176 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[JANU/ 



in a notable address before the Industrial Reconstruction 

 Council, recently said : 



It appears to me, therefore, that one of the tirst prob- 

 lems that we have to solve, and one to which the most 

 earnest attention of manufacturers must be directed, is 

 such an organization of industry as will make possible 

 the complete overhauling of our industrial equipment, 

 and establish large-scale production in all cases where it 

 is economically advantageous, whilst in no way checking 

 individual initiative and enterprise. How that result may 

 best be attained, whether by the consolidation of com- 

 panies or firms engaged in identical or allied branches of 

 production, or by other forms of cooperation, is a matter 

 primarily for those concerned in the industries them- 

 selves to determine ; but I do say that considerable devel- 

 opment of the kind is essential, especially in view of the 

 competition of the great industries of other countries, 

 particularly, the United States and Germany, which 

 started from a much later stage in the world's industrial 

 knowledge and experience, and have consequently been 

 less influenced by tradition and less handicapped by works 

 not up to modern standards. 



That the British have ever been great and enterprising 

 merchants none can deny. They have also been honest 

 and above board in their merchandizing. If now they 

 use in manufacture the conspicuous ability shown in 

 quantity production of war material they will indeed be 

 competitors hard to beat. Of course no great British 

 rubber trust has yet appeared, but something of the sort 

 is in the minds of those who plan to preserve the English 

 industries. 



but that is perhaps too much to hope for. At all events, 

 willingly or unwillingly, it should be done. 



A FRIENDLY MESSAGE FROM BRITAIN. 



IN another column will be found a most timely and 

 friendly letter from the Association of Rubber 

 Manufacturers whose headquarters are in London. It 

 is a vote of confidence in the integrity of the American 

 rubber trade, and as such is a merited rebuke for those 

 who for personal gain or perhaps from motives more 

 sinister, strive to make trouble between the two great 

 English-speaking countries. Such eiiforts if continued 

 by the short-sighted, the selfish, and the prejudiced on 

 either side of the water, will have little efifect hereafter, 

 at least in the rubber trade. 



RUBBER RESTITUTION. 



THE rubber trade of Germany may or may not have 

 been in sympathy with the aims of the Prussian War 

 Lords. From no individual in it, however, has come the 

 slightest protest or hint of disagreement with the policy 

 of destruction and frightfulness visited upon the French, 

 Belgians, and Russians. Not only that, but according 

 to reports, the rubber mills in occupied territories 

 were dismantled and the stocks and machinery sent to 

 Germany. In any equitable peace adjustment, the mills 

 should be rebuilt, new machinery installed, and stocks 

 replenished, if not by the German Government, then by 

 the German rubber manufacturers. We could wish for 

 the good of their souls that they do this voluntarily, 



ALLOCATING GERMAN CRUDE RUBBER. 



THAT Germany may pay her gigantic debts she must 

 run her factories to the limit. To do this, certain 

 raw materials controlled by the Allies are necessary. Of 

 these is rubber. To be sure there are two opinions re- 

 garding the scarcity of rubber in Germany. One belief 

 is that nothing but a poor grade of reclaim is to be found 

 in all Teutonia. The other claims that by the develop- 

 ment of synthetic rubber, and by the extraction of rubber 

 from certain weeds and shrubs indigenous to Germany 

 and Au.stria-Hungary, no great scarcity exists. Be that 

 as it may, the cards will soon be on the table and these 

 obscure points cleared up. 



Before the war the Central Powers used some 20,000 

 tons of crude rubber, and a greater number of tons of 

 reclaimed rubber. Supposing the needs for home con- 

 sumption and such export trade as is still pro-German 

 remain about as above, will Germany be allowed to go 

 into the open market and purchase as much as she needs, 

 and will ships be furnished to transport it? Or is it to 

 be passed through Allied hands and allocated? This is a 

 somewhat interesting question to planters, producers, 

 and more remotelv, to rubber manufacturers. 



Those who appreciate the Teutonic lack of in- 

 ventiveness are skeptical regarding the peace value of 

 the floods of substitutes that war has forced them to 

 develop and use. As far as the rubber industry is con- 

 cerned the interest centers about synthetic rubber and 

 cotton substitutes. With regard to the first there is no 

 probability that it will have commercial value in times 

 of peace, while the second may or may not be worth 

 consideration. That the Allies refuse to grant protection 

 to these or other war products would be only fair to a 

 world impoverished by German greed. That is, unless 

 a recreated Germany extends protection to Allied 

 inventions. 



Joint action on the part of the users of raw 

 materials is earnestly advocated by European publicists. 

 If this crystallized into action it would mean cooperative 

 buying of crude rubber either through government or a 

 purchasing syndicate. If England, France, and the rest 

 of the big European countries thus assured themselves 

 of their crude rubber supply, would manufacturers in the 

 L'nited States buy as individuals what is left, or would 

 they also buy, perhaps through The Rubber Association 

 of America? 



There are 2,000,000 acres of producing cultivated 

 rubber trees in the world. Of these 1,600,000 acres are 

 under British control. The market value of the shares 

 representing this immense acreage was in August last, 

 according to the London "Times," $750,000,000. 



