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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 1, 1912. 



five months ahead, and the drought cannot be prolonged much 

 longer. It should be possible to get together an exhibit, and con- 

 sidering the value the New York market is likely to be to us it 

 seems a thousand pities to despair so soon. "The Daily 

 Chronicle" roundly denounces the act editorially, and says under 

 the caption : "A Colossal Blunder !" "The decision of the Perma- 

 nent Exhibition Committee to rescind its resolution, passed some 

 months back, to send exhibits to the Rubber Exhibition to be 

 held in New York towards the end of the year, will create pro- 

 found disappointment, and we hope that it will arouse the in- 

 dignation that is required. It is said that owing to the severe 

 drought it will not be possible to get together a collection of 

 exhibits that would be creditable to the colony. The drought 

 has brought to light many evidences of the supineness of the 

 powers-that-be, but this surely sets the seal upon an amazing 

 series of blunders. We are not at all impressed by the excuse 

 thus ingeniously made. 



"When we are informed, for instance, that rubber at Bartica has 

 scarcely been affected by the drought, and when we recollect 

 that the Exhibition does not open until September 23, and that 

 long before that time it should be quite possible to procure the 

 most excellent samples of rubber and balata, we shall not awaken 

 surprise by manifesting a robust scepticism. It seems that the 

 evil genius which sent the Agricultural Conference to Trinidad 

 is again in the ascendant. We do not ask the reason, for we are 

 aware we shall not recei%e enlightenment; we are content in 

 condemning in unmeasured terms an act which is in keeping with 

 the 'lazybones' policy that is retarding the colony's progress. The 

 money spent on the London Exhibition was for the most part 

 well spent on account of the education in this class of work which 

 it supplied Mr. Stockdale. That is to be thrown away, in spite 

 of the fact that Mr. Stockdale made a point in his report upon 

 the Exhibition of the number of enquiries coming from America. 

 Participation in the New York Exhibition would be about the 

 most useful thing we could do just now; that is why we are not 

 going to do it, we suppose." 



BALATA IN BOLIVAR— INTERESTING PARTICULARS. 



A Mr. Grossman, a German, who went to Bolivar, "Venezuela, 

 twenty-seven years ago and settled down there, has come to 

 Georgetown to spend a short holiday. Interviewed by the "Daily 

 Argosy" concerning the balata and rubber industries there, he 

 said that the drought has affected them quite as badly as here. 

 "The balata industry," he said, "is carried on in Bolivar much 

 the same way as in British Guiana. The men get advances before 

 they leave for the concessions. The advances are liberal, as the 

 men have to travel for considerable distances, and require money 

 for the support of their dependents until they are collecting 

 balata, when the dependents can go to the offices of employers 

 and cash orders. It is mostly block balata that is obtained. It 

 does not fetch such a good price as the sheet balata obtained in 

 British Guiana and Surinam, but it is got in large quantities and 

 the profits are satisfactory enough in a good season. 



"The law prohibits laborers from cutting down bullet-trees so 

 that the industry may be preserved for as long a time as possible. 

 The men are so far away, however, that it is impossible to con- 

 trol their actions. Should it be ascertained, however, that trees 

 have been cut down, then the employer of the men responsible, 

 besides suffering otlfer penalties, is compelled to plant five trees 

 for every one destroyed. Cases of absconding do occur. They 

 are not very frequent, however. The men, for the most part, 

 realize that it is in their own interest to get to the grants and 

 collect as much balata as possible. Besides, the government deals 

 very severely with absconders. The rubber industry is much 

 older than the balata industry. It was in full swing when I went 

 to Bolivar, whereas it was not till 1888 or so that any attempt 

 was made to get balata. The latter industry is good for many 

 a year yet, as there are big tracks of bullet-trees that have not 

 been touched." 



THE BALATA COMMITTEE KEStJMES ITS WORK. 



A meeting of the Balata Committee is to be held today, when 

 the evidence of the Commissioner of Lands and Mines will be 

 taken. The meeting is to be in private. The committee was 

 appointed, it will be recollected, to devise means by which the 

 labor difficulty might be dealt with and it was to report promptly. 

 Unfortunately the president, Mr. J. J. Nunan, solicitor general, 

 who is also president of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial 

 Society, was sent as one of the latter body's delegates to the 

 Agricultural Conference in Trinidad, and subsequently he was 

 called to England on important business and obtained leave of 

 absence. Now that he has returned the committee is resuming 

 its business, and doubtless its report will be presented at the 

 earliest possible moment consonant with the careful consideration 

 of a diflncult and delicate problem. 



WEST INDIAN RECIPHOCITY IN CANADA— EFFECT UPON RUBBER 

 AND BALATA. 



We are informed that the visit of a number of delegates from 

 the West Indies to the Dominion of Canada to discuss with the 

 government the possibility of entering into a reciprocal trading 

 arrangement has had a successful termination ; but it has not 

 been stated what articles have been selected for preferential treat- 

 ment. The agreement is said to be based, however, on the report 

 of the Royal Committee, which was appointed to inquire into 

 the matter. That commissioner recotnmended that both balata 

 and raw rubber should enjoy the benefits of preferential treat- 

 ment when admitted to the Canadian market. At present both 

 articles are on the Canadian free list; so it is difficult to guess 

 whether they are affected. In 1909-10 we sent 4,533 pounds of 

 balata to Canada, valued at $1,450. That is all we have sent for 

 the last five years; we sent none last year. Canada has never 

 taken any of our rubber. The treaty, which is mainly to assist 

 the sugar interests, will probably not affect either rubber or 

 balata. 



THE DROUGHT IN DUTCH GUIANA. 



A graphic illustration of the rainfall conditions in Dutch 

 Guiana, is afforded by a comparison of the reports on the subject 

 in three successive issues of the "Weekly Echo" of Paramaribo, 

 the bright and newsy organ of the English-speaking community 

 in Dutch Guiana. 



April 27. — "It is now three solid weeks since the last 

 shower of rain fell, and the weather is just as dry now as if 

 it had never rained, . . . Official records of balata received 

 in this city from January 1 to .'\pril 27 show no more than 

 134 tons." 



May 4. — "The rainy season has set in, for during the week 

 we have had prolonged showers. ... It is reported from the 

 interior that rains are falling regularly and that the rivers 

 are rising." 



May 11. — "We are now right into the rainy season and 

 during the week heavy downpours of rain fell all over the 

 colony." 

 As the season will have commenced late, the opinion is ex- 

 pressed that bleeding need not end in August, as is usually the 

 case. 



BURMA AT THE NEW YORK EXPOSITION. 



The Lower Burma Rubber Planters Association has decided to 

 have an exhibit at the Rubber Exposition to be held in New York 

 next September. The expenses have been provided for- — partly 

 by the local government, and partly by private contributions. 

 The suggestion has been made — and it certainly is to be hoped 

 that it will be carried out — that the exhibition should be typically 

 Burmese with teakwood posts and canopy, and a Pagoda hung 

 with rubber. This would be an interesting and picturesque 

 feature. 



