690 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September 1, 1916. 



Hevea leaf disease. Active measures consisting in spraying 

 with Bordeaux mixture were undertaken to cope with the 

 disease. It was, however, impossible to say whether the 

 steps taken would eradicate it. The Assistant Director of 

 Science and .Kgriculture, Mr. Bancroft, visited the district 

 during November in connection with the outbreak of the 

 disease. 



There was no increase in the area under rubber cultivation 

 at the Experimental Station. The existing cultivation was, 

 luiwexcr. well maintained. 



lemala, has 

 the use of 



RUBBER TIRES IN GUATEMALA. 



■"Pill' .\merican Consul at Guatemala City, Gnat 

 ^ nia<le a very interesting and timely repi 

 rubber tires in that country. 



In Guatemala City rubber tires are used on approximately 

 307 carriages of all sorts. 113 automobiles, 573 bicycles and 17 

 motorcycles; a total of 1,110 vehicles, and it is safe to say that 

 in the rest of the country there are not more than 15 or 20 

 automoliiles and rubber-tired carriages, while bicycles and motor- 

 cycles arc practically unknown outside of that city. 

 CUSTOMS T.\RIFF. 



There is no specific provision in the Guatemalan customs tariff 

 for rublier tires, but, upon request from the Consul, the Director 

 General of Customs stated that such tires were classed with 

 carriages and their accessories, and paid duties ranging from 

 $4.09 to $7.21 per 100 pounds. 



When shipped alone rubber tires are taxed $7.21 per 100 

 pounds, Init when shipped with vehicles are subject to the same 

 duty as the vehicle to which they appertain. 



All of the duties are payable one-half in United States cur- 

 rency and one-half in the money of the country. 

 IMPORTS OF TIRES. 



Tires are not listed as separate items in Guatemalan import 

 returns, l)ut are included under several headings, "Accessories 

 for vehicles," "Automobiles and accessories," "Velocipedes, 

 bicycles and accessories,'' which include so many things besides 

 ruljber tires that it is hardly possible to form an idea of the 

 amount and source of the tire imports. 



RUBBER IMPORTS OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 



Tlie .\nierican Vice-Consul at Santo Domingo reports that 

 during the year 1915 the Dominican Republic imported rub- 

 ber and manufactures of rubber from the United States amounting 

 to $31,965. Porto Rico ranked second with $1,800; $365 was 

 imported from France; $215 from Spain; $118 from Germany, 

 and only $79 worth of rubber goods were imported from 

 Great Britain. During the year covered by the report, $66 of 

 waste rubber was shipped from Santo Domingo to the United 

 States. 



RUBBER GOODS IMPORTED BY ARGENTINA. 



In a report for the year 1915 just published, the .\merican 

 Vice-Consul at Buenos Aires states that during the year 

 Argentina imported $103,153 of rubber tubing, weighing 363,196 

 pounds, and other rubber goods valued at $193,175, of which the 

 weight and nature are not given. 



THE FIRST RUBBER FACTORY IN JAVA. 



The Nederl. Indische Caoutchouc Fabriek (Netherlands India 

 Rubber Works), Bandoeng, Java, is the name of the rubber 

 company that will soon start manufacturing mechanical rubber 

 goods in the island of Java. According to L. A. van Rijn. direc- 

 tor of the company, who passed through New York on Iiis way 

 to the Far East, the machinery is being installed as rapidly as 

 possible and later on the company will undertake the manufacture 

 of solid tires. Mr. van Rijn was formerly manager of the Neth- 

 erlands Gutta Percha Co., Singapore, Straits Settlements, men 

 tion of which was made in The Indi.\ Rubber World, July, 1907. 



.\ l)ill has been introduced into tlie Brazilian Congress 

 proposing to encourage the consumption abroad of Brazilian 

 rubber by means of reduced import duties on products manu- 

 factured of such rubber. The new bill provides for a reduc- 

 tion of 95 per cent of the ordinary duties on such articles, if 

 they are accompanied by a declaration from the manufac- 

 turer, duly authenticated by a Brazilian consul, attesting that 

 the goods are made of "Fine Pai^a" rubber. The words 

 "Para Rubber, Brazil" or their equivalent in the language of 

 the country of origin must be stamped on such articles. On 

 certain grades of insulated wires and cables, in the manu- 

 facture of which Para rubber has been used, the regular duty 

 is to be reduced 90 per cent. It is proposed to make pneu- 

 matic automobile tires not made of Brazilian rubber (present 

 rate S per cent ad valorem) dutiable at 15 per cent ad 

 valorem. 



Tliis measure differs from the Budget Law passed by the 

 Brazilian Congress in 1915 in that no discriminatory surtaxes 

 are imposed on articles made of other than Brazilian rubber. 

 The 1915 law fell into disuse because there were no means 

 for distinguishing between the contents of pure Para and 

 other rubbers. With a view of remedying this difficulty, the 

 new bill prescribes a number of tests for determining whether 

 articles are made of Brazilian rubber. Thus goods admitted 

 at the reduced rates must stretch six times their size without 

 breaking and must stand all the elasticity and compression 

 tests required by certain French organizations such as the 

 French State Railways, the Arsenal at Chatellerault, and the 

 Forges et Fonderies de Pont-a-Mousson, and may also be 

 subjected to other tests. 



Commenting upon this proposed modification of the Bra- 

 zilian customs laws, our contemporary, "Wileman's Brazilian 

 Review," says that the Brazilian import trade in rubber goods 

 is not very big and that it doubts if many will be induced to 

 certify that the constituents of goods that consist "for the 

 great part of chemicals" contain purely Para rubber, but some 

 no doubt will be found, and among them probably the parties 

 that the bill promoted by Dr. Passos Miranda will favor. If 

 it is left to the discrimination of the Custom House, it is 

 pretty certain that few manufactures will pass the test and 

 that those which do will get a practical monopoly. Our 

 contemporary further suggests that this probably is the real 

 object of the promotion of the bill. 



A rubber manufacturing industry is being gradually de- 

 veloped in Brazil, thanks to the protective customs tariff, and 

 it is thought a reduction of the tariff such as proposed in 

 this bill would mean its extinction. 



PARCEL-POST CONVENTION WITH CHINA. 



A development of interest to all exporters, including rubber 

 concerns, is the parcel-post convention recently concluded be- 

 tween the United States and China and which took effect .August 

 1, 1916. 



Parcel-post packages exclianged between these two countries 

 must not weigh more than 11 pounds nor measure more than 3 

 feet 6 inches in length, and 6 feet in length and girth combined, 

 and, in the case of parcels for or from non-stream-served places 

 in China, must not exceed 25 cubic decimeters [1 cubic foot] in 

 volume. 



Postage on parcels sent from the United States to China is at 

 the rate of 12 cents per pound or fraction of a pound; and from 

 China to the L^nited States at the rate of 35 cents (Chinese cur- 

 rency) per pound or fraction of a pound, except that on parcels 

 for or from non-stream-served places in China an additional 

 Chinese domestic parcel-postage may be levied and collected by 

 the Chinese service. Parcel-post packages for China may be 

 registered. 



