November 1. 1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



87 



The India Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



TE outstanding topic for discussion in trade circles at the 

 moment is the Budget, especially the items of war profits 

 tax. .Another tentative feature of the Budget which ex- 

 cited a great deal of discussion was the proposal to put a tax on 

 imported motor cars, motorcj'cles and tires of iiYi per cent. To 

 be sure, this idea has now been definitely abandoned, but it was 

 not only suggested but for a brief time actually put in force, the 

 basic idea evidently being that it was not only desirable to add to 

 the revenue of the government, but to reduce our expenditure 

 for foreign, and especially .American products in order to bring 

 the trade balance back more nearly to its normal position. 



Just what effect this import duty would have had on tires if 

 continued is a matter of speculation. Its immediate effect was 

 the raising of prices by some of the tire manufacturers with 

 plants in this country and the circulation of reports that some of 

 the American manufacturers who have found an English market 

 intended to establish factories in England. Just how much rev- 

 enue would actually have been derived from such a tax is prob- 

 lematical, but there is plenty of evidence showing that our home 

 manufacturers have not been able to supply the British demand 

 for tires, in view of which fact undoubtedly a considerable im- 

 portation would have continued. 



With respect to the war tax on increased i)roperty, .sjoveniment 

 contractors note with satisfaction that this applies to traders 

 generally and not only to those who are entitled to write "con- 

 tractors to the government departments" on their note paper. 

 The tax has certainly been received with satisfaction by the 

 army of professional men who, during the last twelve months. 

 have seen their incomes, like the Snark, fading softly and silently 

 away. It is perhaps not unnatural, however, that there should 

 be a certain amount of grumbling among manufacturers of war 

 material, which includes tires, at giving up SO per cent, of their 

 profits, which had been set aside for the payment of extensions 

 to buildings now in progress. Such extensions, they argue, would 

 not have been required for ordinarj' business and will be only 

 partially utilized when affairs have returned to the normal. At 

 many of our rubber works enlargement and rebuilding on a con- 

 siderable scale is now in operation, and their position is certainly 

 not on an equal plane with other concerns which have made 

 large profits without any capital expenditure. 



NEW RUBBER WORKS IN HOLL.WD. 

 The rubber manufacturing firm of Wilhelmi & Co., of the 

 Hcvea works, Hoogezand, has bought some factories at Door- 

 werth, near Arnhem, in order to take up the manufacture of 

 motor and cycle tires. It is also stated that premises have been 

 acquired at Naarden, which is 15 miles to the east of Amsterdam, 

 for the same purpose. In an advertisement in the English press 

 for machinery it is significant that reference is made to second- 

 hand machinery. Doubtless if the firm wishes to get to work 

 quickly it is useless to insist on a new plant. Owing to circum- 

 stances which it would be superfluous to enumerate, the delivery 

 of new machinery cannot be guaranteed for any near date, and 

 this has led to the anomalous situation of old machinery costing 

 more than new. To give an instance, if you want to buy a cer- 

 tain type of spreading machine you will be quoted £130 [$632.64] 

 for a brand new one, delivery when you get it. On the other 

 hand, you can get a second-hand machine delivered at once, but 

 the price asked will be £170 [$827.30]. 



With regard to the Dutch rubber industry, those readers who 

 have retentive memories will recall an interesting article on 

 some Rotterdam works written by Mr. Pearson on the occasion of 

 a visit to Holland six or seven years ago. Holland in r)ast 



years has been a good market for British, German and American 

 rubber goods, and the new works must naturally tend to de- 

 crease the country's imports. Arnhem, which is situated on the 

 right bank of the Rhine, is the capital town of Gelderland— on 

 account of its scenery called the "Dutch Paradise" — and is only 

 a few miles from the German frontier. 



RUBBER OR GUM. 

 Referring to the proceedings in the London Prize Court with 

 regard to the rubber consignments on the steamship "Friedland" 

 and steamship "Kim," I feel constrained to say a few words in 

 this column. I have only seen press reports of the trial, and 

 these are necessarily condensed ; but from these reports it might 

 be taken that H. L. Terry, who was quoted by Mr. Baird, really 

 thought that rubber and gum were interchangeable terms. In 

 Terry's book it is stated that the term "gum" was commonly used 

 for rubber in America, but he goes on to state that this practice 

 is decidedly objectionable. This point seems to call for mention, 

 as quite possibly it was not put before the attorney-general, who 

 spoke somewhat slightingly of the author named. The real situa- 

 tion is a somewhat anomalous one, as there is plenty of evidence 

 as to the use of the term "gum" for rubber in conversation, but 

 apparently none whatever as to its use in invoices or other 

 commercial documents. 



In Great Britain its use appears to be limited to boots, es- 

 pecially army rubber boots, which are very generally termed by 

 officers "gum boots." Whether such boots have been invoiced to 

 officers as gum or rubber boots is a matter on whicli I am making 

 enquiries. But the present case is concerned particularly with 

 the raw material, which is only associated in Britain with the 

 well-known clauses of patents which refer to rubber, gutta 

 percha and allied gums. With regard to the Continent, it is 

 noteworthy that while the German-speaking peoples and the Scan- 

 dinavians use the single term "guiniiii," the Latin nations qualify 

 it by adding elastic — in French, gommc elastique; in Italian. 

 gamine elastica, and in Spain, goiini elasliea. being the terms in 

 common use. 



PERSU.NM.. 



The president of the Board of Trade has apiiuintcd Mr. \'er- 

 non James Watney, J. P., to be an additional member of the 

 committee which deals with questions relating to the export of 

 rubber and tin from t\\e United Kingdom and British Posses- 

 sions. This brings the number of the committee to four. 



George Spencer Moulton & Co., Limited, whose works are 

 also at Bradford-on-Avon, has suffered a severe loss in the death 

 in active service of Lieutenant Eric Moulton, son of John Moul- 

 ton, chairman of the company, who is a brother of Lord Justice 

 Moulton, who, as a Fellow of the Royal Society, has taken a very 

 prominent part on the government High Explosives Committee. 

 The deceased officer was a grandson of Alexander Moulton, the 

 founder of the firm. 



E.NPORT OF UEl'I..\l.Mi:i) RUHMKR. 

 The North Atlantic Lines Conference has somewhat arbitrarily 

 refused to take any further shipments of reclaimed rubber to 

 America from London, Liverpool and other West Coast ports. 

 It appears that this is due to fear that such shipments may reach 

 the enemy. At the same time such shipments are not altogether 

 stopped, because they are proceeding from Hull, to which town 

 the railway freight has, of course, to be paid. Those interested 

 have made strong representation to the shipping companies op- 

 erating in the West, but .so far with no result. Crude rubber is, 

 of course, being regularly shipped from London to .America. 



