526 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[JuLV 1, 1916. 



A PROTEST FROM LONDON. 



T^ HE increase in purchases of crude rubber in the Far 

 ■* East by representatives of American manufactur- 

 ers for direct shipment to this country is viewed with 

 some alarm by English rubber interests. 



A recent issue of the "Financier" thus sums up the 

 situation : "America uses about 90,000 to 100,000 tons of 

 rubber a year. With the increase of mechanical traction, 

 this quantity within the next few years, will probably be 

 trebled. Towards this consumption of 100,000 tons, Lon- 

 don exported to the States — according to the official sat- 

 tistics — no less than 40,000 tons. The whole of this busi- 

 ness is directly affected if the Rubber and Tin Exports 

 Committee continues its present policy. Let there be 

 no illusion upon the subject. If this great trade is, during 

 this time of stress, allowed to pass from our hands, it will 

 never be regained." 



The writer contends that no national purpose is being 

 served by tlie policy adopted by the exports committee, 

 and its efforts to prevent rubber reaching enemy hands 

 are resulting in a very maximum of damage to British 

 trade interests, with no corresponding advantage. He 

 quotes from "a well-known authority" as saying "To help 

 the Americans to obtain control of an essentially English 

 industry is not to beat the Germans, and, as a matter of 

 fact, it will suit German-Americans far better to buy in 

 the East than to have to come to London for their sup- 

 pHes." 



The "Financier" claims that there are 10,000 tons of 

 rubber in England, besides cargoes unloading from the 

 Far East, so there is no question of shortage; and fur- 

 thermore, that this condition has brought about the recent 

 decline in the price of rubber, and the consequent effect 

 upon Eastern exchange; and that the whole rubber trade 

 is demoralized by the existing uncertainty. The article 

 suggests that "the sooner the Rubber Growers' Associa- 

 tion and the Rubber Trade Association bring pressure to 

 bear upon the committee to secure a more enlightened 

 policy, the better for the present and future prospects of 

 the rubber industry. It may be that these august bodies 

 have already moved in the matter. If this be so, and a 

 redress of grievances is not speedily obtained, it is to be 

 hoped that they will jointly put forward an official remon- 

 strance on the subject." 



At first blush it would seem as if London had no reason 

 for this protest — that she stood in the place of an expen- 

 sive middleman who could and should be eliminated with 

 speed and despatch; that if rubber sold in Singapore and 

 bought in New York were held up by London, it might 

 as justly be held up also by other English ports as Pen- 

 ang, Colombo, Aden and Port Said. Such reasoning 



would, however, fail to take into account the important 

 service rendered in making the present plantation indus- 

 try possible. Through the *nost generous financing, and 

 broad gage handling, the great producing plantations in 

 the Far East were created and brought to their present 

 productiveness. London was more than a partner; it was 

 a wealthy elder brother with wide open purse. 



Then, too, the work of the Rubber Growers' Associa- 

 tion, of the greatest value to the planters, always centered 

 in London. The London crude ru'ober men in the past 

 have been singularly fair and impartial, but with the great 

 growth of the Singapore market there is bound to be a 

 readjustment in selling and shipping. London might hin- 

 der direct shipments for a time, but would it be best for 

 all concerned? The better the producers of plantation 

 rubber treat their biggest and best customer, the tighter 

 that customer will stick. The cheaper the rubber, the 

 greater the market. 



THE STRIKE EPIDEMIC. 



THIS is a time of unrest in the industrial world. It 

 is a rare day when the morning news does not in- 

 clude the institution of a strike in some large factory. 

 This is a result of present productive prosperity. The 

 European war requires tremendous amounts of muni- 

 tions, arms and supplies, while the call to arms of mil- 

 lions of artisans in Europe causes an increased demand 

 for American goods to fill the scarcity of foreign manu- 

 facture. There is an almost unprecedented demand for 

 labor, skilled and unskilled. The industries in greatest 

 need of workers naturally offer high wages, and thus 

 draw to their establishments employes from other fac- 

 tories. To hold their help these latter must increase the 

 pay, and then workers in other plants, not thus affected, 

 become dissatisfied, and demand equally high compensa- 

 tion. 



No line of manufacture is free from this disaffection 

 of employes. The rubber trade is no exception. Gen- 

 erally speaking, rubber workers are paid as liberally as 

 are most others for labor requiring equal intelligence, 

 strength and skill. Some of the leading rubber manu- 

 facturing concerns have voluntarily increased the wages 

 of their workmen. Others have ga-anted full wages for 

 a shorter working day. Some strikes have been settled 

 by granting the full demands of the workmen. Others 

 have been compromised. 



But the present industrial prosperity cannot last in- 

 definitely. When this war is over — and it must end 

 some time — reaction must inevitably follow. Then, with 

 a total cessation of demand for labor in many of these 

 great munition factories, and a lessened call for products 

 of other establishments, many thousands of workers, 

 skilled and unskilled, will be thrown out of employment. 

 And, as is the case with merchandise, so it is with labor, 

 less demand and oversupply must result in a readjust- 

 ment downward of the wage scale of today. 



