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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



April 1. 1921 



Activities of The Rubber Association of America 



MEETINGS 



THE Executive Committee of the Rubber Sundries Division, 

 met at the Union League Club, New York, on the 

 evening of Tuesday, March 8. A Rubber Band Committee, a 

 Membership Committee, a Merchandise Committee and a Packing 

 and Shipping Committee, were appointed to give special attention 

 to the subjects indicated by their titles. It is hoped that through 

 the medium of these committees a livelier interest on the part of 

 all members in the affairs of the divisions will be promoted. A 

 decision was also reached to institute in the Rubber Sundries Divi- 

 sion a plan for the compilation of statistics concerning the month- 

 ly inventory, production, sales, shipments, etc. ; or some other 

 method suitable to the need of the Division. Preliminary action 

 has been taken to put the plan into operation. 



The Specification Committee of the Mechanical Rubber Goods 

 Manufacturers' Division met March 12 in the Association offices 

 with a sub-committee of the Committee on Specifications and Tests 

 for Material of the American Railroad Association, when detailed 

 consideration was given to the matter of standard specifications 

 for rubber goods used by railroads. A regular meeting of the 

 Specification Committee was held on the following day, when 

 routine matters were given attention. A very lengthy docket was 

 presented which completed many of the subjects the committee has 

 been working on during the past year. 



The Executive Committee of the Mechanical Rubber Goods 

 Manufacturers' Division met March 15 and a very interesting meet- 

 ing was had. Matters of general interest to mechanical rubber 

 goods manufacturers were discussed. The schedule of meetings 

 was changed to the fourth Tuesday in each month instead of on 

 the third, as heretofore. 



The Executive Committee of the Tire Manufacturers' Division 

 met in the Association office, March 16. Cooperation with the 

 National Tire Dealers' Association, the support by tire manufac- 

 turers of "good roads" projects, and several other important mat- 

 ters were discussed. 



Meetings of the Rubber Clothing Division and the Rubber 

 Proofers' Division of the Association were held at the Copley- 

 Plaza Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts, March 30. 



A meeting of the Executive Committee of the Foreign Trade 

 Division was held in the Association offices, Tuesday, March 29. 

 ASSOCIATION PUBLISHES BULLETIN 



The first issue of The Rubber Industry, a printed bulletin which 

 will be distributed semi-monthly by the Association will be sent to 

 all members within a few days. The use of the printed bulletin 

 will eliminate to an extent the necessity for distributing multi- 

 graphed letters as has been the case heretofore, although the inten- 

 tion is to continue the use of bulletins whenever necessary. 

 QUESTIONNAIRE NO. IM 



The statistics obtained as a result of the Association's Ques- 

 tionnaire No. 104 covering the second six months of 1920, will be 

 compiled and distributed to all rubber manufacturers, members of 

 the Association, at an early date. It is felt that a perusal of the 

 figures contained therein with the figures covering the business 

 during the first six months of 1920, will afford a clear outline of 

 the change in conditions during that year. 



PROTECTION AGAINST PRICE DECLINE 



The attention of tire and footwear manufacturers is called to the 

 formal announcement by the Federal Trade Commission that it will 

 take no definite stand for or against the practice of guaranteeing to 

 the distributor or dealer protection against loss on goods unsold m 

 the event of a decline in prices. 



In view of the large number of complaints received by the 



Commission against tlic practice, and in view of the inquiry in- 

 stituted by the Commission, resulting in expressions from more 

 than 350 manufacturing and selling concerns including trade as- 

 sociations whose represented membership must be more than 

 double the number of individual statements, the results shown 

 may be taken, the Commission believes, to be representative of 

 the difference in business opinion on the subject. 



The Commission, therefore, has decided to consider each case of 

 complaint of this character upon the facts shown in the specific 

 case, applying the legal tests thereto, and its attitude will be devel- 

 oped by its disposition of the large number of complaints now 

 pending on the docket. 



SURVEY OF INDUSTRIAL WASTE 



The Federated American Engineering Societies under the presi- 

 dency of Herbert Hoover has arranged for the organization of a 

 preliminary survey of the weaknesses of the industrial productive 

 system and its efficiency with relation to maximum production. 



A committee of sixteen members, including Mr. Hoover, were 

 appointed to the Committee on Elimination of Waste in Industry, 

 and the industries selected for study are : textile, automobile, gar- 

 ment, rubber, metal trades, railroading, bituminous coal mining, 

 printing, paper, shoes and building construction. 



A member of the committee has been placed in charge of each 

 of the surveys covering the industries above mentioned. C. E. 

 Knoeppel, New York, member of the Society of Mechanical Engi- 

 neers, and the Society of Industrial Engineers, has been charged 

 with the responsibility of covering the rubber field. 



An unbiased analysis of some of the representative plants is 

 contemplated. All information secured will be treated in strict 

 confidence. The industries and plants will be designated by letters 

 and numbers so that any information secured cannot be traced to 

 individual plants. 



REPORT OF THE TAX COMMITTE^E 



The National Industrial Conference Board's Tax Committee, of 

 which The Rubber Association is a member, made its final report 

 in January to the Executive Committee of the Conference Board 

 which ordered the report printed for publicity and discussion at 

 the third tax conference held by the Board in New York, Janu- 

 ary 21 and 22 of this year. 



Two features of the Federal ta.xation system stand out with par- 

 ticular prominence as requiring immediate consideration, (1) the 

 repeal of the excess profits tax law, (2) the reduction of surtaxes 

 on individual incomes. Nothing convincing can be said in favor of 

 either. 



Many organizations and individuals are supporting a general sales 

 tax in one form or another and The Rubber Association should 

 aid in supporting a sales tax since experience has proved that it is 

 the easiest of interpretation for business, simple in administration 

 for the Government, a businesslike system since it provides revenue 

 for the Government monthly out of current business, fair to the 

 public as it can be passed on in its entirety and without inflation 

 and even if it cannot be passed on in the price to be obtained for 

 the article, in this respect it is no more harmful than the present 

 law providing for the taxation of corporate income. 



In conclusion the committee recommends: (1) the repeal of the 

 excess profits tax law ; (2) the reduction of surtaxes on individual 

 incomes; (3) the elimination of all unnecessary expense in the 

 operation of the Government; (4) the adoption of a more adequate 

 tariff measure : (5) the retention of the income tax on corporate in. 

 come at a rate not to exceed 10 per cent ; and (6) the adoption of a 

 general form of sales tax, at least with reference to all manu- 

 factured goods finished in a state for final use or consumption. 



