164 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



[Februarv 1, 1911. 



Mr. Whiteley responded as follows: 



Mr. President and Gentlemen of The Ribber Clib of America: 

 Your President said this evening that he had a great many things to 

 apologize for, which he would not si^cify. Permit nic to say that 1 

 am "It." When your President kindly united mc to dine with yon 

 tonight I gladly accepted, because, as King Solomon says, in Ecclesi- 

 astcs — with which you are all fannliar as Bible students — "Who can 

 eat or who can hasten thereunto more than I?" 



1 didn't quite understand what a rubber dinner was. I thought, 

 perhaps, it might include theatrical properties, such as rubber stocks 

 and elastic sausages, and, possibly, in the lish course, rubber "soles" 

 and rubber "eels." But I found that I was mistaken. And when your 

 President further invited me to say a few words — and he was so 

 fearless of your interests that he forgot to accent the word "few" — 

 I gladly accepted that invitation, loo, not because that X had anything 

 special to present to your consideration, but I was glad of the oppor- 

 tunity to salute the elite of the rubber trade at your annual dinner, 

 and to wish you success and prosperity for the New Year. 



The rubber business seems to me the greatest in the world. There 

 is nothing like rubber. It used to be thought that it was *'love" that 

 made the world go round; but it seems to me now that it is "rubber." 

 .Ml the world goes round on rubber — rubber soles, rubber heels, and 

 rubber automobile tires; and those who do not go round on rubber 

 automobile tires are soon run down and have to go around on crutches 

 fitted with rubber tips. So we can't avoid it. [Laughter.] 



I have been connected with the rubber business for a number of 

 years — on the producing side, not on the manufacturing side. For 

 five or six years I was the Consul General of his late Majesty, King 

 Leopold, representing the interests of the Congo Free State in 

 America. And when the Congo State was ofiicially annexed to Bel- 

 gium, as a Colony, it ceased to exist as a sovereign independent State, 

 and its Consul General officially died with it. 



You remember — but I hope you do not — the old clerg>*man, who, in 

 reading the Scriptures to his congregation, came to the words "We 

 shall not all die, but shall all be changed," but the Bible was well 

 thumbed and the "c" in the word "changed" had become completely 

 obliterated, so that the good old parson re-ad the words just as he 

 thought he saw them, and announced to his congregation, "We shall 

 not all die, but shall all be hanged.*' 



Well, gentlemen, when the Congo Independent State died I did not 

 die in the flesh, nor was I hanged; I was changed. I ceased to have an 

 official position, but I still have the honor of representing the Belgian 

 government on the boards of various concessionaire companies which 

 are largely interested in the production of rubber in Africa. 



Thirty years ago the Congo produced no rubber — that is to say, com- 

 mercially. It was there in the trees, but none was exported or used. 

 In fact they produced very little except cannibals and a lot of un- 

 fortunate natives who were rounded up by the Arab traders and sold 

 into slavery. But now all tliat has been changed. The Congo State 

 at the present time produces about 10,000,000 pounds of rubber a year, 

 besides other tropical products, such as cacao, ivory, and palm oil, 

 which, altogether, yield some $15,000,000 of exports. And in the near 

 future we hope to increase that material, and all this has been brought 

 about principally through the genius, foresight, and initiative of one 

 great man — his late Majesty, King Leopold 11. 



The Arab slave traders have been put out of business. A civilized 

 government has been established, so that the merchant and the mis- 

 sionary may dwell in peace and safety, instead of furnishing a festal 

 meal for the natives. Now cannibalism only really exists in the out- 

 lands of the State and the less accessible regions. 



But the work which was commenced under King Leopold is not all. 

 This is just the beginning. That was sort of rough work — just the 

 cleaning off of the ground. The King has passed away, and bis 

 nephew. King Albert, now reigns in his stead; and there is no one 

 more capable, or more fitted, to carry out the great work than King 

 Albert. He is a young man of about 35 years, remarkably patriotic, 

 devoted to his country and to his people, very conservative, and one 

 who has fitted himself for the task that is before him, and he is sup- 

 ported in that task by a remarkably intelligent and gracious Queen. 

 And this royal couple have won the confidence and the love of the 

 Belgian people. 



About two years ago King .Albert paid a pcr>;onal visit to the Congo. 

 He spent some six months out there— went all through the country on 

 foot or by canoe, and examined the possibilities and the probabilities 

 which confronted him. 



Under King Leopold the country was largely developed by conces- 

 sionaire companies, and also by the government itself. The govern- 

 ment was in the rubber business, which was inevitable. It was the 

 only possible way of developing the country at that time and under 

 those circumstances. 



