526 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



LJULY 1, 1914. 



of these export tariffs are very simple, some quite com- 

 plex; some very light in their imposition and some ex- 

 tremely onerous. This table shows the great burden 

 borne by the rubber of the Amazon country as compared 

 with the favorable conditions under which plantation 

 rubber is exported from the East. It shows, moreover, 

 the tendency to favor plantation rubber in all the tropical 

 colonies controlled 1t\' the different European countries, 

 in manv of which a tax is imposed upon the product of 

 the wild tree while rubber from the planted tree goes 

 out free from tax. This is particularly true of the British, 

 German and Belgian possessions in Africa : while in the 

 Protected Malay States wild rubber pays a duty of fifteen 

 per cent, and plantation rubber of two and a half per cent. 



Many interesting features will be found in this tabula- 

 tion — some interesting because of their importance and 

 some simply because of the inconsistencies they show. 

 For instance, Mexico and British Honduras both place 

 an export tax on chicle but ship rubber free from any 

 impost, while their next door neighbor, Honduras, levies 

 three times as much dutv on rubber as on chicle. Then 

 there are the Portuguese African colonies, where the 

 duties at some ports are considerably more burdensome 

 than the}' are from other ports and where rubber intended 

 for Portugal escapes with a lower tax than rubber in- 

 tended for any other country. In the Dutch East Indies, 

 too, the export duty from one port is twice that exacted 

 at a neighboring port. 



This table is of more than passing interest to the ex- 

 porters of rubber the world over, for it enables them to 

 compare at a glance their condition with that of other 

 exporters in the various countries where this important 

 industrv is carried on. 



SHALL LABOR CONSTITUTE A PRIVILEGED 

 CLASS? 



XTOTWITHSTANDING the sorry charge of con- 

 ■'■ ^ s|)iracy made by the Administration against 

 those business men who have ventured to express 

 opinions contrary to those entertained in Administra- 

 tion circles, it is to be hoped that our commercial and 

 industrial leaders will still continue to declare their 

 views, and particularly in relation to those anti-trust 

 measures now being considered in Congress which 

 have for their purpose an obvious discrimination in 

 favor of labor. The Clayton Bill, for instance, which 

 passed the House of Representatives on June 5, and is 

 now before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, in 

 the opinion of leading legal authorities acts as a repeal 



of the Sherman law as far as it applies to labor and 

 agricultural organizations; as it would prevent the 

 courts from employing the usual processes of injunc- 

 tion to prevent picketing, boycotting and similar 

 methods in labor strikes. This bill aims to give the 

 members of labor organizations a certain immunity 

 not enjoyed by other citizens. Would this be a whole- 

 some condition ? Would it not destroy the basic prin- 

 ciple on which the foundation of this Government rests, 

 namely, equal rights t<> all ? 



When Mr. Roosevelt was President he was visited 

 bv a labor delegation. Being cordially received. 

 one of the delegates remarked, significantly, "W'e 

 are ver\- glad, ^Ir. President, to see that the door 

 of the White House is open to the laboring man." 

 To which Mr. Roosevelt instantly responded, "Yes, 

 just as it is to the capitalist." This is the true atti- 

 tude. Both Labor and Capital, both the man who 

 works with his hands and the man who works with 

 his head, should have precisely the same standing be- 

 fore the law. And it is not only the right but it is the 

 duty of business men to protest against any discrimi- 

 nation in favor of any class of citizens simply because 

 thev belong to certain organizations. 



RUBBER CONSUMPTION COMPARED WITH POPU- 

 LATION. 



T T is a fair assumption that with the increase in the 

 ■*■ population of the United States there should be an 

 increase in the consumption of all articles that contribute 

 to the comforts of civilized life; and it may also be rea- 

 sonably assumed that this consumption will increase 

 more rapidly than the growth of population, for. taking 

 one decade with another, if not one year with another, 

 the purchasing power of the individual is constantly 

 growing. 



But in the consumi.ition of rubber goods in this coun- 

 tr\- the increase has so greatly surpassed the growth of 

 population as to be worthy of note. Here is a brief but 

 interesting table that tells the story at a glance: 



1890. 1900. 1910. 1913. 



Population of the 



United States ... 62.947,714 75,994.575 91,972,266 97.028,497 

 Imports of crude 



rubber into the 



L'nited States, in 



pounds 33,712,089 49,397,138 101,078,825 115,880,641 



It will be seen that since 1890 there has been an in- 

 crease of population of a little over 50 per cent, and an 

 increase in the amount of crude rubber imported of 

 about 250 per cent. ; or. to put the matter in another 



