December 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



123 



years Leopold had autocratic powers, the Congo being gov- 

 erned through three secretaries general, namely, of foreign 



affairs, finance and interior, all appointed by the King and 

 responsible only to him. The various companies that recei ed 

 concessions in the Congo were as a rule compelled t" 

 the government either one-half of their capital stock or, 

 winch amounted to the same thing, one-half of thei] 

 Some of these companies enjoyed large profits for many 

 years. The Compagnie du Kassai is said to have made a 

 profit in the \ car 1905 of $1,500,000. it- dividends that v. ay 

 being three times the face value of its shares. One of the 

 companies which received a very large concession — amount- 

 ing in two tracts to 2,471,000 acres — from Leopold was the 

 American Congo Co., incorporated under the laws of the 

 State of New York in October. 1906, hut soon absorbed by 

 the Intercontinental Rubber Co., a New Jersey corporation 

 formed a few months later to take over these concessions. 



It is safe to say that no other rubber producing country 

 in the world has received the attention that lias been din - ted 

 to the Congo. For a number of years before Leopold 

 up his control of the Congo Free State the whole i hristian 

 world was shocked from time to time by the stories that 

 reached it of the atrocious treatment of the natives, who, it 

 was stated, were compelled to gather rubber bv the threat and 

 infliction of various kinds of torture. Several books were 

 written on this subject, pro and con, and it was male the 

 theme of warm debates in the House of Commons. Finally 

 the Belgian government appointed a committee to investigate, 

 which, while denying actual atrocities, admitted that much 

 pressure was brought upon the natives to compel them to do 

 the desired 

 amount of work. 

 I n November, 

 1908, the Congo 

 Free State 

 passed from un- 

 der Leopold's 

 rule to the con- 

 trol of the Bel- 

 gian parliament, 

 and since that 

 time nothing 

 has been heard 

 about cruelties 

 on the Congo. 



There are five 

 large companies 

 i n A n t w e r p 

 which, up to the 

 closing of that 

 port, were en- 

 gaged in the im- 

 portation of rub- 

 ber, this num- 

 ber including Grisar & Co., Bunge & Co., Credit Colonial et 

 Commercial — formerly L. & \Y. Van dc Wide — and G. & C. 

 Kreglinger. 



Whether the outcome of the war will make any change in 

 the ownership of the Congo country remains to be seen, but 

 the future production of rubber from that section will not 

 depend upon the flag that may fly on the banks of the Congo 

 and the Kassai, but upon the price of crude rubber in the 

 markets of the world. Great efforts have been made during 

 the last few years to keep the Landolfhia vine from destruction, 

 and since 1910 planting has been done on quite an extensive 

 scale. The Belgian Government had planted up to 1912 three and 

 a half million Funtuniia trees, 250,000 Hevea and about 150.000 

 Manihot trees. Systematic tapping experiments have been car- 

 ried on by both the government and private interests for the 



last three years, and there is every reason to believe that the 

 ea can be made to produce to advantage along the Congo; 



but if the eastern planters finally succeed in bringing their 

 rubber to market at a shilling a pound, the planters along 



Sllll'l'l xi. Ki BBEB ON Till CONl 



the Congo will be confronted with a problem in competition 

 that may be extremely difficult for them to solve. 



1 LEAN) \<. Rl BB1 K IX THE CoNGO COUNTRY. 



BOOTH LINE SERVICE. 



The steamship service between the United States and 

 Northern Brazil ami the Amazon has at no time since the 

 beginning of European hostilities been seriously affected. 



The usual sail- 

 ings and the 

 regular scb 

 have been main- 

 tained by the 

 Steamship 

 Co., and every 

 effort has been 

 made to afford 

 the usual facili- 

 ties for the 

 movement of 

 rubber from the 

 Amazon \ 

 Imports of crude 

 rubber have been 

 received without 

 interruption, and 

 in some instances 

 in quantities 

 above normal. 

 The difficulties 

 of operating 

 ocean going 

 steamships at the present time arc many. For instance, the 

 war risk, insurance on hulls and particularly the decline in 

 exports from New York to Brazilian ports, make the shipping 

 business between North and South America extremely un- 

 certain, but the Booth line is determined to keep up efficient 

 service in spite of the heavy additional costs and exceptional 

 risks due to war. 



WHAT IS JALUBA" OR ■JAPUDA" GUM? 



An inquirer recently called up this office in search of informa- 

 tion regarding "Jaluba'' gum. A few days later a letter was re- 

 ceived from another quarter with this question : "What is Japuda 

 gum?'' Unfortunately, this office was able to throw no light on 

 either subject. Possibly Jaluba is another name for Japuda, or, 

 conversely, Japuda but a synonym for Jaluba. Can anyone give 

 any information concerning these two mysterious gums? 