Large commercial companies have developed the United States to 

 some extent. Massachusetts was developed by a large commercial com- 

 pany, and other portions of this company were. The great East India 

 Company developed India for the English empire, and so it was in the 

 Congo. But now things have changed. Under the new regime these 



large concessionaire companies seemed destined to disappear. But those 

 that already have franchises and rights will preserve them, though they 

 will have a restricted area, and the Congo government, which formerly 

 worked the rubber on about one-third of the Congo Free Slate, will 

 gradually go out of business. 



Foimerly it was necessary for the government to be in the rubber 

 business, on account of the fact that they needed revenue. It couldn't 

 get revenue by import duties or by export duties, on account of treaty 

 obligations. But they thought that by opening up the country to free 

 competition they would so develop the rubber trade that the export 

 duties on rubber would compensate them and, to a certain extent, 

 enable them to carry on the government. 



In 1910, in July, about one-third of the Congo Free State was 

 declared open to free trade, and within the next three years practically 

 the whole of the State will be opened to free trade in rubber, to 

 ■ whoever chooses to go into the trade. 



At present there isn't a great deal of /Vmerican capital interested in 

 the Congo. There arc two companies in which American capital is 

 employed; one is the American Congo Co., of which nearly half the 

 capital is American, and the other, the Congo Forestry and Mining Co., 

 of which about 25 per cent, of the capital is represented by Americans, 

 I hope that, as the time goes on, Americans will come in more and 

 more and will trade and form companies and increase the commerce 

 between the Congo and the United States. Part of that, I hope, will 

 come under the American flag, which Mr. Nixon has spoken of. and I 

 hope a few pounds will be left to the Belgian flag, because I think 

 they are entitled to it as the producers of the goods. [Applause.} 



A question has been raised as to the continuity of the Congo output. 

 Up to the present the Congo rubber has been gathered in rather a 

 primitive way, and in perhaps a somewhat expensive way. Laws have 

 been passed regulating the way in which the rubber shall be gathered, 

 so as not to ruin the plant, and also laws to compel the replanting. 

 But all of this has been not always effective, on account of the fact 

 that the native labor is very irresponsible. Vou send a native out in 

 the forest to gather rubber, and you really don't know what he does. 



Under the new regime, which has been started by King Albert, there 

 are to be new plantations under the care of the State itself; and the 

 State has set aside about $200,000 or $300,000 a year for starting ui> 

 these new plantations, which it hopes will continue the rubber product. 

 In addition to that, one of the companies, of which I have, the honor 

 to be a director, has received about 2,000,000 acres of land on which 

 to start new plantations. It was the idea of the late King, and of the 

 present King, that something should be done there to have a continuous 

 product, and this company, of which I am a director, has started out 

 with these 2,000,000 acres to set out part of it one year and part 

 another year, and part another year, so as to have a continuous rota- 

 tion of gathering of rubber, so that it shall be inexhaustible. I don't 

 know yet what the result of that will be; because we have just started 

 and only have a few hundred acres under plantation. 



Gentlemen, one of the greatest of England's Lord Chancellors, when 

 he was about to die, said that he had regret only for two things: one 

 was that he had walked on a certain occasion when he might have 

 ridden, and the other was that he had once made a speech when he 

 might have kept silent. I may perhaps regret that 1 made an un- 

 necessary' speech tonight — and that will be on my dying bed only — 

 but I think in the meantime the regret will be only on your side. 

 [Cries of "No!" and applause.] 



A TALK FROM THE TRADE. 



The President introduced the next speaker as follows: 



The City of New York has some very large, very thrifty and very 

 capable suburban cities and towns. Among those is the City of 

 Akron [Cries of "Hurrah!"] where is situated the factory or the 

 factories rather, of The B. F. Goodrich Co. [Applause.} One of 

 the bright particular stars of that great company is with ns to-night. 

 He may say what he wishes; we will subscribe to it. Mr. Howard E. 

 Raymond, [.applause.] 



Mr. Raymond said: 



Mr. President, Guests, and Fellow Members: Having survived 

 the danger zone through which every public speaker passes — the soup 

 course — so that I may present you a clean shirt front and also a bold 

 personal front, I will start in to dabble with the wide latitude of 

 speech which the President has just assigned me. He has thrown me 

 evidently into the midst of a very large ocean, and he doesn't care 

 whether I get to land on an English, French, American or German 

 bottom; and I don't believe he cares whether I am a stray steamer; 

 hot I am going to make a desperate attempt not to sink. 



So, then, this is the New England Rubber Club, alias The Rubber 

 Club of America — an annexation of New York by New England. 

 It is splendidi 



Now, in searching for a subject — and I have only been searching 

 since I sat here and listened to the brilliant preceding speakers — it 

 occurred to me, as neither one of them had seized the opportunity of 

 addressing you on the subject of the Club, that I myself, who have 



