1£2 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1914. 



United States 529 



France 1.326 



Gnat Britain 1,550 



Netherlands 735 



Other countries 2,168 



Total 11.185 



13,670 



14,745 



Plant of Englebert & CrE. 



\ comparatively small percentage — ranging from 20 to 25 



i rent.— of the Belgian rubber imports represents Belgian 



consumption, the remainder being distributed to various 



points. This distribution for the last three years is shown 



in the following table: 



Exports of Crude Rubber from Belgium During the Last 

 Three Years and Principle Points of Destination. 

 To 1911 1912 1913 



Germany tons 1,458 1,623 1,919 



United States 2,651 2,726 2,775 



France 1.045 1,455 1,058 



Great Britain 917 801 717 



Hamburg 1,064 906 783 



Netherlands 680 1,011 1,176 



Russia 1.021 1,899 2,091 



Other countries 331 741 572 



Total 9,167 11,162 11,091 



Total imports 11,185 13,670 14.745 



Total exports 9,167 11.162 11,091 



Belgian consumption 2,018 2,508 3,654 



Entrance to Belgian Exhibit at the London Rubber Exhibi- 

 tion. 



It will be noticed from the table of imports above that 

 Belgian rubber imports from the Far East have increased 



rapidly during the last three years, amounting in 1913 to 

 2,980 tons, as compared with 857 tons two years earlier. The 

 greater part of this rubber came from the estates established 

 by Belgium in Malaya, Java and Sumatra. But the story of 

 rubber importations in Belgium during the last thirty years 

 has to do chiefly, in fact almost entirely, with the Belgian 

 Congo. 



The first authentic information on the Congo country was 

 given to the world in 1869 by the great missionary explorer, 

 David Livingstone. The Upper Congo was explored by his 

 successor, Henry M. Stanley, who organized there the In- 

 ternational African Association, its promoter being King 

 Leopold of Belgium. Stanley first told the world of the great 

 material resources in ivory, rubber and other products of the 

 Congo. The first exports from that section were confined to 

 ivory and rubber, as the cost of transportation made it im- 

 practicable to bring any of the other products cf that vast 

 territory to the markets of the world. The shipments of 

 rubber from the Congo began in 1887, when 33 tons were 

 exported. The volume of exports increased rapidly, reach- 

 ing 136 tons in 1890, over 600 tons in 1895, and reaching their 



Map Showing Congo Free State. 



maximum, 6.614 tons, in 1901. This rubber was largely ex- 

 tracted from the Landolphia vine and secured in such a way that 

 in most instances the vine was destroyed. The India Rubber 

 World took early cognizance of the rubber possibilities of the 

 Congo and in its December issue in 1892 it printed a two and 

 a half page article descriptive of the development of that 

 country and giving the first accurate map of the rubber sec- 

 tion of the Congo that had appeared in this country. 



The prospects for profitable operation were so great that 

 many companies were formed to extract the Congo rubber 

 and to develop the country in various ways. Among the 

 pioneers in this work was an American, Warren C. Unckles, 

 of Xew York, who arrived at Boma in July. 1892, and pro- 

 ceeding thence up the Congo river, established rubber camps 

 along the tributaries of the Kassai, which flows into the 

 Congo from the south. 



The Conference of the Powers held at Berlin in 1885 con- 

 stituted this territory into the Congo Free State, with Leo- 

 pold II as sovereign, and from that time for the next 23 



