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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



June 1, 1921 



volving tire-making), princii)lcs of heat tiansfer (involv- 

 ing vulcanization), and industrial education and training. 

 An institution with aims so high, scope so universal, 

 methods so efficient, and sponsored by the nation's fore- 

 most and most practical men of science well merits all the 

 substantial encouragement the rubber industry, and all 

 others, can afford it in establishing funds for the uses 

 named as well as for its many other worthy purposes. 



THE ABSURD "CAPITAL STRIKE" CLAIM 



FAILING to make an impression of the unthink- 

 ing \vith their old harangues, agitators conjured 

 up a new contention lately in the hope of stirring up 

 dissension between employe and employer. Labor 

 has been told that the real cause of diminished em- 

 ployment and a reduced pay scale has been a com- 

 bination of the great banking interests of the nation 

 to deflate wages and to humble the worker ; in other 

 words, that "capital was on strike against society." 

 The absurdity of such a claim is obvious to any un- 

 biased student of economics. The banks function 

 best and profit most when prosperity is general. 

 Their interests are most intimately involved with the 

 interests of the vast mass of wage-earners, whose 

 savings they conserve and reinvest in thousands of 

 enterprises. The latter can flourish only in good 

 times, and hence it is manifestly foolish to claim that 

 they and the banks that finance them with the earners' 

 savings would "strike" to lessen their business op- 

 portunities. 



The plain truth is that the United States has had to 

 bear its share of the world-wide reaction after the 

 \var, and it is to the great credit of the banks that they 

 prevented American business from "skidding" more 

 than it did in the rapid deflation. 



COTTON ACREAGE FOR 1921 



SOUTHERN cotton raisers obtained from the banks 

 loans totaling hundreds of millions of dollars in 

 anticipation not only of great crops, but also of big prices 

 for those crops. The cotton came in quantity, but not 

 the expected demand for the commodity. Accordingly, 

 prices fell ranidly, cotton reserves piled up, and growers 

 and bankers have been hit hard. 



The American cotton production for 1920-1921 is esti- 

 mated at 13,000,000 bales, with a carry-over of 5,000,000, 

 making a supply of 18,000,000; whereas the demand is 

 not expected to exceed 11,000,000, thus leaving a surplus 

 of 7,000,000, which, added to next season's normal pro- 

 duction of 13,000,000, would provide a supply of 20,- 

 000,000 against a probable demand of but 12,000,000. A 

 price rise in the face of such a surplus pressing for sale is 

 unlikely. 



That cotton prices will be governed more by the 

 world's stock of all kinds of cotton rather than the stock 



in our country, just as the prosperity of the United States 

 will depend largely on the settlement of the present con- 

 ditions which are existing throughout the w^orld, is un- 

 doubtedly the broader view. 



A BRAIN WORKERS' UNION 



THE Br.mx Wokkkr.s' L NiuN, or Lonfcderation des. 

 Travailleurs Intellectuels, which was founded in 

 France some time ago, is an experiment which simi- 

 lar workers througlmut the world are watching 

 with interest. A membership of over 200,000 has al- 

 ready been reached, and artists, journalists, clerks of 

 all grades and trades, school teachers and scientists, 

 individually and as corporations, are said to be clamor- 

 ing for inclusion. 



In its aims, this organization promises moderation 

 and professes antagonism to no other body in civic 

 life. Its members do state that their interests are 

 being ground between the upper and nether millstones 

 of capitalism and manual labor, and that it is time 

 they took joint action on their own behalf. The sav- 

 ing clause in their constitution is to the efifect that 

 they will impose their will on none of their members, 

 giving support only where it is asked, and leaving 

 absolute liberty to all to govern their own affairs. 

 Such an organization, if true to its avowed principles, 

 would neither curtail the production of brain work 

 nor allow itself to be controlled by a few demagogs. 



That is, however, hardly probable as mankind is 

 at present constituted, for the reason that men are 

 not equal in a productive sense. As a majority will rule, 

 and as the majority are only ordinary in accomplish- 

 ment, the capable will be dragged down to the level 

 of the mass. In other words the artist who gets 

 $10,000 for a creation will be forced to turn out $10 

 daubs and only a limited number of them. That is, 

 of course, if this Union follows such other unions as 

 we wot of. 



Human nature admits of but one union where 

 equal effort would result in maximum production and 

 that is loafing. The world is hungry for a loafers' 

 union, a Universal Federation of Loafers, no work, 

 no hours and double pay for overtime. 



PrOOFERS, I. E., MAKERS OF RUBBERIZED CLOTH, SO 



often troubled with deterioration of the coating on the 

 fabric through the action of certain textile dyes, may 

 find a ray of hope in the report that a southern cultivator 

 has, after several years of plant cross-breeding, produced 

 samples of cotton that shade from light brown to dark 

 brown and from light green to dark green. With a 

 strain of blue-tinted or linted cotton he is getting from 

 India, this Burbank of Dixieland is confident that he will 

 also produce soon an absolutely black cotton and as fast 

 as alpaca compared with lambs' wool. 



