June 1, 1919.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



469 



Reg. United States Pat. Off. Reg. United Kingdom. 



Published on the 1st of each month by 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING GO. 



No. 25 West 4Sth Street, New York. 



Telephone — Bryant 2576. 



CABLE ADDRESS: IRWORLD, NEW YORK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, F.R.G.S., Editor 



Vol. 60. 



JUNE 1. 1919. 



No. 3. 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS ON LAST PAGE OF READING. 

 RUBBER MANUFACTURERS' OPINIONS. 



THE RESULTS of a canvass of the membership of 

 the National Association of Manufacturers — 

 4,400 large firms engaged in practically every line of 

 industry — with respect to business conditions and 

 probabilities have just been compiled and individual 

 opinions quoted regarding what is needed to promote 

 general prosperity. Five out of 22 principal groups of 

 industries throughout the United States are all that 

 agree that business activity is more than between 25 

 and 50 per cent of normal. One of these is the rubber 

 industry. 



The five divisions of industry reporting a predomi- 

 nating condition of present business prosperity are the 

 jewelry and silverware, musical instruments and 

 vehicle groups (the last mentioned including automo- 

 bile manufacture), rubber and tobacco. With the ex- 

 ception of these five, the manufacturers in general do 

 not view the trade probabilities for the balance of 1919 

 as very bright. The views of the rubber manufactur- 

 ers are here presented. On present trade conditions 

 19 per cent of rubber men report them poor ; 19 per 

 cent report fair; 42 per cent, good; and 20 per cent, 

 excellent. Of the trade prospects for 1919, 5 per cent 



of the rubber men report them poor; 15 per cent report 

 fair; 57 per cent, good, and 23 per cent find them ex- 

 cellent. 



Conditions of manufactured stocks on hand with 

 retailers (or jobbers) compared with normal pre-war 

 supply : 



Rubber and manufacturers report: low, 52 per cent; 

 normal, 32 per cent ; and over, 16 per cent. 



Are consumers and retailers (or jobbers) buying on 

 any important scale? Rubber manufacturers report: 

 54 per cent, yes ; 46 per cent, no. 



Are domestic markets of more immediate attraction 

 than foreign? 



Of rubber manufacturers, 76 report that they are, 

 24 per cent that they are not. 



One hundred per cent of rubber manufacturers are 

 recorded as opposed to government ownership of 

 public utilities. On the question of private ownership 

 under government regulation 75 per cent of rubber 

 manufacturers report that they favor it, and 25 per 

 cent are against it. 



On the question "Do manufacturers favor legalized 

 (Federal statute) fixed resale prices on trade-marked 

 articles?" 48 per cent of rubber manufacturers favor 

 it and 52 per cent are against it. 



On the question of a referendum on the proposed 

 legally vested National Labor Board to adjudicate dis- 

 putes, 76 per cent of rubber dealers and manufacturers 

 favor it while 24 per cent are against it. 



Ninety three per cent of rubber dealers and manu- 

 facturers report themselves in favor of the repeal of 

 the La Follette Seamen's Law and 7 per cent are 

 against it. 



The question "Should statutory responsibility be 

 imposed on trade unions ?" shows that but one per cent 

 of the rubber industry is against it, while 99 per cent 

 declare in favor of it. 



THE COMING INDUSTRIAL CONGRESS. 



IMMEDIATELY after the return of President Wil- 

 son from Paris, an industrial congress to bring about 

 an amicable program between capital, labor and the 

 Government for the readjustment of industry is to be 

 called. About 100 persons will be invited to the con- 

 ference, which will include some of the biggest em- 

 ployers of labor such as Charles M. Schwab, John D. 

 Rockefeller, Jr., Henry Ford, and J. Ogden Armour, 

 with labor representatives such as Samuel Gompers, 

 W. D. Mahon, John Fitzpatrick, and Austin B. Garret- 

 son. Men and women from other walks of life, former 

 President Taft, Justices Brandeis and Holmes, Arch- 

 bishop Hayes, Professor Ripley of Harvard and others 

 are also expected. Such a conference should be able 

 to do much to improve industrial conditions and agree 

 upon a course which will result in a good accord 

 between labor and capital. It is understood the con- 



