260 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[Februa«v 1, 1917. 



Charles W. Barnes, New York City, United States Rubber Co. 



Merton A. Turner, South Braintree, Massachusetts, Monatiquot 

 Rubber Works Co. 



James H. Stedman, South Braintree, Massachusetts, Monatiquot 

 Rubber Works Co. 



DIVISIONS' MEETINGS. 



THE following meetings of the divisions of the Rubber Club 

 were held at the Waldorf-Astoria on Monday, January 8 : 



The Rubber & Fiber Sole Manufacturers' Division was 

 organized, and a Constitution and By-laws adopted. W. H. 

 Yule, The B. F. Goodrich Co., Akron, Ohio, was elected chair- 

 man and William M. Gunlock, United States Rubber Co. Sys- 

 tem, vice-chairman. The following Ejcecutive Committee was 

 also elected : W. H. Yule, chairman. The B. F. Goodrich Co. ; 

 William Gunlock, United States Rubber Co. System ; George 

 El Hall, Boston Woven Hose & Rubber Co., Cambridge, Massa- 

 chusetts ; C. H. Oakley, Essex Rubber Co., Inc., Trenton, New 

 Jersey ; George B. Dryden, Dryden Rubber Co., Chicago, Illinois, 

 and an additional member who will be appointed later. 



The Rubber Sundries Manufacturers' Division in meeting 

 elected Frederick H. Jones, Tyer Rubber Co., chairman, Andover, 

 Massachusetts ; W. O. Rutherford, vice-chairman. The B. F. 

 Goodrich Co., Akron, Ohio, and the following Executive Com- 

 mittee : Frederick H. Jones, chairman, Tyer Rubber Co., An- 

 dover, Massachusetts ; Russell Parker, Parker, Stearns & Co., 

 Brooklyn, New York ; Charles J. Davol, Davol Rubber Co., Provi- 

 dence, Rhode Island ; George B. Hodgman, Hodgman Rubber Co., 

 Tuckahoe, New York ; E. E. Huber, Eberhard Faber, Brooklyn, 

 New York; Thomas W. Miller, Faultless Rubber Co., Ashland, 

 Ohio. 



The Mechanical Rubber Goods Manufacturers' Division 

 elected William T. Cole chairman, Fabric Fire Hose Co., New 

 York City; John J. Voorhees, vice-chairman, Voorhees Rubber 

 Manufacturing Co., Jersey City, New Jersey. The Executive 

 Committee consisting of five members will be appointed later. 



The Rubber Reclaimers' Club met and voted to organize as 

 a division of the Rubber Club to be known as the Rubber Re- 

 claimers' Division. Captain Francis H. Appleton was elected 

 chairman. . 



Harry S. Vorhis was elected secretary and treasurer of all 

 the divisions. 



AMERICAN COMPETITION IN TIRES RESENTED. 



IN a recent Trade Supplement published by the "London Times" 

 a prominent British rubber manufacturer writes as 

 follows : 



From the West has come a Colossus which they do fear, and 

 with good cause. It seems a harsh thing to say, but there can be 

 no doubt that the American rubber trade has deliberately set out 

 to capture the business of the British rubber manufacturers 

 whilst the latter are preoccupied and handicapped by war work. 

 Before the war the Americans had secured little or no hold on 

 the British market, and less, to use an Irishism, in the Colo- 

 nies. Now let the figures speak. In motor tires alone, excluding 

 those fitted to vehicles, the imports into Great Britain have been 

 as follows : 



Year 1914 £ 270,550 



Year 1915 1,225,422 



First half of 1916 1,063,585 



The total United States exports of motor tires for the years 

 ended June 30 being: 



1914 $3,505,267 



1915 4,963,270 



1916 17,936,227 



Needless to say the huge increase for 1916 is not a newly- 

 created trade, but the result of a deliberate campaign of flood- 

 ing our Colonies and other markets with huge quantities of 

 American tires. 



