24 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[OCTOBKK 1. 1916. 



Interesting Letters from Our Readers. 



RUBBER AND THE BARKLEY BILL. 



To Tilt Editor uf the India Ruhber Wori.d : 



DE.\K Sllv— The liarkU'v liill iniposiiii; pciialtii-s upon those 

 who misbrancl goods may have its merits. While it ap- 

 pears to be a drastic measure which would make amenable 

 and probably hamper certain rubber manufacturers who employ 

 the words "pure gum, ' "pure rubber" or "pure Para" to describe 

 Their products as well as those who claim that their goods are "all 

 rubber," or "contain nothing but pure rubber," still its equity of 

 principle cannot be denied. It is admittedly dit'licult to frame any 

 law incapable of imposing hardship upon some one, and so with 

 the Berkley bill, yet it will surely prove of greater potential bene- 

 het than injur> to the rubber business as a whole, tending to 

 eradicate extravagant, indefinite and false statement and leading 

 the way toward an accurately descriptive nomenclatuic. 



Every rubber expert knows that substances other than rLd)ber 

 itself are essential to the production of rubber articles of every 

 sort, the gum being virtually useless in a pure state. Just as an 

 alloy of copper and zinc gives us brass, having important char- 

 acteristics not possessed by cither constituent metal, so rubber 

 compounds contain legitimate ingredients other than pure rubber 

 which impart desirable qualities not inherent in the gum alone. 

 There is nothing about tliis to conceal and business foresight 

 should have counseled against the use of catch phrases that might 

 seem to do so, whatever the actuating motive. Certainly the 

 enactment of the proposed law will in no wise damage manufac- 

 turers of honest goods; their reputation and popularity of prod- 

 net cannot >.uffer as a result of truthful statement in their own 

 or competing publicity. 



The rubber business is by no means exceptional in that some 

 of its nomenclature is misleading. The term "solid gold," for in- 

 stance, intended primarily to distinguish between gold plate and 

 metal of uniform consistency throughout, is well known to infer 

 part alloy introduced in small proportion to increase the dura- 

 bility of jewelry, and in larger proportion to cheapen it. Almost 

 invariably, though, the term is qualified liy the marking 10k., 

 14k., 18k., etc. This informs the purchaser what he should re- 

 ceive and places the matter on a definite basis subject to expert 

 analysis so that failure of jewelry to measure up to the indicated 

 standard constitutes an actionable case of misrepresentation. By 

 comparison the notably lax terms of the furniture trade seem 

 obviously dissembling. "Mahogany," for example, means ma- 

 hogany veneer, not "solid mahogany," according to common 

 usage. This may be the truth, but it is not the whole truth. But 

 furniture manufacturers are awaking to the necessity of reform, 

 and with the aid of their trade papers are now attempting to 

 abolish the misuse of the phrase "American quartered oak" as 

 so frequently applied to furniture which is neither .American in 

 spirit nor quartered oak in fact. 



It is chiefly against such flagrant misrepresentations that the 

 w-ar of truth iv\ advertising is now being waged so assiduously 

 by the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World. Business 

 acumen calls upon every conscientious advertiser to lend his 

 hearty support to this movement. Indeed, the time is at hand 

 when it behooves the advertisers in every kind of industry to 

 restrain by concerted action those who use the legitimate par- 

 lance of til'- trade falsely with fraudulent intent, and to purge 

 the trade V'»ca1iulary of all inadequate terms, not only those in- 

 e.xact phrases which may mislead the puljlic harmlessly, but 

 those fine .sounding yet indefinite phrases with which unscru- 

 jjulous nun'ifi.-iiirirs ni:\y clnak a multitude of sins or take ad- 



vantage ol conscientious competitors in dealing with poorly in- 

 formed persons. 



Happily the primary object ot the loose terms common to the 

 rubber trade has not been to deceive, although in certain in- 

 stances they may have been resorted to in an attempt to dis- 

 tinguish between honest goods arid those containing adulterants 

 or made with scrap rather than new rubber. For the most part 

 they have been adopted in response to the spirit of the times 

 and as a direct outgrowth of pure food laws and advertising 

 catnpaigns and their effect upon other lines of goods. The mis- 

 take has been in ignoring the fundamental fact that all rubber 

 products are fashioned out of rubber compounds rather than 

 pure gum. To inter anything otherwise courts distrust among 

 those hundreds of thousands of intelligent persons who know 

 something about the making of rubber goods, even though in a 

 very gencial way; also it is unfair to those conscientious manu- 

 facturers who prefer to tell the strict truth even if not the whole 

 truth. 



It might be argued that if any article has the desired appear- 

 ance, serves the intended purpose and possesses reasonable dura- 

 bility it does not really matter whether it be composed of pure 

 rubber or what not, but this is beside the question. The same 

 might be said of a diamond ring. The purchaser is entitled to 

 know- what he is buying and to receive an article equivalent in 

 value to the price paid. There is no adequate reason for any 

 misleading statement about it whatever, whether it be made in 

 good faffh or otherwise. To countenance inaccurate descriptive 

 phrases and permit them to become the so-called technical terms 

 of the trade is a grave mistake that will eventually redound to 

 the detriment of any business. Were rubber publicity of this 

 character directed solely to the trade, the issue would not be of 

 serious moment, but instead it makes its appeal to the public at 

 large. .\nd this explains its very existence, for addressing such 

 inaccurate phrases to the trade would manifestly be an insult to 

 expert knowledge. 



Viewed from every angle the Barkley bill offers a potent in- 

 strument with which to accomplish much permanent good in the 

 rubber business as well as elsewhere, and its enactment should 

 be welcomed by progressive men of integrity and foresight who 

 seek to build re|)Utations for the future as well as fortunes for 

 the present. Trade Critic. 



OUTSIDE HELP FOR RUBBER MILL ENGINEERS. 



To the Editor ok The I.ndi.v Rubber World: 



DE.AR SIR — The rubber industry, like any of the other 

 great industries of modern development, has had to 

 create its own tools and methods of manufacture, rather 

 than find them ready made to hand. The mechanical engineer of 

 the average plant is the hardest worked man in the whole outfit; 

 at least it would seem so, and if you ask him he will probably 

 admit it iiimself. Usually a machine shop of very elaborate 

 proportions is attached to all important plants, and the produc- 

 tion of special machinery suited to the needs of the plant is an 

 important factor in its organization. Inventive ability and 

 technical ability of all sorts are employed and liberally paid. 

 A way iTiust be found leading out of all kinds of difficulties. 

 The success of the plant is largely dependent upon the ingenuity 

 and resourcefulness of the engineers working in its mechanical 

 department, assisted by a corps of able helpers, and having at 

 their iieck and call all kimls of apparatus and facilities for 

 experimcTit. 



