second, to maintain the quality and standard of its 

 goods at all hazards ; third, to sell the largest quantity possible ; 

 and fourth, to be satisfied with a small margin of profit. The 

 goal we seek is to supply substantially all the rubber footwear 

 consumed in the United States, and we wish to have a policy 

 broad enough to enable us to come as nearly as possible to its 

 attainment. The United States Rubber Co. at present supplies 

 about three-fourths of the rubber footwear sold in this country. 

 All of the large and prosperous rubber boot and shoe companies, 

 including those originally licensed under the Goodyear patent 

 more than a half century ago, and those who since, by long 

 years of successful manufacture, have built up valuable trade- 

 marks, are now included in the United States Rubber Co. 



" We want your cooperation in the future as in the past in 

 distributing our gieat product. We want to still further increase 

 the volume of our business, and we want you to help us to do 

 so. 



" It is our belief that the system which has prevailed for some 

 years past, of our attempting to regulate your prices to the re- 

 tailer, is injurious to the manufacturer, is against the natural 

 laws of trade, and has passed its usefulness; and that you, 

 through your well organized associations, are in a better posi- 

 tion to control the matter than we are. 



" Let us have your hearty cooperation this year, and if we 

 find defects in what we are now attempting to do, we can cor- 

 rect them another season. Policies should change with changed 

 conditions. A company with a limited capacity and high rep- 

 utation for its goods would sell its product under almost any 

 conditions, but a great concern like the United States Rubber 

 Co., with the ambition to supply as nearly as possible all the 

 rubber footwear consumed in the United States, must, I believe, 

 have a breadth of policy in the sale of its goods commensurate 

 with its undertaking. 



"It is my opinion that the rubber manufacturer should sell 

 to the wholesaler, and should be satisfied with a small percent- 

 age of profit, looking to a large volume of business to bring 

 about satisfactory results, and that the manufacturer should 

 leave to the wholesalers the question of regulating the prices at 

 which they shall resell to the retailer the goods which they 

 have purchased and own, and that the prosperity of the one 

 must in the end lead to the prosperity of the other. We are 

 both embarked upon the same voyage. 



" I cannot close without thanking the wholesalers of rubber 



