648 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September 1, 1914. 



different estates as near as possible to the type specified. There 

 is no alternative. The variation may be more apparent than 

 real, but it serves to perpetuate the belief that the buyer is be- 

 ing unfairly treated. 



Let me give another example of the way misconception may 

 arise. The property of a rubber plantation company may con- 

 sist of several different estates or divisions, each of which has 

 a native name. The company may derive its name from one 

 division which we will say is Kuala. Rubber from each section 

 is stamped with the name given to that section, so that a big 

 consignment of the Kuala Company's rubber may contain but a 

 small proportion marked "Kuala," the remainder being marked 

 with various names all unfamiliar to the purchaser. He might 

 reasonably suppose that he had received a mi.xed consignment, 

 especially as the supplies from the various divisions would prob- 

 ably differ slightly m appearance. Nevertheless he is receiving 

 a supply as uniform as it is possible to get. 



In the foregoing I have merely sought to explain away mis- 

 understandings. It is conceivable, however, that cases do arise 

 from time to time which give cause for dissatisfaction or com- 

 plaint. For example, if an American consumer, knowing the 

 spot price of fine pale crepe to be Z/Ti, cables an order for this 

 .grade at 2/2, he receives something that is not quite the finest 

 •quality of pale crepe. The best is done for him at the price. 

 He is dissatisfied, because it is inferior to other consignments 

 he may have received, but the fault is his own. A quotation of 

 2/3 for fine pale crepe means that is the price and no other 

 figure. When a particular grade is wanted it is often necessary 

 to buy the rubber from one estate. This may involve payment 

 of a small premium. The manufacturer refuses and he is then 

 obliged to buy collections, for there is no other course open to 

 him. Then again there are admittedly dealers and dealers. An 

 American firm whose representative in London has no axe of 

 his own to grind is naturally better served than one that ob- 

 tains its supplies from a dealer who is making all he can out of 

 the market for himself. There is perhaps one other point I 

 may touch upon and that is as to the speculator in the com- 

 modity in New York. It is obviously impossible for me to tell 

 your readers anything they do not know on this score, but it 

 does seem to the onlooker at this distance that the question of 

 mixed consignments may not be unconnected with the opera- 

 tions of the New York speculator in the commodity. 



In the ordinary way of business it is difficult of belief that 

 the London dealer, in his own interests, would discriminate 

 against his American customers. There are brokers in London 

 who have dealt in hundreds of tons of plantation rubber going 

 to .American manufacturers without receiving a single com- 

 plaint. It is doubtless the occasional exception that has given 

 rise to the view that provides the text of this article. Nobody 

 is better informed as to plantation rubber than the big Amer- 

 ican consumer, and it is no exaggeration to say that the major 

 portion of the best plantation rubber produced goes to the 

 United States. For years the emissaries of American manu- 

 facturing groups have scoured the Middle Fast gathering every 

 scrap of knowledge to be obtained about plantation rubber. I. 

 myself, ran across an American in the year 1911 on one of the 

 "show" estates not many miles from Penang. He was traveling 

 in the interests of a group of American manufacturers, and had 

 already covered most of the best estates in Ceylon and con- 

 ferred with most of the leading planters in the island. A 

 month or two later I met him again in an out-of-the-way cor- 

 ner of Java. We journeyed together to a large plantation some 

 fifty miles distant, where he stayed for several days, going into 

 every detail of estate w-ork connected with the tapping and 

 preparation of plantation rubber. By that time he had compiled 

 statistics of incalculable value to his principals and had acquired 

 a knowledge of the plantation industry that can only be de- 

 scribed as encyclopaedic. I doubt if there was an estate through- 



out the plantation zone as to the relative value of which he had 

 not a very accurate idea. Certainly he knew every estate that 

 was producing, or was likely to produce, the best grades of 

 rubber. A few weeks ago I met him again at the Rubber Ex- 

 hibition here. He was wandering round with an air of dis- 

 tinct l)oredom, and this I could only attribute to the fact that 

 he had found no one who could tell him anything he did not 

 know about plantation rubber. I take it that my acquaintance 

 is only one among many men of similar experience, and I re- 

 fuse to believe that the American manufacturer of any standing 

 honestly thinks that he is not receiving fair treatment in the 

 London market, for no consumer in the world is better in- 

 formed than himself. 



.\11 the same, the fact should not be lost sight of that this is 

 an extremely young industry. Within the space of a few short 

 years the production of plantation rubber has increased from a 

 few tons to a quantity in excess of all the rubber the rest of 

 the world produces. Nor is that all. Although the product of 

 the same Hevca, it is a totally different article from the hard 

 Para of South America. Its characteristics are far from being 

 fully understood by the manufacturer, for no two manufactur- 

 ers hold the same opinion about it. It is only within the past 

 few months that plantation rubber has been frankly acknowl- 

 edged by British consumers to be equal to and in soine respects 

 superior to fine hard Para. Even so, opinion differs widely as 

 to the relative merits of different grades. One obtains a 25 per 

 cent, better result with pale crepe than with smoked sheet. The 

 experience of another is entirely the reverse. As this applies 

 to every grade of cultivated rubber, the multiplicity of grades 

 produced is not to be wondered at. Already the product is more 

 highly standardized than Para, but much still remains to be 

 done. In some degree, however, the grower is waiting on the 

 manufacturer. When the latter has finally made up his mind 

 exactly what he wants, the producer will have little difficulty 

 in supplying it. The planter was told that he could not produce 

 good rubber. He has proved that he can. But one manufac- 

 turer may prefer to receive a dozen different kinds in a consign- 

 ment whilst another requires but one. So long as such views 

 e.xist the business is bound to remain somewhat chaotic. 



The very immaturity of the industry is partly responsible for 

 what is called the mixed nature of supplies. As the plantations 

 come into full bearing and the total production increases, this 

 fault will be minimized. It will, however, never be entirely 

 eliminated so long as rubber is bought on appearance and 

 physical tests. One of the anomalies of the situation is, that 

 rubber which the well informed know to be equal to any pro- 

 duced may, if slightly mouldy, be obtained at a discount of a 

 penny or twopence a pound from the prices for the "best" 

 grades. The remedy, presumably, is to buy on specification dic- 

 tated by vulcanizing tests. Efforts are being made to inaugurate 

 such a system. If practicable, it is certain that no more will be 

 heard about variability and the minor complaints which reach 

 the market respecting plantation rubber. 



There remains one other point to be dealt with, and that is 

 perhaps the most important of all. Much has been heard of late 

 as to the advantage (sic) of buying in the Eastern markets 

 and shipping direct to America. Now there is at present one 

 drawback, and that a very important one, to this method of do- 

 ing business. The Rubber Trades Association of London has 

 laid down certain definite standards of quality, and those stand- 

 ards are the highest known to the plantation industry. Con- 

 formation to those standards is strictly enforced and all queries 

 are settled by an arbitration committee. The view is generally 

 held that plantation rubber regarded as first or second quality 

 in Singapore or Colombo would not necessarily pass those stand- 

 ards in London ; in other words, that the London standard is 

 higher than any other. It follows, therefore, that the buyer in 

 London is protected in a way that is impossible in any other 



