February i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER ^A^ORLD 



141 



CONDITIONS OF RUBBER TRADING IN BOLIVIA. 



ABOUT twenty years ago the explorations of Dr. Edwin 

 Heath, an American, advertised to the world the nav- 

 igability of the river Beni, In Bolivia, and called wider 

 attention to the wealth of the rubber resources of that 

 region, the development of which had been begun, on a small 

 scale. Year by year the extent of this rubber field has become 

 more fully known, as neighboring streams have been explored, 

 besides which the rubber yielding trees have been found to be 

 more plentiful there than in almost any other region, the 

 trees produce more liberally, and the country has advantages 

 with respect to healthfulness. But Bolivia is naturally inac- 

 cessible; to-day communication cannot be had between the 

 Beni river and the outside world short of two or three 

 months. Then there has been a lack of local capital, and a 

 want of local business talent to organize the gathering of 

 rubber on a large scale. Following close upon Dr. Heath's 

 voyages, however, came the establishment on the Beni of 

 European houses, on a small scale at first, but gradually de- 

 veloping until, to-day, millions of dollars would be required to 

 buy out all the rubber properties and trading stations. 



Among the early enterprises projected for this field was The 

 Beni Gum Co., chartered under the laws of New York with 

 $500,000 capital, but the rubber men from New York city who 

 went on the initial exploring expedition became so dismayed 

 at the outlook that they turned back before getting even a glance 

 at the Beni — which river they never wanted to hear of again. 

 Gradually the drawbacks to trading there have been overcome, 

 however, and the next great development of rubber production 

 may be looked for in the valleys of the Beni, Madre de Dios, 

 and Orton — rivers which converge, with others, to form the 

 Madeira, a tributary of the great Amazon. And the capital 

 needed for this development, and the concurrent exploitation 

 of other Bolivian resources and creation of transportation facil- 

 ities, is likely to come, in large measure, from the United States. 

 At one time liberal profits were realized on rubber and on 

 imported merchandise by the trading companies on the Beni, 

 which had the effect, as the facts became generally known, of 

 causing a rush of new traders, tempted by prospects of sudden 

 fortune. One result was a competition to secure workers, whose 

 conditions became more and more onerous ; then to obtain 

 transportation, both outward and inward ; and, finally, to obtain 

 rubber, some merchants going so far as to take rubber direct 

 from the gatherers, in disregard of the rights of the employers 

 of the latter. The buying price of rubber on the spot advanced 

 greatly, as well as the cost of provisions, which were in no case 

 obtainable from local sources — all these conditions contributing 

 to produce a crisis, the effects of which have not yet been fully 

 recovered from. Thus is to be explained, in part, a decreased 

 output of Bolivian rubber for the past year. 



Some idea of conditions on the Beni may be gained from the 

 following comparison of the prices of provisions for various 

 years — in francs per arroba of 25 pounds : 



1876. 1884. i8g6. igoo. 



Rice 4- 10- 24- 32- 



Coffee 4- 24. 30. 40. 



Sugar 8. 24. 30. 36-@72. 



Dried meat 4. 18. 12. 36.(840. 



Salt.. 4- 24. 30. 3o@50- 



Cheese 2.40 16. 30. 56.(0)70. 



Tobacco 8. 50. 60. bo.@yo. 



In 1882 the buying price of rubber on the Beni was 25 bolivi- 



anos [=$9.65] per 100 pounds. The price increased steadily, 

 until, during 1900, from 128 toi 34 bolivianos [ = $49.40 to $51.- 

 72] was paid for 100 pounds of rubber. Meanwhile the London 

 price of rubber had advanced greatly, in spite of which the 

 Beni rubber business would have been done at a loss, but for 

 the profits on goods sold to the rubber collectors. The freight 

 on rubber shipped by the river to Madeira to Pard has risen to 

 1500 to 1700 francs [ = $289.50 to $328. 10] per ton of 2204 pounds, 

 or an average of 14 cents a pound, the trip extending over 70 

 days. As high as $6000 francs [=$1158] per ton has been paid 

 for goods ascending the Madeira, the trip consuming 230 days. 



The more oppressive of these conditions could be remedied 

 by the introduction of larger amounts of working capital, which 

 would render merchants more independent of local circum- 

 stances, and also improve facilities for transportation, and this 

 seems likely to take place in the near future. 



Braillard & Co., a French house, opened a trading station in 

 1882 at Reyes, at the head of the Beni, to which they have 

 added branches, and now have their principal house at Riber- 

 alta, at the confluence of the Beni and Madre de Dios rivers. 

 Besides trading generally, they control three rubber properties : 

 (i) "Conquista," between the Manuripi and Madre de Dios 

 rivers, of about 656 square miles ; (2) " Victoria," on the Orton 

 river, of about 60 square miles; (3) " Rosario," on the Madre 

 de Dios, 66 square miles, 



Deves & Co., another French house, became established in 

 1890, also at Reyes, at Madidi, and on the Geneshuaya, a 

 branch of the Beni. They, too, have now a house at Riberalta, 

 and control 520 square miles of rubber concessions on the 

 lower Madidi river, and rights over 1 150 square miles of the 

 remainder of the basin of the same river. Also an area of 1 570 

 square miles on the river Geneshuaya. 



The Orton (Bolivia) Rubber Co., Limited, with ^340,500 

 capital, was registered in London in 1897, to acquire conces- 

 sions on lands previously worked by the late Dr. Antonio 

 Vaca Diaz, and others, on the river Orton. The difficulties en- 

 countered by the first expedition sent out by this company 

 from Europe, including the death of Dr. Diaz, who was to be 

 its managing director, were detailed in The India Rubber 

 World in December, 1897, and May, 1899. The company has 

 continued at work, however, and is an important concern. 



Nicolas Suarez is at the head of another prominent house in 

 this region, besides which there many others of secondary im- 

 portance. While competitors in a general sense, the four 

 houses here named have united in forming a company for 

 opening roads to the southwest, with a view to better com- 

 munication with Lake Titicacaand the railway running thence 

 to Mollendo, on the Pacific coast. 



There have since entered the Bolivian rubber field two com- 

 panies, in which American capital is interested, and there is 

 reason for the belief that ultimately enough money and enter- 

 prise will be found at work, in view of the steadily increasing 

 demand for rubber, to place the rubber industry in this region 

 upon a sound and profitable basis. It must be understood 

 that much preliminary work of value has been done by such 

 companies as those named above, in the way of locating good 

 rubber fields, inducing natives to gather rubber, opening 

 estradas or paths through the forests, establishing stores, 

 building lauiiches, entering into contracts, and, generally, 

 creating a valuable asset in the shape of " good will." 



