8 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October 1, 1911. 



5. Concession of the privileges necessary and sufficient for 

 the establishment of refining plants, which will reduce each 

 species of rubber to a uniform type for export. 



6. Concession of the privileges and advantages necessary for 

 plants manufacturing rubber goods, seeking to establish tlicm- 

 selves in the country ; particularly at Manaos, Para, Pernambuco, 

 Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. 



7. Organization of a permanent service for aiding workers, 

 whether native or foreign, who come of their ow-n initiative, or 

 with tlieir traveling expenses paid by the Federal Government or 

 by the Brazilian states, to the valley of the Amazon ; including 

 The construction of three hospitals of sufficient capacity at Para, 

 Manaos and a convenient point in the federal territory of .Acre. 

 The organization and objects should be identical with those 

 ofthe Ilhas das Florcs, or some hospitals of the interior; the 

 hospitals to be surrounded by small agricultural colonies, where 

 patients can be received for gratuitous treatment and vaccina- 

 tion, with facilities for selling medicines of the highest quality, 

 especially sulphate of quinine, also for the extensive distribution 

 of printed matter containing recommendations as to hygienic 

 measures for the prevention of diseases, as well as rules and 

 methods for curative treatment in the absence of a doctor. 



8. With special reference to Hci-ca rubber, the following 

 measures should be carried out with the greatest urgency, in- 

 tended to facilitate and cheapen transportation within the valley 

 of the -Amazon and also to provide such transportation between 

 that point and the states of the North-East and South, as may 

 allow of supplying the markets of distribution with an abund- 

 ance of healthful alimentation. 



In connection with the first object: 



(a.) Construction of a railroad starting from a convenient 

 point on the Madeira and Mamore line, near the mouth of the 

 River Abuman by Villa Rio Branco and a point between Senna 

 Madureira and Catay, and terminating at Villa Thaumaturgo. 

 with a branch to the Peruvian frontier in the valley of the River 

 Purus. As the construction of this railroad will be a measure of 

 considerable importance for the supply under favorable condi- 

 tions of all descriptions of imports to the federal territory of 

 Acre, Porto Velho, on the River Madeira, should be open to the 

 commerce of all nations. 



(b.)' Construction of a railroad uniting the valley of Ama- 

 zohas with the northeastern and southern states of Brazil. 



(c.) Improvement in the navigable conditions of the River 

 Negro, as far as Cucuhy ; of the Branco, as far as Boa Vista ; 

 the Purus, as far as Senna Madureira ; and the Acre, as far as 

 Rie Zinho. 



(d.) Exemption from import dues of steamers intended to 

 navigate the rivers, and the revision (with the object of reduc- 

 ing and simplifying the present burdens) of the Coasting and 

 River Navigation Laws. 



(c.) Concession of indirect favors, including exemption from 

 import duties, of an enterprise proposing to establish depots of 

 coal at convenient points to be chosen, intended to supply 

 steamers at the lowest possible prices. 



In connection with the second object: 



(a.) To lease two of the national farms of Rio Branco, to a 

 suitable enterprise, engaging to carry out on a large scale the 

 breeding of cattle, and to cultivate cereals (maize, beans, rice, 

 manioc, etc.) ; also to establish a packing house, to make dairy 

 products, w-ith machinery for the treatment of rice and other 

 cereals and for the manufacture of manioc flour. 



(b.) Direct colonization, in conjunction with the adminis- 

 tration, of the farm of Sao Marcos to the north of the River 

 Uraricoera, with families of agriculturists and cattle breeders ; 

 having in view the development of production of the above- 

 named alimentarj' articles on the farnies leased by the Govern- 

 ment, and also particularly the breeding of cattle, horses and 

 mules. 



(c.) Concession of privileges to three companies, which may 



wish to establish large farms on the above conditions in the 

 territory of Acre, between Rio Branco and Xapury ; in the state 

 of Amazonas, in the zone of the river Autaz ; and in the state 

 of Para at a point convenient to the Lower Amazon. 



(d.) Concession of privileges for the establishment of a com- 

 pany for the purpose of fishing, properly equipped to salt and 

 can fish. 



9. With special reference to the federal territory of Acre, the 

 immediate definition and consequent recognition of lands now 

 held and the granting of the definite titles. 



10. The holding of triennial expositions at Rio de Janeiro, as 

 well as the awarding of prizes for the best product and processes. 



A GERMAN VIEW OF BRAZILIAN RtTBBER. 



l.v dealing with the questions now affecting Brazilian rubber, 

 the Rio de Janeiro correspondent of the "Hamburger Nachrich- 

 ten," calls attention to the fact, that out of the $315,000,000 repre- 

 sented by the aggregate exports of Brazil in 1910, about 

 $132,500,000 consisted of coffee and $122,500,000 of rubber. The 

 rubber question is thus a vital one for that country. 



The worst point now affecting Brazilian rubber, it is remarked, 

 is not the present low price (for which North American specu- 

 lators are held responsible"), but the constantly increasing compe- 

 tition of the rubber plantations of India, Ceylon, the large Sunda 

 islands, the German colonies in Africa, etc. Brazil would, it is 

 added, be quite able to withstand this competition, if the cost of 

 production were diminished and if, above all, the three principal 

 factors, which increase the cost of Brazilian rubber, were wholly 

 or partially eliminated. These are; 



1. The export duty of 22 per cent., on the value, which is 

 levied in Para and Amazonas, as well as in the Federal Territory 

 of Acre. 



2. The excessively high price of the necessaries of life in the 

 rubber territory, where nothing is grown. 



3. The high cost of transportation as a result of the Coasting 

 Law. 



With reference to the last-named point, it is remarked that 

 the Amazon, with its tributary streams, has about 30,(KX) miles 

 of good navigation. It might be expected that under such favor- 

 able circumstances, transportation would be cheap; in fact 

 cheaper than in any part of the world. The Brazilian law, how- 

 ever, requires for a steamer of 3(X)-500 tons, the same number 

 of officers and as large a crew as for an ocean steamer of 1,(XX) 

 tons. Steamers and other craft which ply between Manaos and 

 the Madeira-Mamore territory have thus to carry excessive crews. 



According to the statement of an American engineer, the 

 freight rate from Para, to Sao Antonio in the territory named, 

 amounts to the equivalent of $25 a ton, while the rate from 

 Antwerp to the same port only equals $7.50 a ton. In conclusion 

 it is pertinently remarked : 



"Under these circumstances, it is clear that neither the rubber 

 business, nor any form of industry can prosper. A primary con- 

 dition of prosperity is a change in the Navigation law, which is 

 the real cause of the unsatisfactory state of transportation, not 

 only in the Amazon territory, but throughout the Brazilian 

 coast in general." 



The "vindic.mos" of Youngstown, Ohio, is the authority 

 for the statement that the Republic tires sold by the E. A. Wick 

 Rubber Company of that city have been used on the police 

 patrol wagon for the last three months without a puncture 

 and with the same air originally put in. Now this is either an 

 excellent commentary on the quality of these tires, or viewed 

 in another way it may simply be a proof of the propriety with 

 which the people of Youngstown conduct themselves. Possibly 

 the patrol wagon has not been in use during the past three 

 months. However, it is only just to give the tires the benefit 

 of the doubt and to assume that the patrol wagon has been con- 

 stantly on the go. 



