366 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, 1904. 



to be worked to the limit, and the introduction of alien 

 labor has resulted only in failure. In this connection we 

 may draw upon a recent report by a most capable ob- 

 server, Mr. Louis H. Ayme, the new United States consul 

 at Para, who has written at length upon the Amazon 

 country as a field for investment. He quotes from an 

 American citizen, long resident there, as follows : 



The first difficulty to be encountered by any American in this region 

 would be the great scarcity of labor, which is the principal drawback, 

 only the native Indians being available, and these being almost practi- 

 cally owned by the large rubber men by a system of indebtedness run- 

 ning back many years. Most of these debts are, undoubtedly, but a 

 false paper indebtedness, but they are effective to bar the only labor to 

 be had, from any new comer. And should the intending settler resolve 

 to work himself and depend on his own efforts, as is common with us in 

 the United States, he will, necessarily, have to compete with this de- 

 graded class of labor, which is of course impracticable. Practically the 

 only industry that is possible, on account of this scarcity of labor, is 

 rubber, and that would be so only if it were practicable to unite a suf- 

 ficient number of Indians under the above described indebtedness sys- 

 tem, which would require years to accomplish, not to speak of methods 

 thit an American would hardly care to put into practice. 



What matters it then, how much native rubber there may 

 be on the Amazon's tributaries, if a limited number of In- 

 dians comprise the whole possible working force, and these 

 are held in virtual bondage as the only means of inducing 

 them to gather rubber ? It is doubtful if the gathering of 

 wild rubber in any country is attractive to labor of any 

 sort, or if the laborers employed possess much independ- 

 ence of action. But it appears that none of the conditions 

 here indicated are susceptible of change in the near future, 

 and that whoever insists upon using rubber must expect to 

 pay well for it. 



THE FUTURE OF AFRICAN RUBBER. 



/"^vN another page of this paper Mons. van den Kerck- 

 ^-^ hove, of Belgium, a widely recognized authority, 

 and who has returned lately from a visit to Africa, ex- 

 presses the opinion that the rubber production of that 

 continent is declining. He goes into details regarding the 

 rubber situation in different regions, predicting an increase 

 here to offset a falling off there, but the sum total of his 

 carefully formed views is that the native rubber resources 

 of Africa are becoming exhausted. 



It is an old story that, with the rubber species found in 

 Africa, and with the methods of extraction in vogue there, 

 production is not long maintained in any one spot. But 

 the possibility existed that Mons. van den Kerckhove, 

 when asked for an opinion as to the future of the African 

 rubber supply, might consider the areas yet unworked 

 sufficient in extent to keep up the present rate of export 

 for a great while to come. It appears, however, that such 

 is not his impression ; that while the output of rubber 

 from French Africa, under the intelligent encouragement 

 of the government, may increase gradually for some years, 

 the gain will be more than counterbalanced by the decline 

 which already has begun in the Congo Free State. 



It is true that our correspondent is not wholly discour- 

 aged over the outlook ; he hopes to find in rubber plant- 

 ing on the Congo a continued support for the trading com- 



panies now operating with native rubber, and a continued 

 source of supplies of raw material for the rubber industry 

 everywhere. We are loath to discourage any hopes that 

 may be entertained regarding rubber planting, and it is 

 far from us to claim to speak with authority on the culture 

 of the vines or creepers which yield the greater part of 

 the rubber produced in Africa. But the small amount of 

 data available on this subject — small as compared with 

 the experience recorded with the Castilloa and Hevea spe- 

 cies, for instance — does not appear to us especially en- 

 couraging. Hence it is not surprising that one of the 

 largest and oldest and most successful rubber trading 

 companies in the Congo state, and the largest planter to 

 date of Landolphia vines, has begun to create a special re- 

 serve fund to be invested in planting Hevea rubber in the 

 Malay peninsula. 



What is especially worthy of note in our letter from 

 Brussels is that its author, who is particularly qualified to 

 speak, is convinced that only by cultivation can the 

 world's demand for rubber continue to be met. It is 

 natural that he should wish for the success, with regard to 

 planting, of his fellow countrymen— of investors whose in- 

 terests no doubt are linked in many ways with his own. 

 Should such success result, none will record it more glad- 

 ly than ourselves. 



THE CONSULS AND RUBBER. 



/^\UR strictures last month on a certain consular report 

 ^^^ on " Rubber Culture in Mexico " were not due to the 

 fact that the writer took an unfavorable view of the situa- 

 tion, but to his manifestation of a degree of ignorance un- 

 becoming a gentleman and a United States official. 



We have no quarrel with any one who, after an actual 

 survey of the field, turns out a pessimist in regard to rub- 

 ber culture. For one thing, if everybody were as enthusi- 

 astic about the future of rubber as some of our friends 

 have been made by their success, the business of planting 

 might be overdone. 



But a man in a position to have his views printed as an 

 official utterance of a great government, and liable there- 

 fore to have unusual weight, ought to be especially careful 

 about his facts. We feel that real harm has been done to 

 legitimate planting interests in the tropics by certain mis- 

 guided consuls who have exaggerated beyond all reason 

 the possibility of profits from rubber and other crops. 

 Thus a consul may write rubbish on one side of the question 

 as well as on the other, and the pity of it is that rubbish 

 from such a source may be accepted by uninformed persons 

 as "a complete guide for investors," to their financial loss. 



The fact is that it is no part of the official duty of con- 

 suls to give advice about making investments. It is their 

 duty to collect such facts bearing upon business conditions 

 as may come under their notice and seem likely to be of 

 general interest. If the reports thus prepared are made 

 public by the government, it remains for the citizen to use 

 his own judgment in dealing with facts. But for reports 

 without any facts there can be no excuse. 



Naturally there can be no accepted standard for consular 



