1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



143 



The India Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



KL'MliKK AND i U K DUDGKT, KTC. 



THE ellcct of the Excess Profit Tax of 50 per cent on the 

 various rubber plantation companies is the only matter 

 in connection with the rubber interest which is being 

 actively and acrimoniously discussed. It certainly does not seetn 

 fair that a small company which has made an increased profit 

 of a thousand or two should have to pay up while an older 

 one. which has made large profits at about the same figure 

 for. the previous three years should pay nothing. The sug- 

 gestion that all rubber companies should pay a tax of 20 

 per cent, or so has been proposed as being much more 

 equitable and as likely to bring in a larger sum. If this 

 proposal is not accepted it would only be on the ground that 

 other industries would probably claim the same sort of thing 

 and necessitate an extensive alteration in the whole scope of 

 the tax. 



Turning to another topic, it is noteworthy that although 

 our army has increased in the last year and is still increasing, 

 supplies and equipment are well in hand and there is an 

 absence of the rush and get-things-anywhere spirit noticeable 

 a year ago. Practically all rubber goods, including hospital 

 requirements, can now be bought by the public at ordinary 

 prices. This applies to army clothing, some contracts for 

 which were placed in America a year ago, and to all equip- 

 ment, it is understood, except rubber thigh boots. An order 

 for 70,000 pairs of these was placed in the- United States 

 during the last few months and this only because it was im- 

 possible to obtain the. required number in British and Ca- 

 nadian factories. The labor question has not been acutely 

 felt so far in our rubber works, because -in normal times 

 women are always largely employed. Now, however, with 

 Lord Derby's recruiting scheme in operation, it is inevitable 

 that some deficiency and dislocation will be manifest, and 

 we may expect that women will invade departments to which 

 they have been strangers hitherto. 



Reverting for a moment to the Excess Profit Tax, two 

 important concessions by the Chancellor of the Exchequer 

 may be mentioned : first, the average of two years' profits 

 in place of three may be taken as the datum line ; second, new 

 plantation companies just emerging from the development 

 stage are to be compensated for past losses by the allowance 

 of a high datum line varying with the lengtli of development 

 period. 



The recent advance in price of plantation rubber is due 

 to steady buying by manufacturers fearful of being found 

 short. Some little nervousness no doubt exists in certain 

 quarters as to the maintenance of the open waterway from 

 the East, in view of the recent development of the war, but 

 apart from this there certainly seems only two good reasons 

 to apprehend a further rise in freight, and also shipping 

 delays. The details of the new government control of 

 merchant shipping are not yet announced, but it may be taken 

 for granted that the present increased requisition of shipping 

 by the allied governments will lead to further delay and 

 expense in 'obtaining goods from the Far East. On a 

 former occasion I referred to the regulations specially drawn 

 up by the Manchester Chamber of Commerce to guide the 

 authorities with regard to the exportation of cotton cloth 

 suitable for aeroplane use. Now, however, it is announced 

 that special permits relating to this class of goods will not 

 be operative, and that all applications for the export of 

 cotton goods will be dealt with by the War Trade Committee 

 in London. .\n agitation is on foot for the establishment of a 



brancli office of this committee in jSIanchester, as being con- 

 ducive to saving of time and the interests generally, of the 

 important cotton trade. 



LAWN TENNIS BALLS. 



The feature of the past season was, as might have been 

 expected, the dearth of tournament and match play, and the 

 consequent small demand for balls, and at the present time 

 there seems little likelihood of a happier state of affairs for 

 next year. Although the well-known brands of balls were 

 on the market, there were numerous complaints that the 

 quality of some of them was not up to the accustomed 

 standard, though the prices were unaltered. Complaints, it 

 is said, met with no response or sympathy, which presumably 

 may be attributed to the small amount of business doing. It 

 is the purveyors of luxuries who have been the hardest hit 

 by the war and, among such, sport-outfitters are prominent. 

 1 hear that dealers have been advised of a rise of \s. per 

 dozen balls for next season, owing to the advance in price of 

 materials and labor. The ordinary ball has the felt or melton 

 cover sewn on after the rubber ball is completely finished, 

 and in the case of best quality balls I have not heard of any 

 complaints arising from this procedure. In a recent patent 

 of E. C. Wisden-Luff and John Wisden & Co., Limited, sport- 

 outfitters, the cover is put on with rubber cement and the 

 vulcanization of the ball is afterward effected, or if previously 

 semi-vulcanized, it is then completed. Among other claims 

 for this ball I note that it is said to be less porous and will 

 consequently last longer. If this claim is substantiated in 

 practice, the patent should prove of more value than many 

 patented improvements in rubber manufacture. 



The obituary notice in the October issue of The India 

 Rubber World of Mr. A. G. Spalding has been read with in- 

 terest by many, who, though familiar with the sports depots of 

 Spalding Bros, in London and the provinces, knew nothing 

 of the rise and development of the firm. The Spalding make 

 of lawn tennis balls is well known, though it has not yet 

 been officially adopted by the Wimbledon authorities. 



RUBBER CHEMICALS. 

 There has been a considerable rise in solvent naphtha, 

 wliich has gone from lOrf. per gallon to 2s. 4d. The makers 

 say that this is entirely due to the large demand from the 

 rubber works, which seems rather surprising, because the 

 proofers are by no means so rushed with work as they were 

 a year ago, when solvent was at a much lower level. It is a 

 significant fact that the rise in solvent naphtha has syn- 

 chronized with the withdrawal of benzol from the open 

 market, the whole supplies of this commodity now having 

 been requisitioned by the War Office in connection with a 

 certain development in the manufacture of explosives. 

 Solvent naphtha, which should consist of xylol, but has, ac- 

 cording to the state of the market in the past, often contained 

 benzol and toluol, is now exclusively xylol and is not in 

 demand for the manufacture of explosives, and only to a 

 limited extent for the coal tar color industry. But it can be 

 used for certain purposes instead of its lighter homologues 

 mentioned above. These other uses, as well as a reduction 

 in the output, have no doubt had an effect upon the price. 

 With regard to solvent naphtha the future will depend 

 somewhat upon how much Scotch shale spirit is available, 

 this solvent being largely used in Scotland. That lower 

 prices are not in prospect, however, is evidenced from the 



