180 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



"Our industry as a whole will be immensely benefited by Uie 

 standardizations which have been formulated by the Solid Tire 

 Division, and the truck owner will be equally benefited if the 

 truck builder recognizes the value of this work and accepts the 

 standardizations in tlie same spirit that prompted their creation. 

 The work in the immediate future by the Solid Tire Division is 

 to promote the general adoption in commercial lines of the 

 standardizations which the division has created. The honest 

 effort and whole-hearted enthusiasm which has been shown in 

 the work of the Solid Tire Division is very gratifying, and is 

 indicative of what our industry can really accomplish by the 

 continuation of such committee work in time of peace." 



THE RUBBER ASSOCIATION AND THE WAR SERVICE 

 COMMITTEE. 



"More remarkable has been the manner in which the rubber 

 industry, through its representatives, has enforced the restrictions 

 and managed the details of import and export licensing, curtail- 

 ment, and allocation, affecting it under the direction of the 

 War Trade Board. For untiring and impartial service, sound 

 judgment and keen foresight, the officials of The Rubber Asso- 

 ciation of America and the members of the War Service Com- 

 mittee of the Rubber Industry, including its numerous divisions, 

 deserve the grateful appreciation of the whole trade. 



"Following the industrial mobilization of the country in De- 

 cember, 1917, and the organization of the War Service Com- 

 mittee to assist the Government, events of great moment to the 

 rubber industry crowded one upon another in rapid sequence. 

 To prevent crude rubber and rubber goods from reaching the 

 enemy, all imports of crude rubber and allied gums, cotton and 

 other materials were put under license. The Rubber Association 

 was asked by the War Trade Board to act as consignee of all 

 importations of crude rubber from foreign countries, to be re- 

 leased only under guarantees of good faith. For the same 

 reasons, to prevent shortage and to conserve them for ourselves 

 and our allies, rubber and allied gums, also numerous chemicals 

 and compounding ingredients, were placed on the Export Em- 

 bargo List. That the enemy might not profit from American 

 business, the Enemy Trading List was issued, prohibiting trade 

 with certain Latin-American firms. In February, these precau- 

 tions were followed by placing" all imports and exports under 

 license. 



"By May the demands upon the available ship tonnage had 

 become so great that drastic restrictions in overseas commerce 

 became necessary and the importation of crude rubber, along 

 with other commodities, was curtailed. To prevent speculation, 

 maximum prices for the various grades were fixed in advance. 

 The basis of importation for a three months' period was set at 

 100,000 tons per annum ; government needs, estimated at 35,000 

 tons, were deducted and the balance allocated pro rata to each 

 firm on a basis of 7/16 of its 1917 consumption. This arrange- 

 ment and subsequent modifications were worked out with the 

 aid of data furnished by a series of questionnaires issued to the 

 trade by the War Service Committee, in which, for the first 

 time in history, rubber manufacturers told how much crude and 

 reclaimed rubber they consumed." 



ENTHUSIASTIC SERVICE. 



"Hampered by coal and labor shortages, enforced holidays, 

 transportation difficulties, adverse priorities, embargo, restriction, 

 curtailment, and allocation of raw materials and finished prod- 

 ucts, high taxes and constantly advancing costs for wages and 

 most commodities, rubber men have persisted in patriotic 

 optimism and practical helpfulness rather than self-pity. Their 

 zeal to further American participation in the war is imperish- 

 ably written in the records of every campaign for Liberty Bonds, 

 War Savings Stamps, United War Work and Red Cross funds ; 

 it is seen in the innumerable firm and community funds to 

 provide wholesome entertainment, reading matter, athletic goods. 

 comfort kits and smokes for the boys in service; it is mani- 



fested by the enthusiasm for Americanization in rubber mills, 

 that fiircign-born employes may be educated in our language and 

 ideals. Service flags in virtually every establishment bear elo- 

 quent testimony to the thousands of officials and employes in 

 various branches of war service, many being in executive govern- 

 ment positions of great responsibility." 



PRACTICAL PATRIOTISM. 



"This world conflict has placed rubber goods among the prime 

 essentials of modern warfare, and the industry may take a just 

 pride in the notably high average quality of the goods supplied 

 and the marked absence of anything savoring of profiteering. 

 Even the unfortunate raincoat scandal is being shown in the 

 courts to be the fault of irresponsible workers and careless 

 inspectors rather than that of the rubber industry. The dispatch 

 with which enormous quantities of waterproof garments, gas- 

 masks, and other rubber goods were supplied to the Army and 

 Navy was truly wonderful, while the eagerness with which the 

 entire heavy-footwear producing capacity of the country was 

 placed at the disposal of the Government until military needs 

 for millions of pairs of rubber boots, overshoes and gaiters were 

 met, regardless of more lucrative civilian orders, exemplifies the 

 sort of practical patriotism that has animated the trade." 

 CYCLE AND MOTOR TRUCK TIRES. 



"The past year has witnessed numerous economic changes 

 brought about by the war, which affect the rubber industry 

 greatly. Higher transportation costs have increased the use of 

 the bicycle, with a consequent greater demand for tires. But 

 of far more importance is the enormous development of motor 

 trucks for army use, delivery purposes, short-haul and even long- 

 distance overland freights in which a few rubber companies 

 were among the pioneers. More than half a million motor 

 trucks are now in use in the United States, and it is confidently 

 predicted that in five years there will be four millions. A 

 phenomenal growth of the solid-tire industry has resulted. 

 Meanwhile, too, cord construction has removed the previous 

 limits of pneumatic-tire sizes, and 12-inch cord tires are now 

 being successfully used on the heaviest trucks, prolonging their 

 life and increasing their speed. Nothing can stop this great 

 economic movement except the failure to build hard-surfaced 

 roads of adequate strength to carry the greater tonnage at the 

 higher speed required, and with government officials everywhere 

 awake to the need, an adequate construction program seems 

 assured. 



"New industries have been created and further incentive given 

 to the old by the abnormal conditions affecting raw materials. 

 The prevailing spirit of economy, the necessity to conserve 

 rubber, the high cost and shortage of tires, and the importance 

 of obtaining maximum service from them have all been factors 

 in the new industry of retreading or rebuilding tires, which has 

 assumed considerable importance in America during the last 

 twelvemonth. Henceforth thousands of automobile tires, such 

 as were formerly discarded prematurely, will be rehabilitated for 

 further service at a low^er cost per mile than that of new tires." 

 THE SPIRIT OF COOPERATION. 



"Certainly the magnificent spirit of patriotism and cooperation 

 in which the trade as a whole has faced the problems and hard- 

 ships of the war, always making its decisions for the good of 

 the entire industry, indicates with what confidence the period 

 of readjustment and reconstruction may be looked forward to. 

 In this connection legalized export combinations in America will 

 go a long way to offset the scheme of a possible Prussian rubber 

 trust to secure an inordinate share of foreign trade." 



RUBBER PRODUCTION IN THE FAR EAST. 



Messr.-.. Harrisons and Crosfield, Limited, London, England, 

 calculate that the annual production of plantation rubber in the 

 Far East will amount to 350,000 tons when the 2,000,000 acres of 

 !rees have all attained 400 pounds per acre. 



