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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January i, 1902. 



COMPOUNDING RELIGION WITH RUBBER." 



TO THE Editor of The India Rubber World: In the 

 December number of your journal was an article under 

 the above caption. It attracted my attention for the reason 

 that it contains some criticisms on my methods, and also on 

 the company which I represent. I am aware that a newspaper 

 controversy is not a fair fight, as the editor can have the last 

 word on every issue, and in every issue of his paper. I have no 

 desire to enter upon a trial by newspaper for that reason, but 

 as you have opened your columns to me I accept the courtesy 

 and have a few things to say. 



I do not represent the Chiapas company in this matter. It 

 can stand on its merits, and its plantation is not " a myth." I 

 will say, however, that the statement quoted in your Novem- 

 ber, 1900, issue, that "thus far it would seem that the planting 

 done by this company has been done only on paper, and that 

 paper not such as will bear very close scrutiny," was not true 

 when first published, and is not true now. There are many 

 companies which have done more planting on paper than the 

 Chiapas; but I do not think you can name one Mexican plan- 

 tation company that has done so much planting on its land 

 within the past two years. 



As to my pamphlet and circular letter from which you make 

 extracts, followed with adverse criticisms, I would say : it is 

 true that 1 have quoted from Consul Guenther, as many rubber 

 companies do, but the quotation is not an important one. Our 

 proposition is not built on it, and it would not fall if Guen- 

 ther's statement should prove to be unreliable. 



My method of reaching diflferent classes of people through 

 circular letters does not concern the public, and I question the 

 wisdom and good tast; of your journal in referring to the mat- 

 ter at all. The circular letter to ministers is read by an 

 intelligent class of men who understand the proprieties, and 

 who would be the first to detect anything that was unfair or 

 in bad taste. I would be the only one to suffer by my lack of 

 wisdom or propriety. 



The statement that " 100 pounds of rubber have been taken 

 from an old tree at a single tapping" was made on the author- 

 ity of an intelligent and reliable gentleman who has spent more 

 than twelve years in the state of Chiapas, and who is well 

 known both in Mexico and the United States. He stated in 

 the presence of several witnesses that he had seen loopoundg 

 of rubber taken from one tree at a sfngle tapping. He is not 

 interested in any rubber company, but has bought rubber for 

 years, and has been in "the bush " himself, and seen many 

 things that most so-called " practical rubber men " have not 

 seen. I cannot use the gentleman's name without his consent, 

 but I shall believe that he saw 100 pounds of rubber taken from 

 one tree at a single tapping until some one proves that he did 

 not. " Practical rubber men " in New York city or elsewhere 

 do not know all the facts yet in regard to rubber and the rub- 

 ber tree. The Chiapas company has men in the field, well to 

 the front, and it is possible that they may learn some things 

 about the business that are not generally known. The fact 

 that they are not generally known does not prove them to be 

 untrue. 



I have stated that the cost of transporting rubber is an in- 

 considerable item compared to the value of the product. When 

 the large plantations in Chiapas are able to ship rubber in large 

 quantities, I have reason to believe that the cost of transporta- 

 tion will be less than 1 cent per pound. At the same time 

 none of the matters above referred to are of essential impor- 

 tance. The rubber business can stand on its merits whether 

 these things are true or merely matters of opinion. 



Thfreis no attempt in my letters or literature to confound 



religion with the rubber business in any offensive way. I have 

 not even claimed that I " had religion." In writing to differ- 

 ent classes of people I state certain facts about myself w ith the 

 purpose ot getting my literature read. If sales result they are 

 made on the merits of the proposition. II some elements of 

 practical religion, the golden rule, for instance, were com- 

 pounded with all kinds of business, including journalism, it 

 would be better for us all. a. j. scott. 



No. 125 La Salle street, Chicago, III., December i8, 1901. 



Mr. L. H. Bonestell, president of the Chiapas Rubber 

 Plantation and Investment Co. of California, informs The In- 

 dia Rubber World : 



" Mr. A. J. Scott, of Chicago, has a contract, for a specified 

 time, to sell the ' harvest certificates' of our company, each rep- 

 resenting one acre of land in our plantation, up to 6000 acres. 

 We do not sell anything to Mr. Scott, but he stands in the re- 

 lation to us as agent in Chicago and its vicinity. In order to 

 facilitate sales, Mr. Scott has seen fit to organize a separate 

 company, under the name of the Chicago-Chiapas Rubber 

 Plantation Co., which I understand has been incorporated. 

 With regard to the means which he has employed to make 

 sales we have no knowledge; nor are we responsible for any 

 statements contained in his circulars. But all sales made by 

 Mr. Scott are subject to the same conditions as those made 

 from the company's headquarters in San Francisco." 



[The India Rubber World has no desire to discourage 

 any legitimate enterprise. On the contrary it desires to see 

 the utmost development of the rubber planting interest. We 

 are unwilling, however, to see the legitimate business of culti- 

 vating rubber discredited by such misleading statements as 

 have been put forth by some company promoters without 

 making a protest, even though our attacks should involve "a 

 minister in good standing," as Mr. Scott, in his circulars, de- 

 scribes himself to be. Thus, it would he a fair inference from 

 advertising matter distributed by Mr. Scott that a yearly profit 

 of $19,800 per acre would be possible from growing rubber on 

 the plan of the company which he commends to any " man 

 who believes in the Gospel." This estimate is based upon his 

 assertions that a rubber tree has yielded 100 pounds at a single 

 tapping, that the rubber is worth $1 a pound, of which 99 cents 

 is profit, and allowing 200 trees to the acre. If Mr. Scott 

 really wants to advance the rubber planting industry, let him 

 deal with the profits possible from a yearly yield per tree of 

 two pounds of rubber, worth in New York at this time 55 

 cents a pound, and we shall be quite content to let him have 

 "the last word." Meanwhile we offer as a reward for the 

 identification of the man who saw 100 pounds of rubber 

 gathered from one tapping of a single tree, an edition de luxe 

 of " Baron Miinchhausen's Narrative. "==The India Rubber 

 World believes that a good deal of planting has been done 

 lately by the Chiapas oompany, and as soon as trustworthy 

 information regarding the same can be obtained, it will appear 

 in these pages.— The Editor.] 



The commercial agent of the Dominion of Canada at Sydney, 

 New South Wales, reports in regard to rubber goods: "This 

 line of manufactures is one that has a promising future. The 

 figures in the returns are no indication of the business done. 

 The agent of one [Canadian] manufacturer states that his sales 

 here last year amounted to £5000; some mistakes have been 

 made on the part of one or two shippers which has hindered 

 trade, but they are not likely to recur. Good orders have been 

 forwarded this year." 



