December i, 1901.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



69 



THE INDIA-RUBBER TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



THE rather more than storm in a teacup which lately oc- 

 curred and has now subsided into quiescence at the 

 works of the Leyland and Birmingham Rubber Co., 

 invites a few words of comment which perhaps come 

 all the better from one who is free from the bias which is at 

 at any rate to some degree inseparable from both 

 RUBBER master and man. The main object of the Union is 

 ^^.^I^f,"^ the maintenance of an equable fixed wage among 



UNION. 



workers of a certain class, and where this is car- 

 ried into eflfect it will be conceded that any increased bur- 

 den which may be imposed upon the manufacturer is equally 

 borne by his competitors. It must be said that in the years 

 during which the Union has been in existence very little fric- 

 tion has occurred between the officials and the masters, and 

 what there has been has been amicably settled. Membership 

 is by no means universal, there being plenty of abstentions, 

 especially among those who do piece work, those connected 

 with proofing being the chief adherents of the Union. The 

 main fact which has of late caused the Union officials to de- 

 velop increased activity is the knowledge that certain works 

 situated in country districts have taken advantage of the labor 

 which is continually forsaking the plow for the factory. Agri- 

 cultural laborers weary of the monotonous conditions of their 

 life, and of the low pay attaching thereto, offer themselves at 

 the factory door at rates of pay considerably below what is 

 usually paid to town workers for the same class of work_ 

 There are of course few of us free enough from the taint of 

 buying in the cheapest market to enable us to throw stones at 

 the manufacturer who avails himself of this labor, but although 

 it certainly may seem to be interfering with the sacred rights 

 of liberty so dear to Englishmen, it can hardly be contended 

 that the rubber workers union are wrong in their attitude of 

 protesting against the introduction of such an important lever 

 in the reduction of wages ; nor can it be agreeable to the trade 

 as a whole to see that one or two manufacturers have such an 

 advantage in the labor market. That the trade is somewhat at 

 variance on the subject of the Union is clear from a notice ex- 

 hibited in the lodge of a Manchester works, in which city the 

 headquarters of the Union are situated, to the efTect that all 

 hands taken on must be members of the Union, the proprietor 

 being evidently convinced that by this course of action he is 

 furthering and not retarding his own interests. Space does not 

 permit of further reference to this subject, though it contains 

 many points which might be ventilated with advantage. 



The writer of a recent article in the India Rubber Journal 

 advocates the abolition of the post of sub manager in rubber 

 works, and is in favor of there being no inter- 

 mediate authority between the head manager 

 and the various foremen. From what I have 

 gathered in conversation, this contention does not find very 

 general acceptance, for various reasons, the gist of which may 

 be given here. An important point has connection with the 

 personal equation. Without wishing to disparage the British 

 workman, he has, it must be confessed, in many cases too great 

 an addiction to drink or to laziness, either of which attributes 

 frequently leads him to absent himself on Monday mornings, 

 and generally to be somewhat spasmodic in his attendance at 

 work. It is from this class that foremen are selected, and un- 

 less the assistance of a sub- manager was available it would 



THE 

 SUB-MANAGER. 



cause the head manager to go in constant fear of inefltective 

 supervision as to be ready at a moment's notice to take the 

 post of foreman, which would obviously be a waste of money. 

 The British foreman, as a rule, receives but little higher pay 

 than the men under him, and such of these as are doing well 

 at piecework, do not evince any great disposition to take up 

 duties the responsibilities of which are not, as a rule, ade- 

 quately remunerated. The foreman, moreover, is usually 

 rather too remote in point of education from the manager, to 

 enable them to discuss things togetner with that freedom from 

 servility which is desirable ; he is apt to be too much over- 

 awed when ushered into the carpeted office, and to confine 

 himself to monosyllabic utterances, instead of enlarging effec- 

 tively upon the points of discussion in the way that a man of 

 superior attainments could, or should be able to do. Again, 

 and this is really, it seems to me, the crux of the matter, the 

 manager of a large factory, say one employing 500 to 1000 

 hands, cannot be placed in the same category as one presiding 

 over a tenth of these figures. In the latter case supervision 

 would be possible ; in the former case, if it is to be at all ade- 

 quate, it would be impossible. An important point referred to by 

 one of my informants, was the technical status of the manager. 

 Many of those who hold this responsible position, are certainly 

 not experts in the manufacture, but aie more noted for their 

 general commercial abilities, and without the assistance of ex- 

 pert sub-managers, they would often find themselves in a fix. 

 Whether this state of affairs is advisable in the best interests 

 of the trade, is beside the present subject, but it seems im- 

 portant to indicate its existence. 



Following on their large contract with the Salford cor- 

 poration for electric cables, this firm have just secured a simi- 

 lar contract in Manchester, the value being 

 w.T. GLOVER i CO., /i3o,ooo. The Diatrine insulation, the prop- 



LIMITED. , u c J 1 ... 



erty of this hrm, is evidently gaining in- 

 creased confidence, now thatthe lapse of time has resulted in no 

 charge of inefficiency being brought against it. This extensive 

 cable laying is having a rather curious eflfect on the pitch mar- 

 ket, this commodity being now quite scarce owing to the 

 increased demand. Considering the depressed state of the 

 markets for other coal tar products, notably benzol and an- 

 thracene, the demand for pitch is appreciated by the distillers, 

 but It does not pay to distill tar for pitch alone, and it rather 

 looks as if the uniform procedure of the tar works will have to 

 undergo an alteration. As regards the natural pitch, it is un- 

 derstood that this is largely under the control of the Callender 

 Cable Co., who insulate with a pitch compound called Bittite, 

 and also use pitch for laying the cables in. 



Although there is a good deal of grumbling about the 



slackness of trade, it is notable that this ebullition of feelinp is 



not universal, one works in fact stating that they 



CONDITION i^ayg never had a better year. Of course there are 



OF TRADE. , , J ,. , t 



many factors that go towards the making of a 

 respectable dividend and in a trade which is, if anything, 

 overdone, the fact that some works are kept at it overtime is 

 almost conclusive proof that others are correspondingly 

 slack. The explanation of the optimistic and pessimistic 

 reports would seem then to lie in the success or other- 

 wise of the several firms in attracting the trade that is 

 to be done. Though here a reservation needs to be inserted, 



