404 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[A,. 



1920. 



So far, therefore, cleansing at the source is the only 

 rubber process that has been transplanted from the fac- 

 tory to the forest. 



A CENSUS FOR SAFETY. 



THIS BEixi; Census Yic\r, it is fitting that the rubber 

 trade, thinking along with the Government, should 

 have a census of its own. Thus, the plan of the Rubber 

 Section of the National Safety Council, to secure a cen- 

 sus of accidents in the rubber industry is not only timely 

 but of the greatest importance. The facts thus gathered, 

 classified and analyzed by a committee made up of 

 practical men from the big rubber plants, will result in 

 l^rompt remedies, in new safety appliances, and in a 

 marked lessening of accidents. 



Much has been done in the past to make rubber fac- 

 tories safe to the worker. But regrettable accidents 

 still occur. It is so in every great industry. In our 

 United States 80,000 fatal accidents occur in factory 

 and home annually. Of these the rubber trade has its 

 share. And it is to this safety census that we look with 

 confidence for a good measure of relief. 



IT KILLED THE PAPER SOLE. 



TH.\T IS WHAT THE RUBBER LEATHER SOLE did for man- 

 kind. When leather was the only substance that 

 shod foot bottoms, anything that looked like it was used. 

 Sole leather veneers backed up with rags, strawboard — 

 any cheap filler that could be obtained was used, and the 

 novice bought and repented. But with the advent of the 

 rubber leather sole, the producers of leather and near- 

 leather woke up. Their business was jeopardized. They 

 had forfeited the confidence of the great shoe-wearing 

 public, and the paper sole disappeared. Not only that, 

 but the very best that the leather man could produce was 

 put into soles. Furthermore, thousands of dollars were 

 put into frantic advertising of certain best makes. Thus 

 rubber did a great service, and best of all the rubber sole 

 won for itself a place, from which no policy, no advertis- 

 ing appropriation can evict it. 



KANSAS STRIKES AT GENERAL STRIKES. 



THE State Court of Industrial Relations estab- 

 lished in Kansas is urged upon other states by 

 Governor .\llen, who says: 



"Any minority which has secured control of a 

 product upon which human life depends, and 

 which undertakes, for the purpose of affecting 

 wages or profits, to withhold that product from 

 the public until the public shall freeze or starve, 

 has, in effect, superseded government and has 

 arrogated to itself the control of the destinies of 

 human life which government alone may have 

 the power to safeguard." 

 This is plain talk and foreshadows the day when no 

 clique, either of labor or capital, will have it in its power 

 to paralyze industry. 



In this connection, the report of the Second Industrial 

 Conference which is now in the hands of President Wil- 

 son is of great interest. This takes a firm stand against 

 "collective bargaining," holding that individual plants 

 should settle their own labor problems. 



Of further interest and of much significance is the 

 action of certain large cities that have declared them- 

 selves as wholly "open shop" communities. 



.^11 of the above point to a cessation of labor struggles 

 and fewer strikes. 



TIRE PRODUCTION FOR 1920. 



PROPHETS, of course, are as fallible as those who do 

 not venture opinions. Furthermore, the major part 

 of prophesies fail. There are two lines of forecast how- 

 ever, that have gone far beyond the wildest hazards ; 

 the production of crude rubber and the an;iual increase 

 in tire production. As to the later, estimates vary rather 

 widely. Based upon the figures of a well-known auto- 

 mobile man, one of the directors of the Motor and Acces- 

 sory Manufacturers' Association, 1920 will see 51,500,000 

 tires produced. A statistician of the "Boston News 

 Bureau," basing his figures upon facts furnished by the 

 Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., predicts 72,000,000 tires. 

 This, however, may not be possible because of scarcity of 

 fabrics. Experts state that the present spindle capacity 

 IS 150,000,000 pounds of fabric, enough for 40,000,000 

 tires, which would suggest more spindles or use of some 

 other fiber in tire building. 



LUDWIG C. A. K. M.VRTENS, RuSSIAN SoVIET REPRE- 



sensative, recently published a long list of American firms 

 who were "anxious to do business" through him with 

 Russia. -A^mong the names were certain large rubber 

 companies. A protest was promptly filed with the Senate 

 Foreign Relations Committee by whom an examination 

 is being conducted and Martens conceded that "they 

 (the companies in question) have been solicited to sell 

 goods and have not sought orders." 



It may be of interest in this connection to state that 

 a very cleverly written article from Soviet headquarters 

 was sent to The India Rubber World months ago, de- 

 scribing Russian markets and the millions to be spent 

 in .\merica. It was not published. 



Former Premier Clemenceau of France announces 

 that he is tired of politics and is going to the deserts of 

 .\frica to "seek a fortune in rubber." It seems that one 

 of his compatriots has discovered a new process of re- 

 fining the gum of the Eticalyf^tiis, and that is to 

 be exploited. Frankly, we wish he wouldn't. He is too 

 good and too great to be wasted upon a hopeless quest. 

 If only he would take up a big tract of land and plant 

 cotton, that would help the world, the rubber trade, and 

 himself. But to-day wild rubber from any minor pro- 

 ducer does not spell success. 



