52 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October 1, 1919. 



American capital in East Asiatic rubber plantations and all that 

 that implies. What America has accomplished in this line is 

 really astounding, and the manner in which she has managed 

 to utilize the war conditions that were favorable for this. Ger- 

 many may, perhaps, be the chief sufferer, but the fact remains 

 that it admires what America has been able to accomplish. 



We have lost our colonies, can no more raise our own rubber; 

 our manufacturers have neglected to invest large amounts of 

 capital in the East .\sian rubber plantation form of agriculture, 

 and our Hamburg crude rubber market, erected only a little 

 while before the war, is ruined. 



As to the future of our market in Hamburg, that is obscure. 

 May the words of M. A. Ritter receive the attention which 



Vereinigte Berlin- Frankfurter Gummiwasen Fabriken 

 (Gelnhausen Works). 



they deserve from the circles lliat are interested. Ritter offers 

 an answer to the question — how and in what way it may be 

 possible to create soon in Hamburg an adequate rubber market 

 that shall be in keeping with the importance of our rubber manu- 

 facturing industry. 



He comes to the conclusion that the erection and maintenance 

 of an independent plantation rubber market of the first rjuik 

 in Hamburg, with all the great advantages it offers, can very 

 well be carried out if a strict organization is established and 

 the necessary measures are taken, that were essential in the 

 creation of the foreign competitive markets (especially in Lon- 

 don). Among the requisite measures and arrangements of which 

 the aforesaid treats, the following may be mentioned briefly: 



1. Equalization of freight charges for plantation rubber from 

 the Eastern ports direct to Hamburg (a measure to be taken 

 later). 



2. Storage in the rubber associations' storage warehouses ; 

 uniform certificates of vv^eight and storage receipts ; uniform 

 and regulated furnishing of samples, etc. 



3. Requisition of uniform contract rules which shall at all 

 times be fair to the interests of importers, brokers and dealers. 



4. No private book sales, but public sales of definite, incom- 

 ing, consigned lots, outside of free traffic. 



5. Development of the rubber futures market. 



6. Appointment of a committee of experts, which shall under- 

 take the prompt and technical settlement of all differences of 

 opinion. 



7. Promotion of direct trade between the rubber plantation 

 districts and Hamburg through the activity of German rubber 

 traders and the financing of crude products exportation to 

 Hamburg by German banking institutions, especially in Dutch 

 India. 



Ritter wishes through his appeal to call the attention of the 

 persons concerned to this matter, of unusual importance for 

 German economic life, by showing that it must be our endeavor 

 to attain what the United States has already won during the 

 war, namely, independence of middlemen and elimination of the 

 circuitous way through London. 



We can only wish that the sensible and certainly feasible ideas 

 of Mr. Ritter may fall on fruitful soil and may also be suf- 

 ficiently understood by the commercial class in Hamburg itself. 

 It seems as though the pleas had really aroused interest here. 

 The Hamburg crude rubber dealers are fighting energetically 

 against the contemplated establishment by the Imperial Ministry 

 of Commerce of a rubber and asbestos industry trust. They 

 declare that the inclusion of the rubber trade in the rubber and 

 asbestos trust and the establishment of a foreign trade office 

 is wholly impractical for rubber importation and is uneconomical 

 since the supply and the trading would be subject to the costs 

 of this organization and consequently the price of raw materials 

 would be needlessly increased for the German consumer. Im- 

 portation into free ports, intermediate trading with foreign 

 lands, and dealings in the goods lying in free ports must be kept 

 free from any centralizing regulation; otherwise, the business 

 of the Hamburg market, including the business in futures, would 

 be driven to the competitive markets like Rotterdam, Antwerp, 

 Liverpool, London, etc. 



The old order is destroyed, the new must stand on firm 

 foundations. When will all the clouds which surround the 

 future of the German rubber industry be driven away? 



GERMANY'S RUBBER REQUIREMENTS. 



Among the raw materials which Germany desires the allied 

 and associated governments to furnish, and regarding which 

 inquiry as to quality, quantity and price has been made of the 

 Committee on Minutes of Reparation Commission in Paris, is 

 a monthly supply of 2,500 tons of raw rubber. This indicates 

 a contemplated annual consumption of 30,000 tons, or nearly 

 double what it was before the war. 



SWEDEN CONTINUES RESTRICTION OF RUBBER EXPORTS. 



Sweden still forbids the exportation, except when properly 

 licensed, of: rubber, gutta percha, balata, reclaimed rubber, rub- 

 ber thread; solid rubber tires, even if in lengths; inner tubes 

 and outer covers and parts thereof, even when in combination 

 with other materials for cycles and motor cars ; rubber boots and 

 shoes and rubber waste and scrap. Likewise : cycles and motor- 

 cycles with rubber tires fitted ; carriages, vehicles and frames, 

 without motors but with rubber tires; carriages, vehicles and 

 frames, including airplanes and airships, with motors and the 

 wheels with rubber tires for such carriages. Cycles, motorcycles, 

 motor cars, airplanes and airships, however, may be e.xported if 

 they had been imported into Sweden for the owner's own use, 

 while travelers leaving the country may take such vehicles with 

 them, provided they agree to reimport them into Sweden. 



ENGINEERING CONGRESS AND INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION IN JAVA. 



A congress to which engineers from all countries touching the 

 Pacific are invited, will be held at Weltevreden, near Batavia, 

 Java, May 8 to IS, 1920, under the patronage of the Governor- 

 General, at which over 170 papers on engineering problems in 

 Asiatic countries will be presented. Among them will be sev- 

 eral discussing the production of rubber. 



Following the congress an industrial exhibition will be held 

 at Bandoeng, which, while primarily intended to stimulate do- 

 mestic industries, will give manufacturers of tools, machinery, 

 bicycles and motorcycles, an opportunity to exploit their prod- 

 ucts. American houses must be represented by a Java firm in 

 order to exhibit. A list of machinery houses in Java will be 

 available for those vifho are interested. 



Further information can be obtained by addressing B. J. Krol, 

 secretary of the Netherlands Indies Industries Fair, 39 Oosteinde, 

 Bandoeng, Java. 



Applications for participation in the congress should be sent 

 to the Secretary, Molenvleit East 3, Weltevreden, Java, who will 

 arrange for hotel accommodations and trips. 



