156 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January 1, 1912- 



of tires, night shifts have been the rule in all factories of 

 repute and standing. 'I'ire exports for tlic first time have 

 exceeded tlie two niilHon dollar mark, and have ecjualled 

 the total value of all automobile exports six years ago, in- 

 cluding tires and all accessories. The dread fear so often 

 expressed that the country was full of ]h-<ii)1c who had 

 mortgaged their last possession to own a car. and that 

 they were boinid to be swept into ins<)lvency in shoals, 

 their touring oultit he put under the sheriff's hammer, and 

 the whole automobile industry be badly frost-bitten, has 

 not materialized; fur the cry for cars and tires is louder 

 than ever. 



Footwear has not been as brisk as its makers would 

 have liked, nor have mechanical goods experienced any 

 noteworthv boom, but taking the year all in all its rubber 

 products will amount in the L'nited States to two hundred 

 million dollars, which is five times the value of our rubber 

 products twenty years ago. 



Going abroad, the great rubber event of the year was 

 the Second International Rubber Exhibition, held in Eon- 

 don in June and July — an un(|nalified, one might say, a 

 gigantic success, and a great influence for rubber progress 

 all over the world — albeit no one was found who, in the 

 opinion of the committee, merited the silver trophy offered 

 bv The India Rubf.kk World for the best system of ex- 

 tracting late.x from the Castilloa elastica. However, the 

 cup is still there intact and untarnished and somebody will 

 yet devise a method of CiutUloa extraction that will meet 

 with the approval of the judges. 



The old search for synthetic rubber has met with sub- 

 stantial reward — scientifically, if not monetarily. .\t any 

 rate enough progress has been made to encourage still 

 further effort. 



In regard to general business conditions in the United 

 States, tliev are distinctly Isrigbter now than they were 

 three months ago. Then, owing to the inglorious rejec- 

 tion by Canada of the reci])rocity treaty, the zealous pur- 

 suit of "bad trusts" and ajjparently of some good trusts, 

 too, bv the government, the leaders in large connnercial 

 enterprises were greatly perplexed as to what course to 

 pursue. To be sure the tariff still hangs like a cloud in 

 the business sky, but there is no longer a fear that the 

 administration will harass an enterprise simplv l)ecausc 

 of its size, and there is without question a more general 

 inclination to look on the bright side than there was a 

 short while ago. That there will be any pronounced busi- 

 ness boom with a new presidential adjustment only a few 

 months away is, of course, most improbable, but a domi- 

 nant note of "Cheer up! the worst is over!" pervades 

 the air. 



PLAUSIBLE PESSIMISM. 



' I 'HERE are many rubber prophets in these days of 

 ■*■ plantation statistics, and their utterances are of a 

 certain value. Figures naay not lie when they relate to 

 things of the past, but when they deal with futures they 

 may deceive disastrously, in rubber manufacture, rub- 

 ber markets and rubber production, the unexpected has 

 been happening so constantly for years past that it should 

 give the most self-assured predictors an occasional qualm 

 of doubt. \\"e know, to be sure, how wonderfully planted 

 rubber in the Middle East has "made good." We can es- 

 timate increases in production as the plantations have 

 matured, and so far are on solid ground. But suppose 

 that the system of tapping followed so far suddenly proves 

 a detriment to the tree, and it demands a rest? Wild 

 Hez'cas that have not been bled half so thoroughly, that 

 have enjoyed months of rest, where the cultivated proto- 

 type gets only days, lessen their flow and go almost dry — 

 not often, but sometimes. May this not happen on a large 

 scale where the trees are forced to yield their very last 

 drop? Or may not jealous nature suddenly outwit the 

 vigilant scientists wdio are ever on the watch for leaf, root 

 and bark disease and send some virulent scourge that 

 shall wipe out Hcvea in its new home? This is not to 

 alarm the rubber investor; it is not to bull the rubber 

 market ; it is not even to cheer the Brazilian — it is simply 

 to point to the utter fallacy of quoting figures of produc- 

 tion three, four and five years ahead. In rubber as in no 

 other commodity the unexpected always happens. So, if 

 we expect plantation disaster, and a sudden blow to plant- 

 ing — it may not happen. 



THE DUTY ON RUBBER WASTE. 



A N interesting decision was recently rendered by^ 

 ■*» the board of the l'nited States General Ap- 

 praisers in the case of a Phila(lcl|)hia importer of waste 

 rubber, who claimed free entry for a certain importa- 

 tion under paragraph 591 of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff 

 Act, which enters rubber waste free where it has been 

 "worn out by use." The chief witness for the im- 

 jjorter described a certain part of the merchandise as 

 consisting of rubber shavings produced in the manu- 

 facture of certain hard rubber articles. The board 

 decided that the importation was dutiable at 10 per 

 cent, ad valorem, under j^aragraph 479. "We are of 

 the opinion," said the board, "that the testimonv fails 

 to show- satisfactorily that the waste rubber in ques- 