The ordinary business man at this stage would naturally ask 

 why the government does not intervene to prevent the import of 



unwanted goods and the consequent export of gold to pay for them 

 by a Prohibition of Import Order. But here we enter the reatmt 

 of high diplomacy. An order was actually made, and withdrawn 

 at the eleventh hour, as it was stated in the House of Common! 

 that an arrangement existed with American manufacturer! 

 which precluded the possibility of prohibiting the import of these 

 goods. 



It is certain, however, that the first pioneers of British plan- 

 tation rubber, when they smuggled away the Hevea seeds from 

 Brazil, little thought that by giving Britain control of the world'$ 

 supply of rubber they would be doing at the same time an injury 

 to British rubber manufacturers. Such, however, is in effect 

 what has happened, as the arrangement with American manufac- 

 turers was to allow them supplies of British rubber in con- 

 sideration of their executing all their orders for neutral Euro- 

 pean countries through Great Britain. If, therefore, there had 

 been no British rubber there would be no American tires now 

 coming into Great Britain. 



The planter is inclined to take the view that because he is 

 able to sell his production at a handsome profit all is well with 

 it. He should, however, not wait for the writing on the wall. 

 Some of the world's largest consumers are developing their own 

 estates, mainly to get over this bogy of variability, and the day 

 may come when a rubber will have to stand or fall on its quality 

 and its attainment of a certain standard. 



,'Ml this points to the necessity of combination between the 

 producing and manufacturing sides of the industry. A joint 

 research commission should therefore be formed composed of 

 the best technical men obtainable on both sides, and a definite 

 program carried out, in the interests of the industry. 



It seems a somewhat unfortunate state of affairs that whilst 

 of the expected world's production of crude rubber for 1916 

 about 75 per cent will be produced within the British Empire, 

 probably not more than about 12 per cent of it will be consumed 

 by British manufacturers. Of the remainder probably 62J/2 per 

 cent will be used by the United States. 



They will probably need for 1916 at least 125,000 tons, which 

 on a rough and ready calculation may be taken to represent the 

 production of goods of a selling value of £12S,000,(X)0. Three 

 of the principal concerns will together show a total turnover 

 for the current year of appro.ximately £50,000,000. 



As to whether any considerable portion of this huge business 

 could be done on this side under different economic conditions 

 is open to doubt. To commence with it is attributable to a great 

 extent to the universal prosperity and the high wages of the 

 working classes in the States. At the end of this year it is 

 expected that the total number of cars registered in the United 

 States will be 3,250,000, or approximately one to every 32 per- 

 sons. The consumption of tires in the upkeep of these cars is 

 of course enormous. 



The figures for the British rubber trade compared with those 

 for the United States seem small, but none the less it ranks as 

 one of the more important industries of the country, with an 

 output of from twenty to twenty-five millions sterling. At any 

 rate, it is a sufficiently important national asset for the govern- 

 ment and nation to see that it is not swallowed up by the Amer- 

 ican Goliath. 



In conclusion, one may be permitted to wonder why, when 

 the nation is being taxed to the uttermost farthing in every direc- 

 tion, neutrals should not be made to bear a slight contribution 

 towards the cost of the war, from which they are profiting so 

 greatly. An export duty on crude rubber sent out of the British 

 Dominions of only 6d. per pound would bring in probably £6,000,- 

 000 and would certainly not reduce the exports by one pound. 

 It would, moreover, not make the price prohibitive, as a sixpenny 

 rise in the price of rubber is by no means rare. But perhaps the 

 Rubber Growers' Association would have much to say on such a 

 proposal. 



DIRECT SHIPMENT OF RUBBER GOODS TO POKTUGAL. 



The following notification has recently been received froin the 

 British Consulate General at New York City: 



I have to inform you that Portugal may now be regarded as on 

 the satne footing as other allied countries in Europe, in connec- 

 tion with the rubber guarantee. 



It will, therefore, be in order for manufacturers to ship rubber 

 goods by direct steamer to Portugal in the future. 



CORRECTION. 



In the notice concerning the resignation of the superintendent 

 of Parker, Stearns & Co. appearing in the January number of 

 The India Rubber World, the name should read F. G. Littell, 

 instead of F. G. Hettell. 



