106 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January i, 1910. 



remote lands. Other than pneumatic tires, though in use 

 before, have come into an immensely increased demand, 

 with important commercial results. 



Introduction of miscellaneous rubber goods into many 

 countries where their use before was unknown or not 

 usual, with a generally beneficial result to the consumers, 

 and increased profits both to the producers of the goods 

 and the supplies of crude rubber. The use of rubber 

 footwear practically has been introduced into Europe in 

 this period even in the countries longest accustomed to 

 rubber goods in general. 



Improvement of rubber reclaiming until the product 

 has come to be utilized in the production of practically 

 every line of rubber goods on the list. Today there are 

 grades of reclaimed rubber selling at higher prices than 

 grades of crude in large demand. 



Perfection of the acid curing process in the produc- 

 tion of many lines of specialties with results not attain- 

 able so satisfactorily under any other system, particularly 

 in druggists' sundries and such like goods. 



Disposition of people engaged in the rubbei interest in 

 any way to write on the same, and of people in and out- 

 side of the industry to read on the subject; the appearance 

 of a mass of books, reports, and pamphlets, and the con- 

 stant reporting of rubber news in the daily journals and 

 leading periodicals in every field. 



TWENTY YEARS IN JAPAN. 



THE progress which the Japanese have made in rub- 

 ber forms one of the interesting chapters in the 

 history of the industry for the last two decades. At the 

 beginning of this period there was not in Japan anything 

 which in any other country would have been called a 

 "rubber factory." A few determined pioneers, however, 

 were using rubber, and getting commercial results from 

 it — small, to be sure, but of so practical a character as 

 to serve as the foundation of creditable manufacturing 

 establishments today. 



The beginnings of the industry in America and in 

 Europe were characterized by inventions so numerous 

 as to burden the patent office records ; by a continuous 

 story of originality in mechanical and chemical fields. It 

 has been charged that the Japanese have invented nothing 

 in the rubber manufacture, but have been mere adapters 

 of foreign ideas. Why should they not profit by the 

 work of others, instead of waiting to work out a rubber 

 industry of their own? 



The Japanese have been adapters, but not more than 

 has been common in the building up of the rubber in- 

 dustry in the United States, Great Britain, and so on. In 

 fact the growth of the industry has been based upon 

 friendly international relations, due to the fact that these 

 are all "Western nations" — one family, as compared with 

 the racial differences which divide Orient and Occident. 

 And here let it be said that ingenuity may be shown 



even in "adaptation." If no Japanese can claim as yet 

 to have invented any rubber machine or process of note, 

 they have shown great skill in getting results from for- 

 eign inventions, worked often under unfavorable circum- 

 stances. If a machine broke down, thousands of miles 

 from suitable facilities for its repair, the machine was 

 repaired none the less ; if process secrets were guarded 

 from them, they have found out by patient experimenta- 

 tion how to get the results aimed at. They have thus 

 shown not only real ingenuity, but indomitable industry. 



The substantial basis upon which Japan's rubber inter- 

 est has been founded is suggested, among other things, 

 by the extent to which foreign manufacturers already 

 have been establishing themselves in the Mikado's coun- 

 try. If no prospect existed of the latter being able in 

 time to supply their own wants in rubber goods, why 

 should important concerns abroad take the trouble to 

 build branch factories in Japan, even if there are cus- 

 toms barriers to face ? 



Considering everything here set down, it must be ad- 

 mitted that Japan has not made a bad showing in con- 

 nection with rubber in the last twenty vears. 



MR. TAFT ON ADVERTISEMENTS. 



THE new President of the United States, in the exer- 

 cise of his constitutional duty periodically to advise 

 the Congress on the state of the Union and to make 

 suggestions relating thereto, very properly discusses the 

 perennial deficit in the postal accounts. From the be- 

 ginning the postoffice department has been regarded, not 

 only as a non-business enterprise — that is, one not con- 

 ducted for earning profits — but as a public utility to be 

 fostered, even at the expense of the general budget. 

 There can be no question that the liberal extension of the 

 service to remote regions has tended mightily to the more 

 rapid development of the country, to the diffusion of in- 

 telligence, and to making the enormous American re- 

 public homogeneous to an extent not equaled in any other 

 great nation. 



There may be a sound argument for making the users 

 of the post-office pay the cost of the service, as in the 

 case of the patent office, even though the army, the navy, 

 the judiciary, the system of education, the scientific de- 

 partments, and all the other branches of administration 

 are conducted regularly at a loss — if the tangible results, 

 translated into terms of public revenue, be compared with 

 the actual cost in dollars. Where change shall be made in 

 the existing system, however, it is not the purpose of this 

 article to suggest. We elect legislators for such work. 



It is interesting to note that President Taft dwells upon 

 the theory — though it is not clearly demonstrated in his 

 message — that newspapers and periodicals pay less than 

 their just proportion of the cost of transmission of the 

 mails. So far as we can see from his contention, if 

 newspapers paid their due share, letter postage could 

 be reduced, and yet allow the treasury a handsome sur- 



