February 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



207 



may well be considered epochal in that it marks a definite 

 practical resolve on the part of the West Indies to con- 

 tribute their share in the development of riibbeS'''B!? a ; 

 properties. 



Pabliihed •> th» 1st »t taoh Konth kr 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING GO. 



No. 15 West 38th Street, New York. 

 CABLE ADDRESS: JRWORLD. NEW YORK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, Editor 



Vol. 45. 



FEBRUARY 1, 1912. 



No. 5 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS ON LAST PAGE OF READING. 



RUBBER AND THE WEST INDIAN CONFERENCE. 



'~r'lI.\T rubber planting should prove itself in the 

 •*• Middle East through a tree that was essentially 

 South .\inerican, has always been somewhat anomalous, 

 The logical j)lace for its beginnings, and indeed its first 

 successes, should have been in the great and fertile coun- 

 tries "next door" to Brazil, where climate, labor, and law 

 are just as favorable as in the British possessions. For 

 a variety of reasons the Guianas and the fertile tropical 

 islands of the Caribbean did not grasp their opportunity, 

 and it passed — for a time. The West India Conference, 

 however, would seem to show on the part of govern- 

 ments and planters a belief that there was still an ex- 

 cellent chance for rubber planting, and that the lost 

 ground might be regained. There was a notable gather- 

 ■^ ing of agricultural experts, governmental officials and 

 y. planters at the week's session tliat has just been closed 

 I in Trinidad. A wealth of information on climates, soils, 

 ■•^ cultural methods and experiments was brought out in 

 ^ essays, addresses and discussions. Indeed, the conference 



NEW yr 



TWO ADDRESSES BEFORE THE RUBBER CLUB. 



T N another part of this issue we devote several pages 

 to a full report of two addresses delivered at the 

 Rubber Club dinner, recently held in New York ; one 

 b\- the president of the club, concerning a number of 

 matters of interest to rubber men, and the other by Con- 

 gressman Weeks, on the monetary problems of the 

 I'nited States — a subject of importance to all classes of 

 business men. 



President Hood spoke of the desirability of increasing 

 the club's usefulness, and as a step in that direction, of 

 extending its membership among the important factors 

 ,of the industry all over the country, so that it might 

 become more adequately representative of the whole 

 American rubber trade, and not wear, as at present, so 

 distinctively an Eastern complexion. The special lines 

 of usefulness indicated by the speaker were an organized 

 eft'ort to efi^ect the standardization of the great varieties 

 of crude rubber now offered the manufacturer, and con- 

 certed action looking to the proper adjustment of tariff 

 regulations relating to rubber. Both of these problems 

 are of commanding importance to the trade, and it 

 would certainly seem that the Rubber Club of .America 

 ought to be an efficient agency for their solution. The 

 statement that the executive committee of the clulj, at 

 its December meeting, had authorized the president to 

 appoint a committee to submit at the next annual meeting 

 in April such revision of the constitution and by-laws 

 as will permit the club to engage in these undertakings, 

 is important as showing that the first step, at least, has 

 been taken in the serious consideration of these matters. 



The address of Congressman Weeks, a member of the 

 .Monetary Commission of Congress, on the monetary 

 situation in the United States, brings into prominence 

 again the unhappy limitations of our present system, and 

 the urgent necessity, if American commercial life is to 

 enjoy continued health and immunity from panics and 

 other disorders, for a reform of some sort in our cur- 

 rency and banking conditions. Panics may be the time 

 of golden opportunity to speculators who are in a posi- 

 tion to avail themselves of the misfortunes of others, but 

 for the business world at large they are disastrous and 

 greatly to be deprecated. 



Whether the bill reported by the Monetary Commis- 



