64 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[November 1, 1916. 



that about one^seventh of the world's total sugar produc- 

 tion aniuially goes to waste. 



I'lic jirogress and future outlook of industrial alcohol 

 means nnich to rublier manufacturers in almost every 

 line, for its use in motors will insure cheaper solvent 

 naphtha ; indeed, in this respect, will outclass any opening 

 of new petroleum fields or discovery of new cracking 

 processes. It is also predicted that cheap alcohol may 

 make possible the production of synthetic rubber at less 

 than 25 cents a ])ound — the approximate cost of planta- 

 tion rubber — a circmnstance which, in turn, suggests em- 

 ploying petroleum bases for the same purpose should the 

 market for one of the most profitable petroleum products, 

 gasolene, he lost to alcohol. 



THE PERIL OF PEACE. 



■p^ IMPENDENT as American rubber manufacturers are 

 *-^ upon Europe for crude rubber, they face the ever- 

 present possibility of a sudden interruption of the supply. 

 This might take the form of an embargo, because of inter- 

 national or trade differences, or of a virtual blockade of 

 the ports receiving rubber. So far, the trade has been 

 remarkably fortunate. While the war continues it is 

 probable that the same favorable conditions will prevail ; 

 but what are the rubber prospects once peace is declared ? 

 That economic conditions will be vastly changed cannot 

 be doubted for an instant. The enormous costs of the 

 greatest and most terrilile of all wars are certain not onlv 

 to entail economies, but to create tariffs that will be great 

 in proportion to the needs of the various belligerent 

 countries. 



It looks more and more as if free-trade England is 

 turning definitely toward high tariff. Certainly, once her 

 need of foreign-made goods becomes less imperative she 

 is bound to jjrotect home manufacturers, not alone in 

 England proper, but in the great British colonies as well. 



Nor is it supposable that with the crude rubber business 

 in her own hands she will long omit to impose an export 

 tax sufficient to be of material assistance in liquidating 

 her immense war debt. Holland, too, has suffered great 

 financial losses through the war, and an export tax on 

 India rubber assessed by English colonies would doubt- 

 less be imitated by the colonies of the Netherlands. 



Of course, this would stimulate rubber planting and do 

 much for wild rubber besides ; but prices would go up and 

 stay up on all grades. It is probable that nothing will be 

 done by America to counteract this tendency. Certainly, 

 our government will not, perhaps cannot, come to the 



rescue of the trade as England or Germany would under 

 like conditions. It will be recalled, for instance, that 

 America once held the n'st of the world in leash with her 

 practical monopoly of cotton growing. To oft'set it Eng- 

 land produced not only Itgyptian, but Indian and West 

 Indian cotton. And in this she was wise and right. 



American investments in rubber ])lantations of the Far 

 East, already large, will iloubtK-ss have a mitigating 

 influence. What would be far more potent, however, 

 would be American plantations in American territory ; 

 not to drive the Far Eastern planter from the field, for 

 lie deserves his success and should be protected, but just 

 to keep us from being so wholly, so helplessly dependent. 



PENALTY DUTY ON INDIA RUBBER? 



THE rubber trade received a disagreeable jolt a 

 day or two ago when the New York "Herald" 

 bureau at Washington outlined the provisions of a 

 recently enacted tariff law. It was a bit of "eleventh 

 hour" work and intended to protect the American dye 

 manufacturers from German competition. As such it 

 contained a provision for "penalty duties on articles 

 imported into the United States under the agreements 

 affecting the purchase of other goods by the importer." 

 According to the "Herald" it is found that the provision 

 "recjuires the imposition of penalty duties on all dutiable 

 raw materials controlled by the Allies and sold to Ameri- 

 cans under restrictions [preventing export, etc." 



India rubber is purchased under such restrictions 

 and would seetu to be subject to penalty dut}'. At 

 the saiTie time, hnwever, comes the comforting assur- 

 ance that it was all "a mistake" and that "No conceal- 

 ment was made of the intention to find some way of 

 avoiding the enforcement of the law if that be pos- 

 sible." 



OCOTILLO (also KNOW.V AS OCOTOLLO AND OcOTELLO) 



Rubber, which has set Arizona ablaze, may or may not 

 prove of use in general rubber manufacture. It may go 

 the way of rabbit weed rubber and the seaweed rubber, but 

 even in failure, if failure come, it will point a moral. 

 And that is the wonderful market for American grown 

 rubber or rubber-like gums, a market that will be sup- 

 plied some way. some day. 



One of the bright publicity men of the Goodyear 

 Tire & Rubber Co. has spread broadcast, through the 

 daily press, a tale to the effect that the Mexican peons use 

 cast-oft' Goodyear tires for shoes. It may be true, nor is 

 it for us to doubt it, but is this not a direct infringement? 

 Has not the Goodrich company copyrighted "Barefoot" 

 tires? Or do the peons also wear inner tubes for 

 stockings? 



