THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October 1, 1918. 



"Year after year for the past seven years the Ameri- 

 cans, as the largest buyers, have shown their power to 

 control the price of this commodity. By first acquiring 

 stocks, and then for a time standing out of the market, 

 they have repeatedly been able to force timid and im- 

 pecunious growers to sell their crops at low prices." 



So this is wrong, or at least unethical? One wonders 

 if the planter ever holds his rubber for higher prices or 

 raises prices when rubber is scarce? 



Continuing, this annoying accusation is made : 



"These clever American buyers no doubt welcomed— 

 jn-obably asked for — the restriction and licensing of rub- 

 ber imports as the finest opportunity of securing cheap 

 rubber that has ever been presented to them." 



The "clever buyers" neither asked for nor welcomed 

 the government restrictions. Indeed they protested stren- 

 uously against them, for it meant and still means great 

 curtailment of business, a very serious matter for all. 



Further says this writer: 



"The absurd suggestion that the country could ef- 

 fectively play its part in the war and cut down its 

 consumption of rubber from 180,000 tons to 100,000 

 tons was unfortunately believed in certain quarters here." 



Many Americans wish the suggestion were absurd. 

 The long list of "non-essentials" in rubber no longer 

 to be manufactured; the stopping of automobile manu- 

 facture ; the elimination of hundreds of styles of tires ; 

 the discontinuance of hundreds of styles of rubber foot- 

 wear; the rule that of the 1,100 types of water bottles 

 only three shall be manufactured, are but a few of the 

 items that go to show that rubber manufacture, and 

 rubber use are being curtailed. And be it noted, every 

 division of the trade, through committees, is working 

 hard at the problem of cutting down on rubber in every 

 direction, and doing it with enthusiasm. 



Another paragraph runs thus : 



"Even now it is not too late to save the situation. Let 

 the Rubber Growers' Association face the facts, and look 

 below the surface of these 'restrictions' to the unfair 

 advantage the American manufacturer is taking of 

 war-time conditions in attempting to secure control of 

 the plantation industry." 



By all means let the Rubber Growers' Association face 

 the facts. They are these. 



1st. The excess rubber importation can be easily 

 accounted for. It is due to Colonial shippers, amongst 

 them some very prominent English firms, forwarding 

 large weights of rubber without an import license re- 

 gardless of the fact that one was required. 



Positive knowledge is now in the possession of the 

 War Trade Board of considerably more than 5,000 tons 

 so shipped and some of the best known English firm? 

 are implicated. 



However, when this is used as a basis by some of our 

 English friends to insinuate American manufacturers 

 have deceived the United States Government and are 

 bringing in more rubber than the program calls for, 

 then it is about time to make it clearly evident who are 



responsible for the excess importations over the pre- 

 scribed schedule. 



Here is a statement of the actual facts. 



The amount of rubber actually licensed for importa- 

 tion by the Bureau of Imports of the War Trade Board 

 from May 8 to September 23 was 40,044 tons shipping 

 weight or, after making allowances for the shrinkage 

 allowed on Brazilian rubbers, say 36,000 tons dry 

 weight. 



Therefore, the allocation program of 100,000 tons per 

 annum is certainly being strictly lived up to. 



Any weight beyond the above amount that has been 

 shipped after May 8, is unlicensed rubber, cannot be 

 entered for consumption until it is licensed, and when 

 it is, it will apply against the schedule. 



In other words, where provision is made for licensing 

 25,000 tons during the forthcoming quarter, not all of 

 this by any means will leave overseas points. 



The War Trade Board intends that this unlicensed 

 rubber shall be taken care of. Consequently shipments 

 from overseas during the next three months are likely 

 to be slender indeed, particularly as the War Trade 

 Board is not likely to deal leniently from this date, now 

 that their import regulations are so well known, and 

 any offender who persists in shipping without a license 

 is liable to find himself in an uncomfortable situation. 



Assuming that the importations of crude rubber dur- 

 ing 1917 amounted to approximately 180,000 long tons, 

 the actual consumption during 1917, as determined by 

 a very careful census and backed up by sworn state- 

 ments from substantially all the manufacturers, indicate 

 an actual consumption of 330,653,640 pounds or say 

 147,613 long tons. 

 -Stocks on hand and in transit to the United States, 



December 31, 1917 67,5AS tons. 



Stocks on hand and in transit March 31, 1918 87,572 tons 



Stocks on hand and in transit July 31, 1918 77,413 tons 



During August and September, the output of pneu- 

 matic tires was limited to 50 per cent of the manufac- 

 turer's 1917 production. Eor the forthcoming quarter 

 of October-December, the same restriction applies and 

 in addition thereto the manufacture of more or less non- 

 essential articles is to be either eliminated or heavily 

 curtailed. 



It is our best judgment that the total consumption 

 during the forthcoming quarter will not exceed 32,000 

 tons against 25,000 tons to be licensed. 



The reduction of 7,000 tons in stock can be sustained 

 by reason of the heavy weights on hand and in transit, 

 as indicated. 



2nd. The news of American restrictions brought 

 about a bear market in the Far East. Some American 

 and some English rubber manufacturers doubtless pur- 

 chased largely at low figures. They will have to store 

 the rubber in a tropical country perhaps for years, a 

 costly proceeding. They took a risk that the planter 

 did not wish to take. 



