July 1, 1921 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



exported. Rubber goods are among the various articles men- 

 tioned which are exempt. 



MEXICO 



A customs office has been established at Guadalajara, Mexico, 

 in connection with the parcel post division of the post office. 

 Parcels forwarded to Guadalajara by express or freight will, as 

 heretofore, be subject to clearance at other ports of entry. 



A Presidential decree, dated March 28, and quoted in the 

 Diario Oficial (Mexico) of April 23, has the following modifica- 

 tion of import duties among its items : 



Rate of Duty 



Articles 



Rubber tirts for passenger motor cars 



Rubber tires for motor vehicles for carryinp goods 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN THE FAR EAST 

 By Our Regular Correspondent 



CEYLON 



COMP.vR.VTiVE statistics to hand would show that rubber re- 

 striction in Ceylon has been anything but a success. In spite 

 of the fact that a large percentage of London and Ceylon-con- 

 trolled estates voted in favor of the 25 per cent restriction which 

 was to take effect from November 1, 1920, exports of rubber 

 from this colony since January 1, 1921, are considerably higher 

 than they were during the same period of 1920. 



Thus the total exports of rubber from Ceylon to all countries 

 from January 1 to April 11, 1921, amounted to 25,966.223 pounds, 

 against 22,235,004 pounds during the corresponding period of 1920. 

 That is to say that in 14 weeks Ceylon exported 3,731,219 pounds 

 of rubber more than during the same period of the year before. 

 .At this rate, the total exports for 1921 would exceed those for 

 1920 by over 10,500,000 pounds. 



It is realized that increases have been par'*y due to the clear- 

 ance of part of the heavy stocks at Colombo. However, the stocks 

 still on hand indicate that there must be •' other reason for the 

 heavy exports. 



Some time ago, there was a feeling hew among many author- 

 ities that the Government should enforce restriction by 50 per 

 cent on the lines suggested by Malaya. Now, however, since the 

 Colonial Secretary has definitely refused to enforce restriction 

 in Malaya, nothing will come of such a plan anywhere. It seeins, 

 therefore, that there will not be much of any kind of restriction 

 here or elsewhere. 



.•\t a recent meeting of the Kelani Valley Planters' Association, 

 a motion was made that the parent association be asked to urge 

 the abolition of the rubber export tax. While it is recognized that 

 the present condition in the rubber industry makes the tax a 

 very heavy burden, the removal of which would aid planters 

 considerably, it is realized that the financial stress of the Ceylon 

 Government is a serious obstacle in the way of the abolition of the 

 tax. However, the local press is not in favor of retention 

 of the tax for, as the Weekly Times of Ceylon puts it, "the 

 Ceylon rubber industry is at present too much of a broken reed for 

 the Government to lean upon it with much advantage in its con- 

 dition of financial exhaustion." 



Trade between Ceylon and Germany is steadily reviving. Direct 

 shipments this year have been large and it is believed that con- 

 siderable quantities of Ceylon goods have gone to Germany through 

 Holland. Up to the middle of April the amount of rubber 

 exported direct to Germany was 1,339,959 pounds or nearly 

 600 tons. 



Freight rates hum Ceylon to the United Kingdom, for general 

 cargo, including rubber, have been reduced to 65s. per 50 cubic 

 feet. This reduction represents a fall of 35.?. in the case of 

 rubber. 



MALAYA 



It is now known that the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 

 Winston Churchill, has definitely refused to legislate for com- 

 pulsory restriction. In a telegram to the High Commissioner 

 of the Federated Malay States he says: "There is no assurance 

 that producers in other countries would be submitted to similar 

 restriction so that they may benefit at the expense of producers in 

 Malaya perhaps permanently. Conditions must be allowed to right 

 themselves." 



This has caused great disappointment among advocates of re- 

 striction, though it cannot be said that local producers were 

 wholly unprepared for the decision. In fact, for at least a 

 month it was oiienh- said that the scheme would probably not go 

 through and the question of what should be done has been widely 

 discussed in the papers here. Correspondence reveals that people 

 are awakening to the fact that there is a need for unity among 

 planters; a definite policy regarding the planting of new areas, 

 regulation of output, fixing of remunerative prices, knowledge re- 

 garding rubber stocks and world requirements. 



As the knowledge has grown that the Governinent would and 

 could do very little in the situation, the feeling that the industry 

 must take care of itself has become stronger. There are still 

 voices in favor of some form of government assistance — financial, 

 for instance. On the whole, however, it seems that the majority 

 are in favor of some scheme of self-help. The Strails Times has 

 devoted several lengthy articles to the spreading and strength- 

 ening of this idea and has supported its views by quoting the 

 examples of the recent action taken by the Copper Export Asso- 

 ciation in America and the methods of the California fruit 

 growers. 



In the rubber supplement of May 6 of its weekly issue, The 

 Strails Budget, the Straits Times gives some points in a scheme 

 of self-help. The idea is to ask the Government to grant to a 

 body regularly constituted, and fully representative of the rubber 

 industry, the exclusive right of exporting rubber from the ports. 

 Armed with this right, the industry could introduce an effective 

 system of control over output, varying the degree of restriction 

 from time to time as conditions required. This Rubber Control 

 Board would see to it that reliable records were obtained regard- 

 ing supply, demand and price. It would maintain experimental 

 and research work on behalf of the industry generally ; ascertain 

 annually the "full capacity output" of all estates and determine 

 what percentage could be profitably put on the market, and issue 

 export certificates for the authorized output of each estate. 



One thing has been fully realized by most people, that unless 

 some kind of restriction or control of rubber output is resorted 

 to, it will take years — some say at least five — before the situation 

 will be appreciably improved. 



Some interesting statements made by the well-known Teluk 

 .\nson, planter, Maurice Maude who recently revisited Malaya, 

 may be quoted. He is in favor of restriction and recommends 

 alternate day tapping. He is one of those that believe that the 

 cost of production could and should be reduced. In his opinion, 

 \s.6d.a. pound for rubber would be a very good business proposi- 

 tion for all first-class companies. Finally, he condemns the waste 

 of time and money in tjie manufacture of so-called fancy rubber 

 like pale crepe, smoked sheet, etc. The aim should be, not to 

 try to please the broker's eye. but to produce blocks of rubber that 

 will require less time and expense in making. 



COMPABISON OF RUBBER IN BURMA AND MALAYA 



In a report on rubber in Burma. H. C. Pinching, A. R. C. S., 

 mycologist and senior scientific officer of the Rubber Growers' As- 

 sociation in Malaya, states that the average growth of the trees, 

 age for age, in Lower Burma, is inferior to the average growth 

 of trees in Malaya or Sumatra, but superior to that of trees in 



