December 1, 1913.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



121 



OH toiliiiK (l:iy l)y day, raising piles of wealth wliicli have hcen 

 spent on majestic palaces, pearls and diamonds. 



"The successive governments, dazzled by the prosperity of the 

 times, traveled as if blindfolded. The profits of the Hcvca 

 Brasiliciisis industry tilled the treasury, and it appeared inex- 

 haustible. The markets of the world were controlled without 

 competition and without comparison. 



"With the sole end of realizing as much revenue as could be 

 obtained, they increased the taxes on the product, rendering it 

 dearer at ports of embarkation. And this revenue they devoted 

 to all kinds of objects save the industry itself. 



"While we stood still gathering and preparing our precious 

 latex, other governments went on silently importing llevca 

 seeds, destined in a brief period to constitute those great forests 

 of the East which have now entered into frank competition with 

 our native wilds in supplying the world with our greatest export 

 product." 



KhQV referring to the study of the rubber question as em- 

 bodied in the recent legislation as a work of economic, political 

 and social significance, he said : 



"We propose to circumscribe the crisis, relying on time, the 

 continuance of our policy already begun and on our confidence 

 in our destiny as our chief elements of victory." 



raw material will never attain great success ; by reason of the 

 customs' duties — even tho slightly modified. Unless such 



THE RUBBER MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN 

 BRAZIL. 



DEALING with the above subject in a paper read at the late 

 Para congress. Dr. Manuel Lobato contended that the in- 

 ternational exchange of rubber, deviating from the general law 

 of supply and demand, forms a special and complicated network 

 of its own. It is the buyer who regulates prices, without re- 

 gard to the quality of the article or the interests of the seller. 

 The rubber trade, he added, is always at the mercy of periodical 

 destructive crises, while living expenses continue. 



Without a complete reform of mercantile customs. Dr. Lobato 

 believes that it will never be safe to attempt rubber manufac- 

 turing in Brazil. The large factories producing these goods 

 in other countries have immense capital, which he thinks would 

 not be the case in Brazil. Small factories, with a reduced out- 

 put, w'ould not produce favorable results. While prohibitive 

 duties are placed on foreign goods, those which are made in 

 the country suffer from the disadvantage of high-priced labor 

 and do not satisfy the consumer. 



Regarding the anticipated orders from public bodies. Dr. Lo- 

 bato docs not approve asking favors from the authorities and 

 prejudicing the interests of private contractors by making low 

 offers. 



The speaker further said : "Establishment of the manufac- 

 turing industry does not seem to me advisable at the present 

 moment, unless our commercial usages are placed on a more se- 

 cure basis, under which capita! may be absolutely guaranteed, 

 or as nearly so as is possible by human legislation." 



He summarizes his recommendations in the three following 

 conclusions : 



"1. The attraction of capital to the State is a necessity. This 

 result, however, will never be possible without a complete re- 

 form of our commercial usages. On the other hand, the law 

 must protect this capital by unquestionable guarantees, so that it 

 may never be at the mercy of adventurers or unscrupulous 

 parties. 



"2. There is no doubt that the manufacturing industry will 

 afford a favorable investment for capital, provided raw ma- 

 terials are used, which can be furnished by our Flora and 

 Fauna. Success is only to be anticipated in conjunction w-ith a 

 more intelligent co-operation than at present exists. 



"3. The industrial manufacture w^hich depends upon imported 



Dr. M.-vnuel Lob.vto. 



niiulilicatiun were carried to a greater extent it would exercise 

 iK> intluence whatever. 



"At present, we should not depart from the principle that an 

 extensive cultivation of the soil should be urged, as being pro- 

 ductive of immediate benefit to the State." 



ADULTERATION IN THE RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



AMONG the papers read at the recent Para Congress was one 

 of special interest by Senhor Leopoldo Pcnna Teixeira, 

 dealing with measures for the prevention of adulteration and 

 abuses in the rubber industry. In opening he referred to the 

 decline of the brilliant but illusory prosperity of the Amazon 

 valley. This fact he attributed to the restricted term of the 

 successive administrations, to the want of continuity in plans, as 

 well as to the individualism of public life. 



With reference to the question of adulteration, the speaker 

 quoted a statement received by him from Senhor J. Cohen, for- 

 merly the owner of a scringal and a merchant in the Island re- 

 gion, but at present retired from business. Mr. Cohen stated 

 that he had long been investigating the real cause of rubber 

 adulteration, for which task he enjoyed special facilities, owing 

 to his relations with the merchants of Para and the interior as 

 well as with scriugucros. From his knowledge of the situation, 

 he asks whether adulteration is increasing as it did during the 

 great crisis of 1900. 



At that time several Para commercial houses sent to their 

 aviadors large quantities of wheat flour, to be sold to seriiigueros 

 for the purpose of increasing the weight of their product, which 

 was then sold to certain Para buying houses as fine rubber. At 

 that time, the cry was for "rubber and more rubber" of whatever 

 description. 



Another cause of fraudulent methods arose from discord be- 

 tween the owners of adjacent seringaes, which led to some local 

 merchants advising certain seriiigueros to defraud in the quality 

 and w-eight of their rubber, as it was sold to a competitor. 



That such practices still continue is shown by the fact that 

 in 1912 an English company in the nnmicipality of Anajas re- 

 ceived 4000 kilos of rubber which the Para buyers would only 

 accept as Sernamby, on account of the scandalous and gross 

 adulteration. On this basis the representative of the English 



