■ARV 1, 1920.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



247 



ers of shares, it is clear that tlie cotton requirements of the rub- 

 ber industry will not be filled at easier prices than now rule 

 for some time to come. 



At the time of writing — the end of November — a deadlock 

 exists in the Industrial Council for the rubber trade regarding 

 the demands by the operatives of a further increase in wages. 

 The India Rubber Manufacturers Association has turned a deaf 

 ear to the request, mainly because it does not represent the 

 whole of the trade and is not inclined to agree to terms which 

 would not be binding upon others. The assistance of the Min- 

 istry of Labor has been invoked and a conference is to be ar- 

 ranged. The workmen's union, it is said, is desirous that the 

 matter should go to arbitration, but this does not appear to 

 meet with the employers' views. 



EUROPEAN NOTES. 



'T'he Rubber Exhibition that was to have been held in London 

 •^ next summer has been put off till 1921. An exhibition of 

 rubber goods from French manufacturers that was planned for 

 the end of November in the rooms of the French Chamber 

 of Commerce in Queen Victoria street was also given up. 



British capital setyout 75 per cent of the rubber plantations, 

 of which more ihari SO per cent are on territory belonging to 

 Great Britain. Of the estimated 300,000 tons of rubber that 

 plantations will produce, 220,000 will be England's. Some figure 

 on a rubber production of 500,000 tons in 1926. 



Fear is expressed in some British circles that Americans will 

 buy up their rubber shares on the Stock Exchange, as they 

 have a 16 per cent advantage over English capital, owing to the 

 fall in exchange. 



The Research Association of British Rubber & Tyre Manu- 

 facturers may be addressed in care of W. B. Peat & Co., 11 

 Ironmonger Lane, London, England. 



Exports of rubber from London to the United States in the 

 first ten months of 1919 amounted to $20,822,018 worth; in the 

 same period of 1918 the value of rubber exported was $3,- 

 743,639. In the month of October alone the value of rubber 

 shipped was $6,958,479, compared with $4,119,028 in September. 



Rubberized fabrics according to British reports are in demand 

 greatly exceeding the supply. It is greatest from France, which 

 is a center for continental trade in the goods, but Holland, Scan- 

 dinavia and South America, which calls for ponchos, are trying 

 to buy extensively in the British market, and China and Japan 

 are coming in also, especially for light weight cloths and gar- 

 ments. The Australian demand has fallen off, but Canada can 

 do with any amount of British stuff in spite of the competition 

 from the United States. 



The London Central Committee under the Profiteering Act has 

 now been formed. Among the large number of names, rep- 

 resentative of a variety of manufacturers is that of Alexander 

 Johnstone, of the North British Rubber Co., Limited, represent- 

 ing rubber. He was nominated by the Federation of British In- 

 dustries, both he and James Sands, of the Irwell & Eastern 

 Rubber Co., Limited, being on the directorate of that Federation. 



Hale & Son, brokers in crude rubber, balata, gutta percha and 

 asbestos, 10 Fenchurch avenue, London, England, announce that 

 William Bertie Jenner Home ha? been taken into the partner- 

 ship. Mr. Home has been associated with this firm for the past 

 fourteen years. The other partners are M. G. Hale, B. S. In- 

 gram, J. M. Vanhouse and M. W. Palmer. 



Finland's first factory for making balata belting, the Finska 

 Remfabrikan So. (Suomen Hilmatchdas, O. Y.), founded in 1916, 

 has been able to begin work only recently, as the balata, rubber 

 and gutta percha it had bought in England was held up in 

 Sweden during the war and has only just now been released. 



The great Vickers plant at Barron in Furness has been con- 

 verted to a peace basis and the projectile shop is now turning 

 out machinerj', including rubber mixers and calenders. 



The plan of standardizing golf-balls is discouraged for the 

 present by "The India-Rubber Journal" on account of the dif- 

 ficulty in changing molds. 



Poland requires no import license for raw celluloid, rubber, 

 caoutchouc, and technical manufactured rubber goods. 



The union of German surgical hard and soft rubber manu- 

 facturers, at a meeting held in Leipzig to regulate prices, on 

 account of the general rise, decided for an increase after No- 

 vember 14, 1919, of 10 per cent on seamless and patented rub- 

 ber goods and of 25 per cent on hard rubber goods. 



The German rubber industry shows a generally satisfactory 

 activity and the manufacture of tires has started up again. 

 Orders, however, can be filled only in part, owing to the de- 

 ficiency in crude rubber and in coal, 



German firms are taking large orders in Denmark for surgical 

 and hygienic rubber goods, hard rubber combs, etc. Owing to 

 the low value of the mark they can compete against English 

 and American manufacturers, but whether they can deliver 

 their goods seems doubtful. 



At Frondenberg on the Ruhr, a factory has been established 

 for the manufacture of automobile tires and rubber goods for 

 export to Russia by the proprietors of the late Prowodnik works 

 at Riga, in connection with the cable works at Frondenberg 

 The company is called the "Rhenish-lVestfdlische Gummi und 

 Gutta Percha Wcrke, Atlantik," and plans to turn out 2,000 

 pneumatic tires a day. The Prowodnik works at Riga may be 

 started again with machinery provided by British and French 

 agency. 



Italy's consumption of raw rubber increased four-fold in the 

 eight years ended in 1918, when it imported 7,545 metric tons of 

 crude rubber. Turin and Milan are the important centers for 

 the rubber and allied industries, though there are factories also 

 at Genoa, Leghorn and Naples. These employ about 20,000 

 workmen and produce every kind of rubber article ; automobile, 

 motorcycle and bicycle tires are the most important and the 

 output of insulated wire and cables is very large. The Italian 

 company that manufactures insulated wires is about to in- 

 crease its capital. A recent Royal decree regarding telephone 

 equipment gives the preference first to Italian goods, produced 

 by Italian capital and labor and using native material, and next 

 to foreign firms, established in Italy and producing their goods 

 in that country. Where bids are called for native firms will 

 have a protection of 10 per cent and foreign firms producing 

 in Italy a protection of 5 per cent. 



GERMAN RUBBER REGISTRATIONS END— TRADE 

 FACES ECONOMIC DIFFICULTIES. 



Special Correspondence. 

 Dy .\ NOTK-E dated September 20, and taking effect September 

 21, the German Imperial Minister for Industry has officially 

 put an end to the confiscation of and obligation to register crude 

 rubber, gutta percha, balata, reclaimed rubber, asbestos, partly or 

 wholly finished manufactures, and also the prohibitions against 

 producing them. 



The German compulsory management of rubber is therefore 

 ended. The Association for the Sale of War Tires will be dis- 

 solved at the end of the year. The prohibition of importation of 

 automobile tires still stands on paper; nevertheless, adequate 

 quantities are to be admitted free in so far as German industry 

 cannot meet the demand. Really it ought to be able to meet it 

 since even before the prohibition on production was lifted, both 



