396 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 1911. 



Of greater significance, however, is the presence in 

 the Brazilian exhibits of rubbers other than fine and 

 coarse Para. There is no reason why certain of the 

 Sapiums, of the mimusops and of other gum producers 

 which are abundant all through the Amazon country 

 should not be producers for the market. 



That the official plans contemplate extensive coloni- 

 zation, means not only the planting of rubber but utili- 

 zation of any kind that it is profitable to tap. With 

 the assurance of a fair export duty on balata, for exam- 

 ple, there is little doubt but "cruisers" from the Guianas 

 and \'enezuela would soon locate rich "reefs" and add 

 much to the world's supply of this valuable gum. 



FURTHER BRAZILIAN PLANS. 



RECOGNIZING the fact that the exceptional con- 

 ditions now prevailing in the rubber industry 

 of Brazil call for special action, the State of Para is 

 reported to have lately enacted various laws of a reme- 

 dial character. The danger to which South American 

 rubber is exposed, from the advent of plantation rub- 

 ber from the Far East upon the markets of the world, 

 is not a problematical one. Its reality is proved by 

 the stock on hand in Para, estimated on May 31 at 

 5,350 tons. The introduction of the Eastern rubber 

 replacing the South American product, is a constantly 

 growing menace to the latter, and has doubtless in- 

 fluenced the decision of the Para legislature. 



The measures passed provide for the issue of a for- 

 eign loan upon joint State and Federal responsibility 

 to the amount of $30,000,000 for a period of ten years 

 at not more than 5 per cent, interest. The interest on 

 the loan will be covered by a tax equalling about six 

 cents per pound. 



It is contemplated to use the proceeds of the loan 

 for the protection of the rubber industry. The steps 

 contemplated include as a prominent feature the estab- 

 lishment of a bank at Para, through which advances 

 will be made on land and produce. In the former case 

 the limit is to be 40 per cent, of the value, while loans 

 for the working of plantations are not to exceed one- 

 half of the average annual profit during the preceding 

 four years, and are repayable within eighteen months. 

 The miximum rates to be charged by the bank are to 

 be 10 per cent, on mortgages and 9 per cent, on other 

 business. 



Special importance is attached to the starting of 

 establishments for the refining (washing) of crude 

 rubber bv the best method to be selected for the pur- 



pose. In this way it is contemplated to export only 

 one quality, to be of the best grade possible. 



With the view of affording improved facilities of 

 transportation it is announced by the Port of Para 

 Company that it has decided upon the construction of 

 a fieet of vessels for the Amazon trade. This step, 

 even apart from tlic others projected, would consider- 

 ably help to meet the present competition of planta- 

 tion rubber. This company is American, having been 

 incorporated in 1906 under the laws of Maine. Its 

 head office is at Portland, Maine, and it also has offices 

 in London, Paris and Rio de Janeiro, likewise having 

 Brazilian charters. Its capital is $17,500,000, fully 

 paid up, in addition to bonds equalling $43,000,000. 

 The company obtained a concession for the construc- 

 tion and operation of harbor works at the Port of Para. 



This new legislation, it will be noticed, more or less 

 corresponds with the suggestion of Senhor Passos 

 Miranda, to which the July issue of The India Rubber 

 World called attention. 



THE MOTOR TRUCK WINS. 



THE recent excessively hot weather furnished argu- 

 ment of an irrefutable character in favor of the 

 motor truck, as against the horse-drawn vehicle, for 

 the transportation of freight. Truckmen engaged in 

 business on a large scale, admitted that the substitu- 

 tion of commercial motors for horse trucks, would 

 not only have saved them heavy loss in dead and dis- 

 abled animals, but the power to move loads of normal 

 magnitude at the ordinary or greater speed, without 

 cruelly overtaxing their patient animal aids, would 

 have immeasurably increased the efficiency of their 

 service and contributed materially to public conven- 

 ience. Confronted with a death list of about 10,000 

 horses — 2,000 in New York alone — due to heat, be- 

 sides innumerable prostrations, to say nothing of the 

 reduced efficiency of the commercial transportation 

 service and the suffering caused to draught animals, 

 whereas not a single motor truck was reported as even 

 "aft'ected by the heat," the advisability of replacing 

 the horse by the motor becomes forcibly apparent. 



Nor is it only in the summer season that the advan- 

 tages of the commercial automobile impress themselves 

 on the community. In winter, after a snow-fall, with 

 the horse truck hopelessly "stalled" in spite of tlie ef- 

 forts of overstrained teams, or when streets coated 

 with ice, are dangerous or impassable to horses, there 

 is little or no interruption to automobile service. 



