THE INDIA RUBBER 'WORLD 



[October i, 1901. 



RUBBER AND THE STATE IN BRAZIL. 



IS THIS WHY RUBBER IS LOWER? 



THE Bulletin de la SociiU d'Etiides ColoniaUs (Brussels) 

 recently published the results of an official inquiry 

 made under the direction of the Belgian ministry of foreign 

 affairs as to the official measures taken in Brazil to foster 

 its great rubber industry. It was found that the general 

 government of the republic has passed no laws relating to 

 the industry. It is not regulated at all except so far as the 

 legislatures of the several states have adopted measures. Sev- 

 enteen of the twenty states produce rubber, the climate being 

 unfavorable to rubber culture only in the three southern 

 states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catharina, and Parana. 

 Most of the small Atlantic coast states in the rubber zone, 

 though producing more or less caoutchouc, have made no 

 attempt, as yet, to conserve their rubber resources or to en- 

 courage or regulate its production. These states include Rio 

 de Janeiro, Minas Geraes, Espirito Santo, Parahyba, Rio 

 Grande do Norte, Sergipe, and Ceard. Most of the rubber 

 states make the product contribute to the finances by imposing 

 a tax on rubber exports, but the states above mentioned have 

 not given even this attention to the industry except Minas 

 Geraes, which collects an export duty of 4 per cent, ad valorem. 

 In these seven states the first comer may harvest the crop 

 wherever he may find it on the public domain. 



On the other hand, the state of Para, from which by far the 

 largest shipments are made, encourages the planting of caout- 

 chouc by offering a premium of 1,000,000 reis, or over $500 for 

 every 2000 trees that [are properly planted. This law, which 

 has been in force only four years, is already stimulating the 

 development of rubber plantations and its wisdom is being con- 

 clusively demonstrated. This large state, which embraces all 

 the lower part of the Amazon and some of its mightiest tribu- 

 taries, will not have to rely, in the coming years, upon supplies 

 that grow wild in the forests ; in fact, no source of rubber so 

 freely tapped as that in Para can be relied upon indefinitely to 

 yield an unfailing supply. The days of exhaustion will come 

 just as they have overtaken the rubber vines of West Africa, 

 which have all been killed for many miles inland from ihe 

 coast. The only way to supply the future demand will be to 

 increase the quantity, and that can be done only by rubber 

 planting, which, in a few decades, will revolutionize the business. 

 The world now depends almost solely upon the wild sources of 

 supply, but there will be a great deal of plantation rubber in 

 the market before the century now beginning is very far 

 advanced. 



The state of SSLo Paulo also offers a handsome premium for 

 the development of rubber plantations ; and both these slates 

 impose a comparatively heavy tax upon the exports of rubber 

 with the wise intention of devoting a considerable part of the 

 receipts to the conservation and encouragement of the indus- 

 try. Matte Grosso, under the law of 1898, offers special facili- 

 ties for the acquirement of a fixed quantity of rubber lands by 

 those who discover them_in the vast part of the public domain 

 that is still unexplored. Amazonas and Bahia are not yet 

 offering special inducements for rubber planting, but the land 

 laws, adopted by these states in 1897, facilitate private owner- 

 ship in rubber forests and this is a long step toward establish- 

 ing the industry on a stable basis. 



All these improvements in the status of the rubber industry 

 of Brazil have been made within the past four years. They en- 

 courage the belief that this great source of wealth will come, 

 more and more, to be managed scientifically in the interest of 

 Brazil and of the world and to the great advantage of the 

 investors of capital. 



THE Amazon rubber country just now is a fruitful field for 

 news and rumors of all sorts respecting not only the 

 rubber situation, but the condition of general business as well. 

 Here is a sample of unverified " news" which has traveled as 

 far as new York : " The lower prices for rubber which have 

 prevailed for some time past on the Amazon have been due to 

 manipulation by European capitalists. The state of Amazonas 

 (capital, Manaos) is trying to float a loan in Europe. The 

 capitalists with whom they are negotiating are interested in a 

 low scale of prices for rubber, for this reason : The revenue of 

 the state, on which the lenders must depend for their interest, 

 and ultimately for their principal, is derived from export duties 

 — chiefly from rubber exports. In making the loan, the Euro- 

 pean capitalists will figure upon the rates for rubber prevailing 

 at the time, and it is to their interest to have rubber prices so 

 low that they can hardly fall lower during the life of the loan, 

 or, in other words, so low that the revenue from export duties 

 — a certain percentage on the price of rubber — will not be apt 

 to decline before the loan is paid. The money lenders have 

 played their game by influencing certain European bankers to 

 curtail their accommodations to Manaos rubber houses, and 

 this in turn has made funds scarcer up the Amazon. The 

 point of this is that the handling of rubber is checked by 

 the lack of currency, and this operates also to reduce prices." 

 Clearly the only way in which rubber prices may ever be regu- 

 lated is by control of the production by large capital, under 

 intelligent supervision. 



RAINY DAY SKIRTS AND MACKINTOSHES. 



THE New York Sttn says: " The rainy-day skirt has almost 

 entirely done away with the feminine waterproof or 

 mackintosh cloak which a few years ago occupied a place in 

 every woman's wardrobe. These garments were made up most 

 expensively in silk and rubber-mixed materials, many of them 

 being beautiful in color and finish. 



" While they looked extremely pretty on damp days, they 

 were never a healthful garment, for the rubber material ex- 

 cluded the air and made the clothing damp. Then the diffi- 

 culty of raising the dress skirt was increased and the rubber 

 cloak invariably trailed in the mud and became unsightly. 



" Nowadays a woman dressed for a journey in the rain is 

 sensibly clad, from her heavy cork-soled shoes, which have 

 done away with the clumsy and objectionable overshoe, to her 

 neat, tightly fastened hat, made to withstay the elements. 



" Many women venture out in these waterproof suits without 

 an umbrella, but the umbrella gives a finish to the trim cos- 

 tume. On rainy days, and even on fine days when these cos- 

 tumes are worn, the hair should be plainly brushed and neatly 

 coiled or braided. An elaborate coiffure or loosely arranged 

 hair is incongruous with these gowns which suggest exercise 

 in the air." 



THE RUBBER FACTORY FOR TURKEY. 



THE India Ruuber World nous apprend que le gou- 

 vernement ottoman vient d'accorder un monopole pour 

 I'installation d'une manufacture a caoutchouc en Turquie. Le 

 monopole en question comporte I'exemption de droits d'entree 

 pour le materiel et pour la matiere premiere. La compagnie 

 concessionaire est assuree, declaree The India Rubber 

 World, d'obtenir les commandes de goloches et d'imperme- 

 ables pour I'armee. — La Gazette Coloniale {Brussels). 



