October i, 1901.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER W^ORLD 



not only to compare general results, but to compare details so 

 as to find the cost ol different parts of the process. At the 

 same time it is advisable to have the managers interested in the 

 profits of the business. That comes as near as possible to solv- 

 ing the difficulty. 



" On the other hand, there are lines of business of such a 

 character that they can be all handled from a central office. 

 Such a business can be reduced to a very accurate system. For 

 example, the manufacture of metals can probably be reduced 

 to a more accurate system than the manufacture of rubber 

 goods, since in the latter there is no way in which you can util 

 ize the chemist to any extent. You cannot lay down any pos- 

 itive rules as to chemical combinations, because those mate- 

 rials are constantly fluctuating, and there is such a great vari- 

 ety of conditions to meet that the business of manufacturing 

 rubber goods must largely depend on local intelligence, and 

 that necessitates high class ability in the local management. 

 In the case of the Rubber Goods Manufacturing Co., the sal- 

 aries of the chief executive officers are very small as compared 

 with the salaries of local managers. The salaries of the local 

 managers will average three times the salaries paid to the chief 

 officials ol the corporation." 



Q. That does not hold where the industry is more concentrated, of 

 course?—^. In case of concentration the big salaries are at the top. 



In answer to a question regarding a world-wide combination 

 in the rubber industry, Mr. Flint replied : 



" I do not think such an idea is practicable. To- day the limit 

 of these combinations is the finding of men of sufficient capa- 

 city to handle such an extended business; and I do not think 

 that such a combination is within the range of possibilities. If 

 such a combination existed, and one concern owned all the 

 rubber factories of the world, it would be immaterial as to 

 whether there was a tariff or not so far as that industry was 

 concerned. However, it would be material to the labor inter- 

 ests of the country." 



EXPORT TRADE IN RUBBER GOODS. 



"The difficulty with extending the export trade in rubber 

 shoes," said Mr. Flint, " lies in the fact that we are pay- 

 ing in our factories about double the rates of wages that 

 are paid in the foreign factories; and inasmuch as the manu- 

 facture of rubber boots and shoes is largely dependent on hand 

 labor, we cannot develop a very large export business on ac- 

 count of that handicap. It is an industry that we have created 

 in the United States, and some of our people established the 

 business in Europe ; but as the rates of wages are so much 

 higher in the United States, and as we have no advantage over 

 Europe in securing the raw material, I do not think we are 

 likely to develop a large export trade. In the case of steel and 

 cotton goods we have an advantage, inasmuch as we produce 

 the raw material in the United States ; and in those articles 

 the percentage of labor is very much less than the manufacture 

 of rubber shoes." 



THE TARIFF AND THE RUBBER INDUSTRY. 

 Q. You know that Mr. Havemeyer said that the protective tariff is 

 the mother of all trusts. I would like to ask you if that is true in regard 

 to this combination of yours, whether the tariff has enabled you in any 

 way to make a combination ? — A. No ; the relation of the tariff to the 

 rubber industry has received practically no consideration on the pan of 

 rubber manufacturers, except in the case of rubber clothing, which 

 would amount to, bay. less than one-half of i per cent, of the total in- 

 dustry. Very few rubber manufacturers could tell you what the per. 

 centage of the duty is. They have not given it any consideration. 

 .'. Q. Is it not true that the manufacture of mackintoshes is protected in 

 this country by the tariff? — A. Yes; but there are people who insist 

 on wearing English clothes, and they are supplied by the mackintoshes 

 of London. 



Q. Then as the promoter of this combination, you are not able to 

 say whether the tariff is of any benefit to you or not 1—A. I could not 

 say. I assume that if the tariff was entirely removed it might be that 

 some parties would take advantage of the lower rates of wages in 

 Europe. In fact, Americans would be very likely to establish factories 

 abroad, utilizing the cheap labor, and then to bring the products into 

 this country. The most important rubber factory in Great Britain, for 

 instance, was established by an American. He took the machinery over 

 there and established the business in Edinburgh. Well, in the event of 

 the tariff's being taken off. I should say that the rubber manufacturers 

 would take advantage of the low priced labor and take American 

 methods to Europe, and combining with their cheap labor, would be 

 able to produce rubber goods cheaper than they could be produced in the 

 United States. 



THE PRICE OF CRUDE RUBBER. 



" Inasmuch as rubber is produced in countries of compara- 

 tively small populations and is used in countries of rapidly in- 

 creasing populations, and as the uses of rubber are constantly 

 increasing, there has been under the working of the law of 

 supply and demand an increase in the price of crude rubber, 

 although the production of crude rubber increases at the rate 

 of about 6 per cent, per annum. The prices of rubber of the 

 standard grade, which averaged in the seventies about 70 cents 

 a pound averaged in the nineties about 90 cents a pound." 



" You think then the combination of rubber interests in the 

 United States has no power in keeping down the price of raw 

 material ? " 



" So far as they have prevented any great speculative advance 

 in the article. Before the organization of the industrials to 

 which we have referred, the speculators on two occasions ad- 

 vanced the price of rubber about 60 per cent. Since the organ- 

 ization of these industrials these companies and affiliated in- 

 terests have held sufficiently large stocks of rubber to avoid 

 any radical speculation in the article ; but inasmuch as the 

 demand and new uses have gone on so generally, they have not 

 been able to keep down the price of the raw material." 



SUBSTITUTES FOR RUBBER. 



" I HAVE been in the crude rubber business for twenty-three 

 years. During that twenty-three years no three months have 

 elapsed that some man has not come into my office and pre- 

 sented to me a rubber substitute that could be made for 10 

 cents a pound, as against the cost of rubber averaging 90 cents 

 a pound. I have investigated every proposed rubber substitute 

 that has been presented to me for the past twenty-three years, 

 and have a laboratory for the purpose of making these investi- 

 gations at the present time. So far we have not found a rub- 

 ber substitute. . - - There are parties using so called 

 substitutes for rubber; but the principal value of rubber lies 

 in its elasticity, and so far no substitutes have been found that 

 have any considerable amount of elasticity, and instead of 

 being called substitutes they ought to be called adulterants." 



RUBBER CONSUMPTION IN CANADA. 



CANADA imported during the fiscal year ended June 30, 

 1901, a slightly smaller amount of India-rubber and 

 allied materials than during the preceding year, the value 

 officially stated being very much smaller. The figures follow : 



Classification, Pounds. Value, 



Guttapercha 19,845 $ 13.388 



India rubber 2,997,017 1,755,480 



Rubber recovered ; rubber substitute and hard 



rubber in sheets 1.395,333 179,882 



Rubber powdered and rubber waste 512,642 35,854 



Total 4,924.837 $1,984,554 



Total, rSgg-iqoo 5,091,780 2,312,299 



