184 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March i, 1904. 



ble sections of the Madeira now separated by the series of 

 falls. 



It is an important fact that the Congo railway has proved 

 a profitable enterprise. Before it had been half completed 

 — while goods had still to be carried by porters over half 

 the route — the transportation of merchandise began to 

 yield returns in excess of running expenses, and during 

 the six years of operation of the whole line there has been 

 a fair dividend on the shares, after meeting the charges 

 on the funded debt. It may be urged that the Congo 

 railway is not altogether a commercial enterprise, on ac- 

 count of the use made of it by the state in developing its 

 various undertakings. At the same time, the state has 

 charged itself with transportation costs, so that the balance 

 sheet of the railway company shows larger receipts than 

 expenses. The company's report for the sixth year — to 

 June 30, 1903 — now before us, shows capital outstanding 

 to the amount of 29,847,500 francs [=$5,760,568] and 

 about 50,000,000 francs in bonds. The operating expenses 

 amounted to 35^ per cent, of the gross earnings. The net 

 profits applicable to dividends, after meeting interest 

 charges and reducing the bonded principal were 2,508,365 

 francs [=$484,1 14.42J. On its face, at least, this is a good 

 showing. 



The Congo railway has a monopoly of traffic in its 

 region, and will always have ; so would a railway around 

 the Madeira falls. An important part of its traffic is for 

 the account of the state ; the same would be true of the 

 Madeira line if it should be taken advantage of by Bolivia 

 as a means to the development of that country. It has 

 been urged, in relation to the Congo road, that the 

 rates charged over it, and made possible by peculiar con- 

 ditions, were too high for a legitimate commercial under- 

 taking. By analysing its income account for 1902-03, we 

 arrive at the following average charges for freight per 

 metric ton : 



On the ascending trains $88.93 



On the decending trains 78.17 



Regarding the steamboat charges above the railway, we 

 have no data. Ocean freights from the lower terminus of 

 the railway probably are not excessive, compared with 

 charges from other African ports. Now let us look at the 

 cost of transportation between Para and the Beni river 

 country, by the Madeira route, over the cataracts, as sup- 

 plied to The India Rubber World by a commercial 

 house a year or so ago, per metric ton : 



From Para to the Beni $791.30 to $1158.00 



From the Beni to Para 289 50 to 328. 10 



The time required for the ascending trip was mentioned 

 as about 230 days ; for the descent, about 70 days. Mer- 

 chandise can be transported from Europe to points well in 

 the Congo interior within a month, and the return trip 

 made in equal time. 



The fact that some commerce exists over the Madeira 

 route, in spite of the existing obstacles, points to a develop- 

 ment of trade only awaiting better facilities. If that com 

 merce can bear the present high charges, there is reason to 

 assume that considerable expansion would follow a reduc- 

 tion of rates. The need is real — if we consider only the 



rubber business — for the now promised Madeira railway, 

 and it is to be hoped, from the recent indications of a more 

 practical statesmanship developing in the two nations 

 most nearly interested, that the project will not end in 

 talk. 



A reciprocity treaty between the United States and Bra- 

 zil has gone into effect, which is mentioned here because 

 among the products of this country to which Brazil gives a 

 preferential rate of 20 per cent, below the regular tariff on im- 

 ports are manufactures of India-rubber. While every opening 

 for increased trade relations between the two republics should 

 be welcomed, The India Rubber World sees in the present 

 case no reason for departing from its position that diplomatic 

 agreements alone do not sell goods. We of the United States 

 buy Brazilian rubber and coffee because they are necessities, 

 and Brazil is the best source of supply, but this fact imposes 

 upon the latter country no obligation to buy manufactured 

 wares from New York if some other market appears preferable. 

 The demand for rubber goods in Brazil is not yet large, but if 

 it were, the fact that we produce rubber goods of a quality and 

 at prices not excelled elsewhere would not give us an even 

 chance with competitors working more actively to market 

 their products. Last year the United States sold to Brazil 

 only $22,037 worth of rubber goods. During five years past 

 the annual average has been only $16,426. Great Britain prob- 

 ably sells in that market six times as much, and Germany even 

 more, both countries showing an annual gain, and it is hardly 

 probable that a tariff concession of 20 per cent, will change the 

 relative position of American rubber goods, other conditions 

 remaining the same. 



There is not space enough in The India Rubber 

 World for half the news that comes from Colorado regarding 

 the preparations for extracting rubber from certain wild plants 

 in that state, and as any abridgement of the news might fail to 

 do justice to the subject, we must postpone any comprehensive 

 treatment of it until arrangements can be made for the enlarge- 

 ment of our paper. We may take the liberty to note, however, 

 that this enterprise is being prosecuted with entire disregard 

 of the rubber manufacturers, whose opinion of the product 

 does not seem to be of interest to the Colorado promoters, 

 which suggests the thought that, having a new material, they 

 may be planning to utilize it in establishing an entirely new in- 

 dustry. Perhaps at last has been found the business which is 

 to knock out the " rubber trust." From the esteemed Denver 

 Post of February 16 we learn that there are two original rubber 

 concerns in Colorado, each with the best method for preparing 

 the new rubber, and that these are in " open warfare," which 

 certainly is better than trying to strangle each other in the 

 dark. One company, it seems, has been incorporated with 

 $t, 000,000 capital, while the other, not incorporated, has not 

 revealed its measure of financial strength. We can only hope 

 that the best rubber may win. 



The progress in rubber planting in the Far East has 

 become so important in its extent, in results already attained, 

 and in prospective returns, as to merit much fuller treatment 

 than it has yet received. For this reason the Editor of The 

 India Rubber World has made a personal tour of the plant- 

 ing districts, with a view to making an exhaustive report on 

 the same, in the hope that it will prove of interest and value to 

 rubber planters generally. The report will begin to appear in 

 our next issue. 



