518 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 1912. 



publisher to produce the work; but some of the dailies 

 printed it in part. The English government then sent 

 one of its most trusted men, Sir Roger Casement, the 

 British Consul General at Rio dc Janeiro, to investigate 

 the situation. He spent the summer and fall of 1910 in 

 the district, and his report was made to the government 

 fn March, 1911. This report, substantiating every state- 

 ment made by the two Americans, forms a record of the 

 most brutal crimes practised upon the defenceless In- 

 dians, and extending over many years. The English di- 

 rectors pleaded total ignorance of the condition in their 

 concession ; but the English government, which had been 

 so prominent in the international protest against the 

 crimes of the Congo, naturally felt itself called upon to 

 take immediate steps to suppress these equal horrors in 

 South America, which had taken place in a concession 

 held and operated by British citizens. But because of 

 the peculiar relations maintained by the United States 

 government towards all South American countries, by 

 reason of the Monroe Doctrine, the British government 

 first entered into correspondence with our State Depart- 

 ment. This correspondence has been going on for a 

 year. Our State Department, with a delicate regard for 

 the feelings of the Peruvian government, which hardly 

 seems to have been warranted under the circumstances, 

 is alleged to have requested the British government not 

 to pubUsh Sir Roger's report until the Peruvian 

 government had had time to take some measures 

 towards stopping these crimes against humanity, and 

 bringing their perpetrators to account. The recent pub- 

 lication of Sir Roger Casement's report was occasioned 

 by the demand of the British Parliament. 



It is most fortunate that this demand was made and 

 that the facts have been given to the world, as nothing 

 but this wide publicity will be effective in the immediate 

 correction of these revolting conditions. The government 

 of Peru has known for some years of the practice 

 of these atrocities, but nothing has been done beyond the 

 sending of one or two commissioners to investigate and 

 report. The effectual ending of these horrors, which 

 have been continued for so many years, will undoubtedly 

 devolve upon the American government, with the co-op- 

 eration of England, and with the approval of all civilized 

 powers. 



These exposures emphasize with tremendous force the 

 desirability of the development and extension of the 

 rubber plantation. On the rubber plantation, or at least 

 on most of them, human rights are as secure as they are 

 in the capitals of the civilized world. It has been a say- 



mg for many years that every ton of rubber that came 

 from the Amazon valley cost a human life. During the 

 last twelve years 12,000 tons of rubber have been shipped 

 to London from the Putumayo district. It is estimated 

 that during that time 30,000 of the Putumayo Indians 

 have been tortured to death — nearly three human 

 lives for every ton of rubber. The term "red rubber," 

 which has been applied to this particular product, is 

 certainly no misnomer. 



A QUESTION ALL COMBINATIONS HAVE TO 

 SOLVE. 



THE announcement that the United States Tire Co. in- 

 tends, early this fall, to drop the names of its vari- 

 ous brands and to mark all its tires with its own name — 

 and that alone — brings to the front again a very interest- 

 ing question, which has presented itself to all industrial 

 corporations formed by the union of a number of smaller 

 companies. The tendency of the industrial world dur- 

 ing the last 20 years has been toward the merging of 

 competing companies into one large corporation ; and the 

 question has constantly arisen in these "combinations" 

 whether to retain the established brands of the individual 

 companies or to eliminate them and mark all the goods 

 of the different plants with the name of the one controll- 

 ing company. 



A very considerable part of the value of the individual 

 companies, brought into these gigantic mergers, lies in 

 the good-will which the smaller companies enjoy, the re- 

 sult of good business methods, coupled often with effect- 

 ive advertising, extending over a great number of years. 

 The value of this good-will is recognized by the hand- 

 some allowance made for it when the mergers are 

 effected. The visible emblem of this good-will, at least 

 to the consuming trade, is the brand or trade-mark which 

 identifies the company's product. Obviously, to discard 

 this brand and to lose the accumulated value of years of 

 honest manufacturing and judicious exploitation is to 

 suffer a serious loss. On the other hand, for the controll- 

 ing company to go on indefinitely pushing all its indi- 

 vidual brands, one against another, is to proceed in a 

 most wasteful manner. The question is — which is the 

 wiser course — to abandon the old established brands and 

 adopt a new one, or to continue with a multiplicity of 

 trade-marks and the attendant loss of merchandising 

 force ? 



Each new case must be treated by itself; but at the 

 same time there are certain general principles always in- 



