February 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



239 



Some Vigorous Views From Singapore. 



Editor, The India Rubber World, Dear Sir: — 



IT is rumored here that the Shipping Conference here and at 

 home have arranged for the freight on rubber to be reduced 

 to 00s. per ton (.50 cubic feet) on rubber consigned to the 

 London market, and that the rate per ton from Singapore to 

 New York be raised to 80s. per ton — a difference of 20s. per ton 

 in favor of London ; being an attempt on the part of the Ship- 

 ping Conference cum Rubber Growers' Association cum rubber 

 dealers to keep up the profitable market — to themselves — at pres- 

 ent existing in London. 



The humor of recent events is very striking to anyone who is 

 acquainted with the composition of our London market. The 

 noble elTorts of the Rubber Growers' Association to cut their 

 own throats politely by reducing their trading profits on the 

 rubber they handle, in favor of better market conditions far the 

 produce from the estates they direct, are truly ridiculous. For 

 months they have been sitting in secret conclave trying to square 

 the circle, and at last — lo ! behold ! the mountain was in labor 

 and there was evolved a rat — in mouse's clothing ! 



They have not quite squared the circle, but they have evolved 

 a sort of dodecahedron, which at a distance might appear as a 

 sort of a circle to a casual observer. As you will have already 

 seen, the thing is a reductio ad ahsurdum, and in reality plays 

 directly into the hands of the Dreadful Dealers they had called 

 upon themselves to suppress. 



As they are own cousins to these same dealers, and are sus- 

 pected of having a sneaking interest in the profits of same, to 

 say nothing of fat commissions of percentage of the crop, etc., 

 etc. — vide the Kamuning Co., meeting last November — it is 'a 

 bit difficult to see how they are going to achieve the wonderful 

 results that they have promised — on the wait and see principle. 

 As most of the members 'of the Rubber Growers' Association 

 are members of the Shipping Conference, their last little effort 

 in creating a widely discriminate freight rate in favor of their 

 own particular market doesn't look like the essence of sincerity 

 to a casual observer. 



.\rising out of this situation, I put forward the proposition 

 that the American buyers combine to charter steamers of their 

 own to convey their rubber direct from Singapore to New York, 

 at a cost of about 30s. per ton — a saving of 50s. a ton. As there 

 are about 1,400 pounds net weight of average rubber per ton 

 freight the saving would be about 3d. (6 cents gold) per 7 pounds. 

 I need say no more to keen business men. If America would 

 combine to take say 3.000 tons net of rubber per month from 

 Singapore, equal to about 4,000 tons freight, then counting four 

 months to a round trip, four steamers of 5,000 tons would be 

 required — costing about £6,000 per month, on a three years' 

 charter. This would amount to £2 per ton net weight of rubber 

 or 30s. per freight ton if nothing else were carried, and the boats 

 returned here empty. As, however, they would certainly bring 

 cargo here, and take a certain amount back, it may safely be 

 said that the actual cost of the rubber freight would amount to 

 little more than 20s. per freight ton ! I give you the project 

 for what it is worth. America will certainly buy 3,000 tons per 

 month from us next year. 



The principal feature of the present movement in local plant- 

 ing circles appears to be a desire to conform to manufacturers' 

 requirements — if only the manufacturers will say what it is that 

 they require. This being an impasse, there seems only one way 

 out of it. The London agents, dealers and directors having 

 shown that they do not seriously mean to injure their own per- 

 sonal profits for the benefit of the shareholders — anything that 

 they may do or profess being only a shadow without much solid 

 substance, as far as we can make out — there is left only one 

 alternative — for headquarters to meet headquarters. Let the 



consumers in America, say, combine together to support a buying 

 agency here. This agency will be able to obtain exactly what 

 the consumers require, and by means of subsequent elimination 

 of unearned profits now made, will be able to offer planters here 

 higher limits than ordinary dealers can do. The effect of this 

 will be to cause planters to produce certain standard types to 

 the buying agency's requirements, knowing that by conforming 

 to this they can obtain a ready, immediate cash sale at a higher 

 price in the Singapore market than they can hope to do by any 

 other method of the disposal of their product. A planter will 

 thus engage to sell the whole of his output to the buying agency 

 at current rates — he guaranteeing that his rubber shall be pre- 

 pared up to certain fixed standards. 



The manufacturers will soon get to know the qualities of these 

 standards, and will know that for qualities A, B and C, etc., they 

 will require to use known formulae, X, Y and Z. 



Handling the rubber will then become a very simple proposi- 

 tion for manufacturers — as they know that their own buying 

 agency here will only buy the right stuff — and it will reach them 

 direct from the estate, so to speak ; at least every parcel can be 

 traced direct to the estate, so that any parcel which did not 

 come up to the standard would at once bring trouble in heaps 

 for the offending estate. At first the expense of repacking here 

 must be borne, until it was found that the estates could be trusted. 

 Many estates could, however, be so trusted right away. This 

 would do away with the difficulty at present experienced in New 

 York — complaints as to quality and condition, etc., which are 

 often difficult to decide after nearly two months' freightage, and 

 are the cause of much trouble and expense — due very largely 

 to the present methods employed of buying "a pig in a poke." 

 Very few American manufacturers really know where their 

 rubber comes from, and a great deal of it is faked. 



This could not happen to them with their own buying agency, 

 and with a receiving and forwarding agency in New York. The 

 cost of a buying agency here, on salary, would amount to about 

 $4,000 to $5,000 gold per month, for a staff up to say 30,000 tons 

 per year, and the saving to buyers would be about 4 to 5 per 

 cent, on present methods — to say nothing of maintaining a steady 

 market. 



Very truly yours, 



SlNG.\P0RE. 



WHY SEND RUBBER TO LONDON? 



In a recent editorial, the "Times of Ceylon," in discussing the 

 above subject, says: 



"The advantages of selling rubber on the local market are be- 

 coming so obvious that directors will find their position an 

 awkward one when called upon by shareholders to explain why 

 they continue to throw away pence per pound in the sale of their 

 product . . . when the rubber goes via London to, say, 

 America. ... It cannot be good for the industry to allow 

 the product to be bled this way, when consumers display such 

 readiness as they do to take the rubber direct from the country 

 of production. . . . It is for the shareholders to see whether 

 they are prepared to continue a system which practically amounts 

 to a subsidization of London houses at the expense of their 

 pockets." 



PUTTING IN MOKE KUBBEH. 



In a recent speech to the Legislative Council of the Straits 

 Settlements, the Governor said : 



"The cultivation of rubber does not as yet appear to have 

 suffered any serious setback. Where estates have had some 

 other form of cultivation together with rubber, whether it is 

 cocoanuts, gambler or tapioca, the tendency to remove the second 

 crop shows few signs of diminution." 



