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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 1, 1916. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN GERMANY 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 

 "piilRUAPS the most interesting development here since my 

 last communication is the revival of interest in prepara- 

 tions for the commercial and industrial struggle that is sure to 

 follow this terrible war. The Berlin Chamber of Commerce 

 recently held a general meeting, at which this important sub- 

 ject was discussed at length. The representative business men 

 who attended were unanimous in their belief that measures of 

 preparation should be taken immediately and that adequate 

 quantities of raw material should he purchased — without haste, 

 but as soon as practical — to be held in neutral countries for 

 shipment to Germany as soon as the war ends. ."Ml were of 

 opinion that if peace comes before German interests have been 

 able to secure such supplies of raw materials as this country 

 will need, the prices that will be demanded for these materials 

 will be prohibitive, even though our enemies may not attempt 

 to place obstacles in the way of our industries, a course they 

 may decide to adopt. 



RLBBEU TK.XUE. 



Incertitude is the characteristic of our ruliber trade at the 

 .present time. No one knows how high prices will be tomor- 

 row nor is anyone sure of being able to get goods at all. Prices 

 are constantly advancing and further articles are being added 

 daily to the list of those no longer obtainable. Dealers have 

 to take practically what they can get, and are often obliged 

 to sell with little or no profit. When prices are communicated 

 to the dealer he finds them excessive, and sets about to see if 

 •others are not ofifering better prices and conditions than those 

 of his regular supplier. By the time he discovers that the prices 

 quoted were right and sends in his order, prices have again 

 advanced and he has no remedy because all quotations are 

 made subject to change without notice. 



Both dealer and manufacturer have much to contend with 

 in the way of complaints about the quality of merchandise. 

 Consumers appear to be unable to grasp the fact that war 

 qualities cannot bear the same guarantees as standard peace- 

 time goods, and their distrust and discontent are often in- 

 creased by the acts of competitors who are able to include 

 standard quality goods in their deliveries. These peace-time 

 manufactures give much better service than the war qualities 

 and, of course, this starts real trouble. The dealer cannot get 

 any redress from the manufacturer, so he is left to adjust 

 matters with consumers, who rarely are disposed to under- 

 stand and accept his explanations. 



Manufacturers also have their troubles. They do their very 

 best to satisfy all needs and then have no small difficulty in 

 inducing dealers to recommend the fruit of their efforts. 



RUBBER NIPPLES. 



It is practically impossible to comply with health laws and 

 supply rubber nipples under the present conditions. Substitute 

 qualities contain prohibited substances and cannot be used^ 

 Recently the Government released a certain amount of crude 

 rubber to be used exclusively for making nipples, but the quan- 

 tity was inadequate to supply the demand and prices are be- 

 coming prohibitory on an article that is essential and is used 

 by the poor in greater quantities than by those who could better 

 afTord to pay. 



NATIVE RUBBER-YIELDINC, PLANTS. 



Certain people bidding for notoriety have created consider- 

 able excitement by stating to the press that a plant indigenous 

 to Central Europe yields a higher percentage of pure rubber 

 than any other plant, and that its cultivation would render 

 Germany independent for her supplies of crude rubber. All 

 this is but a revival of the attempt to exploit the "Lactuca 

 Tnmtnea" a few years ago. It is interesting from a botanical 



point of view but of no commercial value. Our chemical fac- 

 tories are producing better rubber than any weeds of the 

 Danube or Elbe valley can supply, and there are good reasons 

 for the hope that they will soon be able to produce it in quan- 

 tities that can never be expected from our native "rubber 

 vegetal)les." 



E.XI'OKTS TO NEUTRAL ( OUNTRIES. 

 Our manufacturers have been facing many difficulties in ex- 

 porting to such neutral countries as arc still accessible to us. 

 The chief cause of complaint is the delay experienced in ob- 

 taining export permits. The matter has been taken up with 

 the Government by the "Permanent Committee of German 

 Export Associations," and it is hoped that some relief will 

 soon be secured. These, difficulties do not directly affect our 

 rubl)er industry, which is not generally in a position to export, 

 but they do so indirectly because rubber manufacturing is con- 

 cerned, to a greater or less extent, in the prosperity of almost 

 all branches of industry. 



LEIPSIC FAIR. 



The Leipsic Easter Sample Fair was held as usual and the 



rubber industry was well represented. This was the fourth 



sample fair held at Leipsic since the outbreak of the war, and 



was pronounced the most successful. 



STATE MONOPOLY OF MECHANICAL POWER. 

 It is now clear to everyone that the tremendous cost of this 

 war can never be paid for by ordiiiary or even extraordinary 

 taxation, and many believe that the creation of government 

 monopolies will best solve the problem. It has been suggested 

 that the government be given the monopoly of mechanical 

 power. This would certainly lead to the high development of 

 water power and electricity and would thus result in great 

 benefit to our own as well as all other industries. 



CONFISCATION OF TEXTILES. 

 The law requiring the confiscation of certain supplies of tex- 

 tiles includes duck, or canvas, and drills, also burlaps, all of 

 which are extensively used in our rubber industry. These 

 measures were not taken because the country's supplies are 

 coming to an end. Quantities on hand are sufficient to last for 

 a long time yet. The confiscation is but another instance of 

 the government guarding against any emergencies that may occur, 

 especially as the duration of the war is uncertain. 



TRADE NOTES. 



Fire broke out recently in the works of Dr. Traun & Sohne 

 (formerly Harburg Rubber Comb Co.) in Hamburg. Prompt 

 action on the part of the employes and the city fire brigade 

 limited the damages to one department in which, however, the 

 loss amounted to over 100,000 marks [$23,800]. The stock of 

 rubber, fortunately, was not damaged. 



Otto Werner, of Canstatt-Stuttgart, one of the owners of 

 the great Werner & Pfleiderer organization, on the occasion 

 of the birth of his first son and heir, donated 50,000 marks 

 [$11,900] to needy employes in Stuttgart and 20,000 crowns 

 [$4,060] to such employes in Vienna. 



The Excelsior Rubber Works, Hanover, report that 1,000 

 of their employes and workmen are at the front. Fifty-five 

 have received the Iron Cross for conspicuous bravery and 66 

 have died on the field of honor. 



RUBBER COMPANY DIVIDENDS. 



The Asbest und Gummiwerke, Alfred Calmon, A.G., Ham- 

 burg, has declared 6 per cent dividend. 



A 30 per cent dividend was declared by the Continental 

 Caoutchouc und Gutta Percha Compagnie, Hanover. 



The Hanoversche Actien Gummiwaren Fabrik, Hanover-Lin- 

 den, declared a dividend amounting to 10 per cent. 



