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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 1, 1917. 



THE PROPOSED RUBBER WAR TAXES. 



IT is dif'ticult to understand why llic proposed war tax 

 liill singles out automobile tires and tubes for a 5 per 

 cent levy not imposed upon other rulibel" manufactures. 

 This means that for war revenue purposes one-third of 

 the rubber product has been classed with liquors, tobacco, 

 amusement tickets and other luxuries. Jt means further 

 that as crude rubber, like all other imports, will be sub- 

 ject to a flat impost of 10 per cent, tires and tui)es must 

 pay double taxes. 



The rubber trade as represented by the Legislative 

 Committee of the Rubber Association is advocating a 

 continuance of free rubber and a 5 per cent war tax on 

 all rubber manufactures as being more equitable and rais- 

 ing more revenue than the bill as it now stands. This 

 arrangement, based on 1916 figures, would yield $30,000,- 

 000 as against $26,517,000, which would result from a 10 

 per cent duty on the $164,517,000 crude rubber imports 

 and a 5 per cent tax on the $200,000,000 tire product. 



INDIA RUBBER NOT OBSOLETE. 



A RECENT pronunciamento from a committee 

 that is working upon a "Glossary of terms 

 used in the Rubber Industry" will hardly appeal to the 

 scholarly members of the trade. It reads "India-Rub- 

 ber: An obsolete term for rubber.'" That the term is 

 not obsolete as far as the best literature of the trade 

 is concerned is :iot even open to argument. 



In "Lectures on India Rubber," edited by David 

 Spence, Ph.D., F.I.C., 1909, occurs the following which 

 is certainly authoritative : The" word india rubber, 

 which is still almost exclusively used in English, was 

 first applied, etc. 



Furthermore, it can hardly become obsolete because of 

 its value as a term that admits of no confusion or miscon- 

 ception. Leading lexicographers defining india rubber, 

 sometimes giving preference to the word caoutchouc, 

 cite but one substance, the elastic gum that is the 

 basis of the great industry that bears its name. 



We append a few definitions of india rubber : 



Webster's International Dictionary : A tough elas- 

 tic substance obtained from the milky juice of various 

 tropical plants. 



Standard Dictionary : A soft, flexible and very elas- 

 tic substance derived from the milky sap of various 

 tropical plants. 



Century Dictionary : An elastic gummy substance, 

 the coagulated milky juice of various plants. 



Encyclopaedia Britannica : The chief constituent of 

 the milky juice or latex furnished by a number of dif- 

 ferent trees, shrubs and vines. 



Appleton's Encyclopaedia : The inspissated juice or 

 sap of several species of plants of the families Euphor- 

 biaceae, Moraccae, Artocarpaceae, and Apocynaccac. 



Carl Otto Weber, Ph. D. : The product of the 

 coagulation of the milky juices (emulsion) of a large 

 number of trees, creepers and shrubs, comparable in 



this respect to the oils and more particularly the ter- 

 penes. 



heligmann, Torrhilon and Falconnct : A hydrocar- 

 bide of vegetable origin extracted from the juice se- 

 creted by the protoplasm of so-called primordial 

 cellular tissue of a great number of trees, shrubs and 

 vines, climbers or vine weeds of hot countries. 



Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry : The 

 hydrocarbon which occurs in the form of minute globules 

 in the milky juice or latex of many tropical plants. 



India Rubber World : A tough elastic substance, the 

 product of coagulation of the milky juice or latex of 

 various tropical trees, shrubs and vines. 



These refer and will always refer to one substance only. 



On the other hand the word rubber, as defined by 

 the same lexicographers, has the following meanings all 

 in common use : 



(1) One who or that which rubs. 



(a) An instrument or thing used in rubbing, polish- 



ing or cleaning. 



(b) A coarse file or the rough part of a file. 



(c) A whetstone : a rubstone. 



(d) An eraser usually made of caoutchouc. 



(e) The cushion of an electrical machine. 



(f) One who performs massage. 



(g) Something that chafes or annoys. 



(2) The odd game when there is a tie as a rubber of whisi. 



(3) Stretching or craning in inquisitive observation, also 

 rubber neck (common slang). 



(4) An overshoe made of india rubber. 



(5) India Rubber: caoutchouc. 



Thus, it would seem that india rubber for exact usage 

 is bound to persist. The word rubber with eleven mean- 

 ings as an equivalent, a secondary term for the sake of 

 brevity, will also continue in use, but as a supplanter, 

 despite its common use, it is not specific nor exact. 



Radical changes without good reason are always to 

 be avoided. If, however, the best term is sought, why 

 not call it gum elastic? This was Goodyear's choice 

 and is completely descriptive, and likely to be applied 

 to no other substance. 



i 



GERMAN PATENTS AND THE WAR. 



IN the event of prolonged hostilities, it is probable that 

 the United States will do much as England has done. 

 For example, it is perfectly possible that German 

 patents in the United States will be cancelled. This 

 would interest the dye people greatly. It would also in- 

 terest the chemical concerns and the rubber laboratories, 

 for it would release for manufacture many accelerators on 

 which we now pay royalty to German owners. 



A THRILL RUNS THROUGH US WHEN WE RE.-\D THAT 



Hoover as food dictator will serve without compensa- 

 tion. And we should be thrilled at such patriotism. In- 

 cidentally we might well utilize a thrill or two in appre- 

 ciating what men in our own trade are doing without pay. 

 Thomas Robins, H. Stuart Hotchkiss, George B. Hodg- 

 man, F. A. Seiberling, A. H. Marks, F. C. Hood, David 

 Spence and others are doing important and exhaustive 

 work for Uncle S v i with no thought of compensation of 

 anv sort. 



