October i, 1903.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



19 



HOW "THE PARA RUBBER PLANTATION CO." WORKS. 



.. . w •> »"' 1m.u1 olirvtio* 



THE second semi-annual dividend of 6 per cent, of the 

 Para Rubber Plantation Co., earned on its rubber 

 trading operations in Venezuela, was due on Sep- 

 tember 20, according to an announcement made by 

 the company on August 11. An unusual feature of the 

 announcement was that the promised dividend was to apply 

 to any treasury stock that might still be sold, prior to Sep- 

 tember 16, as well as to the shares already disposed of. A 

 company that can earn dividends on unsold shares of stock 

 lying in its treasury must be admitted to have achieved success 

 in financial management in an exceptional degree. In a num- 

 ber of newspapers, early in the past month, an advertisement 



appeared simi- 

 lar to that re- 

 produced \nfac 

 simile in the 

 margin, the one 

 here shown ap- 

 pearing in the 

 New York Sun 

 of September 6. 

 An inquirer in- 

 to the merits of 

 the investment 

 who, a little 

 later than that 

 date, being at- 

 tracted by the 

 advertisement, 

 called at the 

 office of the 

 Para Rubber 

 Plantation Co., 

 was d i r ected 

 into the adjoin- 

 ing office— that of the Standard Securities Co.— where he met 

 a gentleman answering to the name of Jack Merrill, whose 

 office is understood to be that of secretary of the Standard 

 Securities Co. Mr. Merrill commended the rubber proposition 

 very highly, and talked frankly and freely in regard to the man- 

 agement of the Para Rubber Plantation Co., giving out some 

 details not hitherto published, and which may be of interest to 

 some of our readers. 



NARRATIVE OF MR. JACK MERRILL. 



"It is just this way," explained Mr. Merrill; "the Standard 

 Securities Co., which I represent, is purely a selling concern, 

 and has no interest in the Para Rubber Plantation Co. further 

 than in disposing of its stock. The Rubber company was or- 

 ganized last year with $5,000,000 capital, divided into $10 

 shares. Of this stock $1,000,000 was held in reserve and will 

 not be issued. The incorporators, including Mr. John Cudahy 

 of Chicago and several other well known men, took $1,250,000 

 of the stock, leaving $2,750,000 as treasury stock to be placed 

 with the public. The company placed a portion of this stock, 

 and last spring the Standard Securities Co. took an option on 

 all the remaining treasury stock of the Rubber company. We 

 did not buy the stock, and we do not own a share of it now, 

 but we took an option on placing it. We have sold a consider- 

 able amount and will continue to sell until September 16, when 

 we surrender our option and go out of the business." 



NOTICE. 



On account of negotiations consum- 

 mated in Europe for the sale of the en- 

 tire balance of the Treasury stock of 

 the Para Rubber Plantation Company, 

 it has been decided to withdraw the 

 stock from the market on September 

 18th, 1903, at 5 P M. 



Intending purchasers should at ones 

 indicate size of block desired, as prefer- 

 ence will be given to subscriptions in 

 the order of their receipt. Price of 

 shares $10.00 each, par value. 



PARA RUBBER PLANTATION CO, 



62 Broadway, N, Y. Ciiy. 



" What happens then ? " 



" Mr. F. M. Crawford, of the Para Rubber Plantation Co., 

 who has just returned from Europe, has made a deal with cer- 

 tain rubber men of Antwerp and Paris, who agree to take all 

 the stock that may be left in the treasury on that date. They 

 agree to develop and gather the rubber on our holdings on 

 the Casiquiare river, and to pay a royalty on the rubber gath- 

 ered. A representative of the European syndicate has sailed 

 from Antwerp, to conclude the transaction, and is due in New 

 York next Friday [September 1 1]. After September 16, there 

 will be no stock for sale to the American public." 



" Will you tell me something of the history and holdings of 

 the Para Rubber Plantation Co."? 



" After Dr. Lucien Morisse made his report to the French 

 government* on the vast possibilities and enormous profits in 

 the rubber gathering industry, a number of capitalists in this 

 country were interested and this syndicate was formed. The 

 Para company was organized and at once set about securing 

 the valuable territory on which Dr. Morisse reported. The re- 

 sult was that the company purchased all the land bordering on 

 the Casiquiare, between the Negro and the Orinoco rivers — a 

 distance of 175 miles. A strip three miles wide on one side of 

 the river and five miles on the other was purchased — in round 

 numbers 1,000,000 acres. On this property various reports were 

 made as to the number of bearing rubber trees, some estimat- 

 ing as many as 20 to the acre. We feel that we are very con- 

 servative when we estimate that the property will average 6 

 trees to the acre, or 6,000,000 trees all told. The idea is to es- 

 tablish trading stations or posts all along the river, and to send 

 the natives out from these points to gather rubber. In fact, a 

 portion of this work was already accomplished when we took 

 hold. An Italian syndicate, the head of which has since died 

 in New York, had been gathering rubber in this territory and 

 had a number of posts in operation. The first thing the Para 

 Rubber Plantation Co. did was to buy this entire outfit, thus 

 providing itself with a number of well equipped stations. The 

 company is now gathering rubber there and as rapidly as posts 

 can be developed and forces organized the output will be in- 

 creased. The gathering is done by the native Indians and 

 half breeds, somewhat on the grub stake principle of the min- 

 ers, the company providing the sustenance for the workers 

 when they go into the woods and taking their rubber in pay- 

 ment when they come out." 



" How much rubber has been actually gathered so far ? " 



" The company's output this year has been 300,000 pounds. 

 That rubber is all ready to come out now — in fact, should have 

 gone down the river before this time. This we feel is but a 

 drop in the bucket, for a full grown rubber tree should yield 5 

 pounds per year, and, as I told you, we have at least 6,000,000 

 trees on our original purchase, and as we have just purchased 

 1,250,000 acres more on the Orinoco, adjoining the property on 

 the Casiquiare, we will more than double our holdings. This 

 new purchase is as rich in rubber forests as our present prop- 

 erty, and will yield untold wealth when developed." 



" What about the stock as an investment ? " 



" It seems to me, and I am in the stock selling business, not 

 in the rubber business, that nothing offers more promise. The 



* An official copy of Dr. Morisse's report, in The India Rubber World office, 

 was printed in Paris in 1891. It relates to observations made by him in 1S88-S9. 

 The Para company was not incorporated until August, 1902. — The Editor. 



