202 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January 1. 1915. 



is very active in informing our own state department and trying 

 to get a modification of the embargo. 



A suggestion that the United States prohibit the export of 

 crude rubber from its own ports is being widely copied in the 

 papers in the Far East. 



DUTCH EAST INDIES. 



A telegram from Batavia, .lava, announces that no prohibition 

 is to be placed on rubber shipped from the Dutch possessions in 

 the Far East. According to the American consul there, the 

 monthly shipments from Java and Sumatra amount to 53 tons. 

 The new Dutch boats begin sailing from New York to Java and 

 Sumatra ports direct the 20th of December. 



The "Times of Ceylon" says, in part: 



WHAT AMERICA WOULD DO. 



"Local producers and exporters are hopeful tliat the United 

 States government will come to the assistance of rubber im- 

 porters in that country. Guarantees from individual importers in 

 America that rubber purchased by them was for internal use 

 only and was not for re-exportation would be of little practical 

 value. How could such guarantees be enforced and how would 

 it be known that rubber, originally purchased for internal pur- 

 poses, might not change hands in America and be re-shipped . J 

 However, if the American government could prohibit the re- 

 rtation of rubber from the United States the situation would 

 be completely and most satisfactorily solved. The fact that rub- 

 ber is contraband must be borne in mind in this connection, and 

 the opinion in Colombo rubber circles is that America could not 

 lie accused In Germany of a breach of neutrality if she took such 

 action." 



EMBARGO EFFECTS. 



*T*HE Rubber Manufacturers' position as to the effect of the 

 1 Rubber Embargo is thus summarised in a statement pre- 

 pared by the Rubber Club of America: 



The British decision holding crude rubber a contraband of 

 war cuts off 50 per cent, of tin normal supply required by the 

 United States 



The embargo has resulted in an increase of from 35 to 45 cents 

 a pound, or 50 per cent., in the crude product. The statement 

 asserts that the 125,000 Americans employed in the rubber in- 

 dustry will suffer if present conditions continue. The cost to the 

 industry of the embargo is $250,000 a day, it was stated. The 

 statement says in part : 



"The reason for Great Britain's drastic action is to be found 

 in her determination to prevent Germany and her allies absolutely 

 from obtaining any of the crude rubber grown on the great plan- 

 tations in the British colonies of Ceylon and the Federated Malay 

 States The importance of rubber in the present war is evident 

 from the extensive use of automobiles for all kinds of transport, 

 as well as rubber footwear, ground sheets, clothing and balloon 

 fabrics. 



"During the early days of October, England began to treat 

 crude rubber as contraband of war. and about the same time 

 1 an embargo on all shipments of rubber from the colonies 

 to any but English ports. This meant that all direct shipments 

 from Singapore and Colombo to New York were stopped. But 

 rubber came on from London as before. On November 13, 

 England extended the embargo to apply to all shipments of crude 

 rubber from all English ports to any countries except those of her 

 allies. Since that time no plantation rubber has been shipped to 

 the United States. 



"A special committee of rubber manufacturers and importers 

 has been working with the State Department at Washington on 

 this problem, and the State Department is thoroughly alive to the 

 importance of the situation. Owing, however, to the uncom- 



promising attitude of the British Government nothing has been 

 accomplished, and the industry and the consuming public faces a 

 verj serious situation. 



"Unlike the majority of our American industries, the rubber 

 industry is entirely dependent upon crude rubber imported from 

 foreign countries. In fact, the rubber industrj is probably the 

 largest business in this country whollj dependent on raw ma- 

 terial brought from abroad. This makes the cutting i R of her 

 principal source of supply doubly serious. 



"At the present time the onlj sources of supply for American 

 manufacturers are South America. Mexico and Africa. The 

 Brazilian rubbers are normally considered more expensive, and 

 the African and Mexican rubbers are of inferior quality. Six 

 or seven years ago the greater part of the crude rubber used in 

 this country came from Brazil. On account the increased 



consumption, due largely to the manufacture of automobile tires, 

 production since that tune lias been increased by the addition of 

 the cultivated rubber of the bar East, until at the present time 

 60 per cent, of the crude rubber used in American factories 

 comes from the British Empire. During this time consumption 

 has fully kept pace with the increased supplies. 



"The normal consumption of rubber in the United States at the 

 present time is about 60.000 tons annually. Of this amount about 

 35,000 tons is plantation rubber, which normally sells from about 

 45 cents to 55 cents a pound. Already the embargo has forced the 

 price up to about 90 cents. Normally about 200 tons of crude 

 rubber per day is consumed in the L'nited States. On account of 

 this great increase in cost of rubber and its collateral results, 

 the increased cost to the industry is approximately a quarter of 

 a million dollars per day. As to what the ultimate per diem 

 cost to the industry will be, if the present embargo is allowed to 

 remain, no one can predict. 



"It is not only in the increased prices of rubber goods that the 

 people of the United States will suffer through this seemingly 

 unwarranted embargo. Fully 125,000 people are directly or in- 

 directly employed in the rubber manufacturing industry. Al- 

 ready owing to the slowing up of mills due to the lack of sup- 

 plies it has been necessary to lay off a good many employees. In 

 the city of Akron alone, known throughout the country as The 

 Rubber City, 25,000 people are employed in the rubber factories. 

 Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York. New Jersey. Connecticut. 

 Rhode Island and Massachusetts are important rubber manu- 

 facturing States. Unless some arrangement with the British 

 Government is arrived at soon the effect on this important in- 

 dustry will be far reaching and the consumers throughout the 

 countrj will be obliged to pay increased prices for all rubber 

 goods." 



IMPORTANT ADDITIONS TO THE "CONTRABAND." 



The recent additions to Great Britain's contraband list will 

 continue to effect the American rubber industry. The following 

 are now absolute contraband: Sulphur, glycerine, zinc and lead 

 ores, acetones, fractions of distillation between benzol and cresol, 

 inclusive: antimony, together with sulphides and oxides of anti- 

 mony ; tires for motor vehicles and cycles, and repair material ; 

 rubber waste and reclaimed rubber ; goods made wholly of 

 rubber. 



\n Vmerican advertisement, signed by a New York crude 

 rubber firm, in a leading German paper reads thus: 



DIRECT PURCHASE AND SHIPMENT OF CRUDE RUBBER TO 

 GERMANY AND AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



I offer my services for the purchase of crude rubber and 

 gutta percha of all kinds in this market. Shipment by neutral 

 vessels to Sweden, Norway. Denmark or Italy. Cash here 

 against receipt for delivery of goods or bill of lading. 

 Freights and insurance against war risks can be covered here, 

 but must be paid for in advance. 



