64 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December i, 1901. 



Atlantic were to combine in an attempt to keep prices at 

 an inordinately high level — or, in other words, to make 

 more than a reasonable profit — it would only make an 

 opportunity for smaller dealers to put rubber on the mar- 

 ket at prices which would simply yield a fair profit, in which 

 event any "corner " would be of very short duration. 



WHY THE "LITTLE FELLOW" FLOURISHES. 



TT is often a matter for wonder that, in the shadow of 

 •* some great industrial amalgamation, so many small 

 companies spring up, prosper, and even grow to be giants 

 themselves. As a matter of fact, the reason is patent, and 

 not far to seek. The big companies are forced by the vol- 

 ume of their business to employ men who soon lose their 

 individuality and become such small factors in the whole 

 business that they stop thinking. Not one of them indi- 

 vidually is responsible for the solution of vital problems — 

 they go before a board of directors, who often' are 

 handicapped by political and financial facts, besides being 

 burdened by an ever increasing amount of detail. The 

 "little fellow," however, is "up against" necessity, the 

 fruitful mother of invention, and his existence depends 

 upon cheaper methods, shorter cuts, and revolutionary 

 processes. He thinks night and day, and the chances are 

 that the dwarf will outwit the giant in the long run. The 

 great companies stand ready to pay the highest prices 

 for brains, but genius works for itself better than for 

 others. Hence it is a matter of history that the best 

 thought and the most brilliant records are likely to come 

 from the struggling outsiders. Anything that stimulates 

 progress is to be respected, and not in the least should the 

 so called "trusts" fail to receive their due meed of appre- 

 ciation for the success they have won for others. 



THE REVOLUTION IN RUBBER SHOE MAKING. 



has ever before been deemed possible, leads him to affirm 

 that the time is not far distant, in his judgment, when the 

 present process of manufacture not only will cease, but 

 will be forgotten. 



FEDERAL CONTROL FOR TRUSTS. 



■pY far the most interesting topic of conversation in the 

 ■'-^ rubber trade for a month past has been the new pro- 

 cess for the manufacture of rubber shoes. As becomes a 

 dignified, rich, and respectable industry, the rubber shoe 

 trade received the news with marked interest, but with lit- 

 tle apparent e.vcitement. That, however, did not prevent 

 a very careful analysis of the statements made in The In- 

 dia Rubber World, and a searching inquiry into every 

 detail of the new manufacture as far as it was known. As 

 a matter of fact, for the last thirty days rubber shoe men 

 the world over have had on their thinking caps, and so 

 have many others, particularly in the mechanical line, for 

 the latter were quick to see that any man with a sheet 

 calender and a friction calender could easily equip him- 

 self to be a rubber shoe manufacturer. The editor of The 

 India Rubrer World, as the news-bearer of the trade, 

 has, as a matter of course, heard every objection advanced 

 that e.xperience, ingenuity, and self protection could bring 

 forward, but a careful review of the whole situation leads 

 him again to go on record with the statement that the rev- 

 olution is here. Further, the advances made during this 

 month, in the production of goods more beautiful than 



nPHE United States Industrial Commission, created by 

 •*■ an act of Congress, will have finished its work, and 

 submitted its report by the middle of this month. The 

 gist of their recommendations is said to be that Trusts 

 shall be brought under Federal instead of state supervis- 

 ion. That is, that they shall be looked after, much as 

 national banks are, and that their books shall be open to 

 the inspection of certain Federal officers who shall have 

 powers similar to the familiar bank examiners. The com- 

 missioners believe that by this means they can prevent 

 overcapitalization, and the underselling to crush compe- 

 tition in one part of the country, while prices are advanced 

 in other territory. The plan is to induce the corporations 

 to become Federal instead of state corporations in much 

 the same way that state banks were both coaxed and 

 forced to become national banks. The proposal is said to 

 be to put a tax either on the products or on the corporation 

 itself which is capitalized above a certain figure. Such 

 a plan would of course include a national corporation law 

 and a department, say one of Commerce and Industries, 

 to charter companies for interstate commerce. 



A TYPICAL INSTANCE. 



A LONG the New Jersey coast, at the great seashore 

 •^^ resorts, there are miles of piers all built upon piles. 

 Until recently these piles were driven into the sand by the 

 old fashioned and familiar pile driver. To day, however 

 a cheaper and quicker system prevails, and one incident- 

 ally that calls for India-rubber as an adjunct to its success. 

 Instead of hammering the log down into the earth by main 

 force, it is set in position, its lower end resting on the 

 sand, and then a stream of water led through rubber hose 

 plays into the sand at the foot of the pile. Instantly it is 

 undermined and begins to sink and just as long as the 

 stream flows just so long does the pile sink. The instance 

 is typical. In like manner in the treatment of nearly every 

 engineering or mechanical problem, has India-rubber come 

 to the aid of the worker and in one way or another proved 

 its marvellous adaptability — its immense ubiquitous useful- 

 ness. 



COMPOUNDING RELIGION WITH RUBBER. 



WE are again reminded of the Chiapas Rubber Plantation 

 and Investment Co., ol San Francisco, which has been 

 mentioned more than once in The India Rubber World, by 

 the receipt ol a circular letter which seems to merit some com- 

 ment. In October, 1900, under the heading " Is this Rubber 

 Plantation a Myth ? " we gave the substance of a lengthy article 

 on the Chiapas enterprise from the San Francisco Chronicle, 

 denouncing the methods of its manager, the " Rev." J. W. Ells- 

 worth, who was reported to have been very successful in sell- 



