THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July 1, 1919. 



From Rubber Planters in Mexico. 



Letters to the Editor. 



((Y SOMETIMES WISH that the American rubber trade could 

 I have been with you in 1903, 1904 and 1905 when jou 

 visited Mexico, examined the plantations, and studied con- 

 ditions. Could they, for example, have been crowded into the little 

 launch that went up the Coatzacoalcos river, then up the Usapa- 

 apa and finally entered the Chichigapa, landing at the long river 

 pier at Plantation Rubio. Then after luncheon the whole party to 

 take horse and ride for hours through the miles of rubber trees, 

 visiting the villages of thatched houses, put up for the hundreds 

 of laborers, viewing the substantial storehouses, together with 

 the bungalows of the superintendent and foreinen ; they certainly 

 would have been impressed, not only by the enterprise shown in 

 the clearing and planting of thousands of acres of jungle but they 

 could not but note how prosperous and contented were the 

 workmen and their famihes. There would also have come to 

 them the feeling of safety that we all had under the protection of 

 Diaz and incidentally Uncle Sam ! 



"Had they taken that trip I could wish that they might take it 

 again to-day. To be sure, the launch would afford a good target 

 for bandit snipers along the river banks and would need to be 

 armored. Over at Rubio the charred and rotting remains of the 

 long pier might help one to flounder up to the site of the once 

 tiled and brick bodega. Then up to the main road now choked 

 with jungle growth, to the plantation where stood the administra- 

 tion settlement. Here would be seen destruction, wanton and 

 complete — homes burned to the ground or dismembered and 

 wrecked beyond description. Possibly they would wish to visit 

 the graves of young Saenz and two other American white men 

 killed by bandits because they tried to protect the property of 

 their American employers. It would hardly be safe to visit the 

 rubber plantings but could they do so they would find trees 



Bodega Destroyed by Bandits, 



slashed and burned and the choking jungle growth covering 

 everything. Of all the old order nothing remains — all is changed, 

 except the collection of taxes. This goes right on, and perhaps 

 will result in final confiscation. 



"This of course would be but one example. It could be dupli- 

 cated many, many times had the visitors the heart for such 

 inspection. Diaz is dead, God rest him, and Uncle Sam sleeps! 



Uncle Sam sleeps almost as soundly as scores of young Ameri- 

 cans, whose graves dot the once prosperous plantations of the 

 ticrra calicnte." 



DESTRUCTION OF HEVEA TREES. 



".\s 1 have before indicated — I believe 50 per cent of the rub- 

 ber iilantations in Mexico, by adding cattle, corn and the like, 

 uijuld to-day be .m a paying basis if they had been protected. 



RICK AND Tile Factory Burned by B.\ndits. 



But banditry prevailed, the workmen were driven away or forced 

 into the army, and property destroyed in all directions. Amer- 

 icans left, those who could, and it seems hopeless to try to do 

 anything. It is a shame, a shame that has continued for years. 



"I do not suppose many know it but the experiments with the 

 Hevea tree in Mexico proved that it would do just as well as in 

 the Far East. Under fair conditions there should have been 

 thousands of acres now in bearing. It would have meant the 

 financial salvation of scores of American planters in Mexico. 

 But the Hcvca trees have been practically wiped out through 

 forced neglect or wilful destruction. 



"I might add that the American planter was a godsend to the 

 Mexican laborer. Hevea plantations or any successful planta- 

 tions meant food, clothing and schooling to a people sadly in 

 need of all three. It also meant added revenue to a bankrupt 

 government." 



RUBBER FOOTWEAR SCHOOL. 



Factory training under direct supervision and upon a 

 production basis has proved eminently satisfactory for two 

 years past in teaching the rudiments of rubber footwear construc- 

 tion in a leading American factory employing 8,500 persons, 

 approximately 50 per cent of whom are women engaged upon the 

 manufacture of rubber footwear. Learners reinain in this school 

 two weeks, or until they are able to produce 60 pairs a day. 

 While in training they are paid $10 per week, or if they are able 

 to turn out a "full ticket" of 102 pairs, they receive $16.50 per 

 week. When transferred to the shoe-working department they 

 are put upon a piece-rate basis. 



Numerous pamphlets of value to those interested in various 

 methods of industrial training have been published by the Depart- 

 ment of Labor and may be had on application to the United 

 States Training Service, 618 Seventeenth street, N. W., Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



