134 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



(December 1. 1914. 



Some Interesting Letters From Our Readers. 



TWO TIMELY LETTERS FROM THE FAR EAST. 



DUTCH PLANTERS WANT ro SHIP DIREi I rO I HI. UNITED 



SI VTES. 



rHE following letter has been received ubber 



house in Rotterdam which distributes tlie product of a 

 number of rub . Indies, 



dealers are very anxious to make an entry into the American 

 rubber market and their letter cannot fail to interest American 

 importers and manufacturers. They write: 

 The reason why we take the liberty of approaching you is the 



follow 



One of our firm is the manager of some of the best known 

 rubber growing companies in our colonies, the 1 Hitch East Indies. 

 In this way we have the sale of the product of 5 estates in 

 Sumatra and one in Java, and although these estates are still 

 very young we are bringing more and more rubber on the market. 



Since the Briti.-h i iovernment has declared rubber contraband 

 our steamers are discharging their rubber in England or in 

 France, and in order to escape the seizing of our product we 

 will have to hold the rubber back in the Indies, or we will have 

 to ship it to England or the United Stat. s. 



England offers us the advantage of being near by, but we are 

 considering whether the United States would not offer us a better 

 outlet. There are advantages such as the facts that your country 

 is the largest buyer of rubber, that direct shipment would save 

 freight and insurance premium- 



wever, we know the English market, hut we know nothing 

 of that in the United States; and we would feel much indebted 

 to you if you could give us si me elucidations — if you would 

 tell us whether plantation rubber is sold to the consumers by 

 importers, or agents of English houses, through the medium of 

 brokers, or how. Does there exist such a thing as a rubber 

 market or rubber sale? And what are the expenses, import 

 duty, storage expenses, brokerage, etc? 



After England the Dutch people are the largest rubber growers, 

 and we have dozens of companies, which are established here 

 but are working in lava or Sumatra, that are in the same posi- 

 tion we are in. 



If the war is going to last long, as it most probably will, the 

 Dutch companies will have to do one thing or the other, because, 

 as set forth above, the rubber can no more reach the Rotterdam 

 and the Amsterdam mar! 



We ha\. of establishing 



an office in the United Stati int of our com- 



pany net there; and we I -idered the 



ility that tin Americans might work hand in hand with 

 us to .pen a market in your country direct instead of taking 

 the way via England. 



We would ap] above and 



give 



I FAR EAST C DENT IX COMMAND OF SCOUTS. 



r\ ■ ' \dia Rubber World has 



"-* published a numb s from its 



era! situation in the Far 

 East. A 



■ ing than its p> // is written 



in pencil, on a camp stock of sta- 



tist Scouts Outpost 

 on Singapore Island — foi one of the first 



in that section to volunteer for service in the British army. 

 His letter is as foil 



I have been here in command of a post of cyclist scouts since 



the war l.r. ke .ut. and have had no time to attend to business — 

 in tact there has been no business to attend to. As i am a 

 relic of the South African War (Strathcona's Horse — Canadians, 

 you know), 1 was at once put on the first job going here. I vol- 

 unteered for home at once, but no one is being sent from here yet, 

 on account of climate, etc. 



1 have not seen The India Rubber World for nearly three 

 months, and feel quite out of touch with your end of the 

 game in the present state of affairs. 



There is now the chance of a lifetime for American firms to 

 buy rubber direct here in Singapore, and to establish direct rela- 

 tions with the center of production. Rubber was selling here at 

 firsl (August i .a Is. to 1.' <>,/. per pound — prime smoked sheet — 

 but no or. d be obtained from anywhere. Where were 



your manufacturers? If they had had agents here they would 

 had the chance of a lifetime to lay in stocks on the ground 

 floor. 



I have been trying to persuade several American firms to 

 start in to do business here direct, but they do not yet seem to 

 grasp the definite limits of the local conditions. All rubber is 

 sold here for spot cash, as estates send their rubber down here 

 to obtain immediate money to carry on with, and any market 

 that is established here will he on a direct cash basis — credits 

 must be sent with orders. There is no money, and no credit to 

 be obtained locally. 



The Malay peninsula has exported from January 1 to August 

 31, 2S.570 tons of plantation rubber and may be credited with 

 45,000 tons for the year. Ceylon will do about 15,000 tons, and 

 the rest of the Middle East about 6,000 tons, or so, making a 

 total of some 66.000 tons probable for this year. 



To the Editor of The India Rubber World, Dear Sir : 



We enclose for your inspection part of an issue of "The 

 Waste Trade World." published in London. You will note 

 that the article is copied word for word from your October 

 issue. (The article referred to is the "Review of the Rubber 

 Scrap Market," which filled about two-thirds of a page in 

 The India Rubber World.) 



Our grievance is that the London paper is not issued and sold 

 exclusively to the trade, but is to be had by any Tom, Dick 

 or Harry- who cares to spend one penny. 



We. as -uhscribers to your esteemed journal, also being 

 wholesale merchants, trust this will have your kind attention, 

 as we can assure you that the London paper is far from being 

 popular with all our friends. 



E. R. W. 



England, October 20. 1914. 



To the Editor of The India Rubber World, Dear Sir: 



In your November number, page 115, you say that com- 

 plaints have been received that Chinese rubber shoes are not 

 worth as much as American rubber shoes for reclaiming. 

 There must have been a radical change in the last few- 

 years, for when I superintended the output of 4,000 pairs of 

 Chinese shoes a day in Great Britain, this trade, along with 

 the Turkish trade, demanded better stocks than the home 

 trade, and it was understood that what would do for the home 

 trade would not suit the Eastern market. 



R. E. Hotchkiss. 

 November 10, 1914. 



Should be on even- rubber man's desk — Crude Rubber and 

 Compounding Ingredients; Rubber Country of the Amazon; 

 Rubber Trade Directorv of the World. 



