ArRii. 1. 19201 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



407 



The Effect of Location on Prosperity of American Rubber Industry. 



By L. W. .-Uuy II -Schmidt. Consulliii^ Economist. 



THE VALUE of all the rubber goods manufactured in the City 

 of Akron, Ohio, during the year 1914 amounted to $93,980,000, 

 representing 41.4 per cent of the total output of rubber goods 

 during that year valued at $300,994,000. No other city of the 

 United States, or in the whole world, can show such an enormous 

 production of rubber goods. The nearest approach to it in the 

 United States is the City of Trenton, New Jersey, that pro^- 

 duccd rubber goods valued at $8,000,000 in 1914. It is, therefore, 

 no wonder that Akron gives Ohio a superior lead in the manu- 

 facture of rubber products and makes it the leader among the 

 states of the Union. During the year in question the value of 

 rubber goods manufactured in that state amounted to $109,659,- 

 ,000. New Jersey with Trenton came second with a total 

 production value of $25,- 



exceptional size. Neither is there anything in the present situa- 

 tion that could have forced the United States rubber industry 

 to develop the plan of its original growth upon so narrow a 

 basis as has been the case. 



RUBBER INDUSTRY ECONOMICALLY INDEPENDENT. 

 Speaking from the viewpoint of national economy the rubber 

 industry is an independent industrial unit. It is one of the master 

 industries of the country and not supplementary to others. There 

 is, therefore, no reason to locate in districts where it might be 

 situated in easy proximity to other industries requiring its 

 products. Such considerations may have influenced the location 

 of the drop-forging industry, for instance, or the shoe findings 

 industry, both industries 



458.000. Massachusetts, 



having Boston as its main 

 center of rubber produc- 

 tion, followed with a pro- 

 duction valued at $23,000,- 

 000, Pennsylvania with 

 $12,000,000, while C o n- 

 necticut and New York 

 each reported $10,000,000 

 approximately. 



Both Akron and Tren- 

 ton have kept their supe- 

 riority as producers of 

 rubber goods practically 

 since rubber manufactur- 

 ing started in the United 

 States, but their influence 

 upon American rubber pro- 

 duction was considerably 

 less during the preceding 

 census when only 38.4 per 

 cent of all the .American 

 rubber goods were manu- 

 factured in -Akron, while 

 Trenton did slightly bet- 

 ter with 3.9 per cent to 

 its share. .As to rubber 

 boots, Boston takes the 

 lead, holding practically 

 the whole of the produc- 

 t i o n of Massachusetts, 

 which also leads as a state 

 in the production of rubber footwear 

 valued at $13,000,000 before the war. 



Productii 



1 of Rubber Goods in U.S. 

 for 1914 



The Comp.arative Growth of the United States Rubber 

 Industry in Localized Districts. 



,vith a total production 

 New Jersey, as in the 

 past, still claims to be the leader as a producer of rubber belting, 

 the industry giving to the city of Trenton its great importance 

 as a rubber manufacturing center. 



Such concentration of one industry might be easily under- 

 stood in the case of industries which arc bound to their loca- 

 tion by reason of their markets or the supply of raw materials. 

 It appears, therefore, rather surprising that the rubber industry, 

 which is not tethered by any of these considerations, has se- 

 lected these localities for its home in the United States. Con- 

 sidering the enormous economic importance of the United States 

 rubber industry one can say with some degree of correctness 

 that the condition existing here is not repeated in any other 

 country. Nowhere in the world is the rubber industry as con- 

 centrated as to include practically half of its total production 

 inside the limits of one citv which does not even claim to be of 



that look for their market 

 to related industries for 

 which they prepare the 

 raw materials. But the 

 rubber industry has an in- 

 dependent market. While 

 it is supplementary to cer- 

 tain industries which em- 

 ploy its products for the 

 purpose of completing 

 their own, there is no 

 need for the rubber indus- 

 try to rely upon the cus- 

 lom of these industries. 

 It has its own markets 

 and marketable products 

 that are increasing in num- 

 ber and range of consump- 

 tion from year to year. 

 It is. therefore, tied less 

 to location than many 

 other industries, and its 

 selection of locality is not 

 determined by this one 

 factor which narrows 

 down considerably the 

 choice of a home of many 

 other industrial enter- 

 prises. 



The explanation of the 

 present situation in the 

 geographical location of 

 the United States rubber industry is, undoubtedly, historical de- 

 velopment. The industry, having originally found a home in 

 certain cities of the United States, continued to grow within 

 these limits as the result of a natural division and subdivision 

 of formerly united forces and, having once provided the ground 

 for development, remained there by the simple force of habit. 

 The outcome is analogous to that experienced in many other 

 industries similarly placed, but just as conservative in the se- 

 lection of their locations. 



Having once acquired the habit, the industry has been slow 

 to mend its ways. There was, no doubt, a certain advantage in 

 the beginning in locating as much as possible in one city or 

 district. The labor of other factories could be drawn upon. 

 The men who formed the new enterprises were themselves at 

 home in the district and had grown up in it. Finally, when the 

 industrial development of the rubber industry started in earnest 

 there was the main consideration of participating in the pros- 



Products 



I of Rubber Goods in U.S. 

 for 1919. 



