338 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 1, 1914. 



inchuling the 20,000 tons of waste from abroad — would 

 be somcubere from $25,000,000 to $28,000,000. In view 

 of which it is not to be wondered at that the men respon- 

 sible for this great reclamation of waste material should 

 feel themselves entitled to gather at the banquet board 

 and eulogize their industry. They are among the great 

 conservationists. 



FOUR MONTHS OF THE NEW TARIFF. 



IT may be rather early to formulate definite conclusions 

 — that is, conclusions not open to later revision — on 

 the working of the new tariff, but the report recently 

 issued by the Department of Commerce at Washington, 

 giving the exports and imports in various industries for 

 the first four months under the ojieration of the new 

 schedule — from October 1 to January 31 — certainly fur- 

 nishes data for interesting speculation, or. as the moral- 

 ists are wont to say. "food for thought." 



During these four months under the new tariff there has 

 been a general decrease in the value of imported materials 

 for manufacture of $47,000,000, or 10 per cent., while im- 

 portations of finished manufactured products increased 

 nearly $10,000,000, or 6 per cent. The report shows that 

 there was a decrease in imports in practically every line of 

 raw material for manufacturing purposes. The volume of 

 crude rubber imjiorts during these four months amounted 

 to 36,800,000 pounds, as against 42,500,000 pounds dur- 

 ing the same months a year ago — or a reduction of 13 

 per cent. In value, the imports of crude rubber, including 

 substitutes, dropped from $38,750,000 to $21,250,000. or a 

 decrease of over 45 per cent. But of course a substantial 

 part of this decrease must be attributed to the lower 

 prices of rubber that have prevailed during the past sea- 

 son. The decrease in volume of imports, however, is cer- 

 tainly suggestive. 



While the first four months of an\- new tariff schedule 

 cannot be properly taken as a criterion, the showing made 

 by the report of the Commerce Department is certainly 

 interesting as an indication of tendency. 



that of Russia (notwithstanding the long winters and 

 deep snows of that country, which call for the general use 

 of rubber footwear), over three and a half times the rub- 

 ber consumption of Germany, over twice that of France 

 and more than twenty per cent, greater than that of our 

 nearest rival, Great Britain. Generally speaking, we have 

 for a number of years used one-half of the entire world's 

 crude rubber supply. Possibly under the new tariff this 

 ratio may be somewhat altered and more than one-half of 

 the total crude supply go elsewhere, but the consumption 

 in this country of rubber manufactured goods is not at all 

 likely to decrease. .Xs a matter of fact, with the constantly 

 growing popularity of motor vehicles — an increase nuich 

 more rajiid in this country than anywhere else — our pro- 

 ])ortionate consumption of manufactured rubber goods is 

 likely to be greater during the next few years rather than 



A GENUINELY HELPFUL SORT OF HELP. 



THE AMERICAN CONSUMPTION OF RUBBER. 



N( )TWITHSTANDING the falling off in the impor- 

 tations of crude rubber during the last few months, 

 under the new tariff law. as mentioned above, we still 

 conspicuously lead the world in rubber consumption. A 

 carefully computed tabulation which appears on another 

 page shows that in 1913 .\mericans consumed rubber to 

 the extent of 1.06 potnids per capita. This is over twelve 

 times the rate of consumption in Italy, over seven times 



•nPHE press has recently given a great deal of atten- 

 *■ tion to a jjarticularly successful and philanthropic 

 automobile manufacturer who has embarked on a 

 profit-sharing system of unheard-of proportions, the 

 report being that workmen who have been getting $4 

 a day were to have their wages practicallx' doubled, 

 that scrubwomen and office boys were in some cases 

 to be paid $5 a day, and so on up and down the payroll 

 generally — the underly-ing principle of the plan evi- 

 dentl}' lieing to remimerate employes with a munifi- 

 cent disregard of all established industrial standards. 



All of which is most altruistic and suggestive of the 

 dawning of the Golden Age, but somewhat upsetting 

 to the settled order of things. If, for instance, the 

 general market price for an otffce boy"s services is $5 

 a week, it is distinctly disturbing to the ofiice boy 

 market to have it widely promulgated that in one par- 

 ticular enterprise these services are to receive five times 

 the market price, with other lines of endeavor rewartled 

 in proportion. It is not to be wondered at that the 

 manufacturer's plant was immediately- surrounded by 

 vociferating mobs. Let it be generally exploited that 

 a certain locality is overflowing with easy money and 

 that point is bi)und to become a storm center compared 

 with which the activities of the ancient G(iths and 

 \'andals w'ere mild and mannerly. 



The Ford experiment is certainly exceedingly inter- 

 esting, and its beneficiaries are to be sincerely con- 

 gratulated on their suddenly improved conditions; but 

 manv economists entertain grave doubts as to the ef- 



