316 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



| March 1, 1915. 



AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW WITH SIR RICHARD 

 CRAWFORD. 



SIR RICHARD CRAWFORD, the special commissioner at- 

 tached to the British Embassj a< Washington and appointed 

 by his government especially to supervise all matters arising 

 under the rubber and other embargoes, arrived in New York 



From Washington on February 24 to devote tw ■ three days to 



his duties in connection with rubber and other importations at 

 that port. He was selected for tins very responsible work be- 

 .i his successful career in the diplomatic work connected 

 with England's foreign commercial relations. 



Notwithstanding the amount of work awaiting him on his 

 arrival at New York, Sir Richard was kind enough to accord a 

 representative of The India Rubber World an interview. He 

 ssed himself as thoroughly satisfied with the manner in 

 which the Rubber Club was conducting the various proceedings 

 connected with the distribution of rubber from London to Ameri- 

 can importers and manufacturers and he was convinced that he 

 had done wisely in arranging that the club should assist the 

 British Consulate in this onerous work. 



There were some features, of course, that would improve as the 

 work progressed. One in particular he spoke of in some detail, 

 namely, the unfortunate delays in clearing the docks of rubber 

 under the present system, which permits an importer to take only- 

 such rubber as he has sold and for which he has the manufac- 

 turer's guarantee. At present, any unsold part of a shipment 

 consigned to the importer must remain on the docks, as there are 

 no facilities for its warehousing. Sir Richard's suggestion to the 

 trade is that all these importations should be financed through 

 .ink, to be approved by the British Government and which 

 would be held responsible by that Government for the retention 

 of all rubber released under the proper guarantees. Should 

 this system be adopted and all rubber be financed through one 

 banking institution with approved London connections — like the 

 Morgan house, for instance — the importer would have any un- 

 sold part of his consignment warehoused by the bank, to be re- 

 leased to him as subsequent sale might be made. This would 

 relieve the docks from congestion, expedite the discharge of 

 ;oes and save a great deal of unnecessary routine work. He 

 was fully aware of the fact that such a change in financing im- 

 portations of rubber would meet with considerable opposition, 

 but on the whole he believed that it would be vastly to the ad- 

 vantage of the trade. 



When a certain paragraph in the communication sent out on 

 January 30 by the secretary of the Club to its firm members, 

 namely, "Sir Francis Hopwood made it particularly clear to Mr. 

 Work that the American industry could feel secure under the 

 present plan unless numerous violations occurred," was called to 

 Sir Richard's attention and he was asked how numerous the 

 British Government would permit these violations to become 

 before taking any official notice of thi m, he made it clear at once 

 that the British Government would not wait for "numerous" 

 violations but would take note of any violations whatever and 

 would expect the rubber trade of America to live up to the 

 inents that had been made, fairly and fully. 

 He was convinced that this was exactly what the trade wished 

 to do and cited with satisfaction the promptness and vigor with 

 which the Rubber Club took up the attempt by an irresponsible 

 person to smuggle a few hundred pounds of rubber concealed in 

 cotton bales on the "Cretic" which sailed about the middle of 

 February. The action of the club in this matter proved that its 

 officials were extremely jealous of the honor of the American 

 rubber trade and sensitive to any imputation that might be placed 

 upon it. 



As a number of inquiries have been made by members of the 

 American trade as to wdiat would be expected of them regarding 

 shipments to Porto Rico, the Philippines and the Hawaiian 



Islands, Sir Richard was asked as to his interpretation of this 

 nutter. He replied that the stipulations contained in the guar- 

 antees fully covered this point and made it clear that, after 

 manufacturers had signed the guarantees, they would be ex- 

 pected to report all such shipments to the British Consul at the 

 port of shipment, just as m the case of shipments to non-Euro- 

 pean neutral countries not under the American flag. 



Another question— rather more hypothetical in its charactei 

 than of immediate practical interest— was put to Sir Richard. 

 namely: In case the Germans should convert their "War Zone" 

 into an effective blockade and commerce between London and 

 New York should be interrupted, would the British Government be 

 willing to have rubber shipped direct from the East to American 

 ports? Of course he did not admit that any such contingency 

 could arise, but he was free to say that should anything interrupt 

 commerce between London and New York the British Govern- 

 ment would undoubtedly sanction the shipment of rubber from 

 the East to American ports either direct or by transshipment at 

 Gibraltar. 



Sir Richard expects to remain in this country for some months, 

 passing the greater part of his time, naturally, in Washington, 

 but running over to New York every ten days or so to take up 

 whatever questions regarding embargo matters may need his 

 attention. 



PROPOSED CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE 

 RUBBER CLUB OF AMERICA, INC. 



' I 'HE recent important work done by the Rubber Club of 



■*■ America relating to the embarg i crude rubber has 



opened the eyes of the trade, and indeed of the club itself, to 

 great possibilities for further usefulness. Now to be prepared 

 for whatever situation may develop the Board of Directors and 

 the Executive Committee, at a recent meeting, decided to change 

 the constitution of the club, to give them adequate power. 



The club at present operates under a Massachusetts charter, 

 which practically alius of only social activities. It has been 

 decided, therefore, to dissolve the Rubber Club of America and 

 surrender the Massachusetts charter. At the same time The 

 Rubber Club of America, Inc., will be formed under Connecticut 

 laws. To do this it is necessary to secure the written consent 

 of a majority of the members. By the time this reaches our 

 readers the blanks for the consent both to this dissolution and the 

 creation of the new corporation will be placed before the member- 

 ship of the club, together with a copy of the new constitution 

 and by-laws. 



The whole plan has been worked out by the Executive Com- 

 mittee and the Board of Directors under expert advice, and the 

 adoption of the new constitution will undoubtedly make the club 

 much stronger and certainly of very much more value to the 

 rubber trade of the United States and Canada. The salient points 

 of the new constitution follow : 



Under the new arrangement the Board of Directors, which 

 will be nominated by the Nominating Committee," will consist 

 of the president, the two vice-presidents and nine other firm 

 members, with the power to add to their number. 



The Board of Directors will elect the officers, wdio will be a 

 president, a vice-president, a second vice-president, a secretary 

 and a treasurer. 



The Board of Directors also appoints the Executive Commit- 

 tee, which will consist of the president, the two vice-presidents, 

 the last ex-president and two firm representatives. 



Ex-presidents of the association, as long as they remain mem- 

 bers of it. will be ex officio members of the Board of Directors 

 and of the Executive Committee, with the right to vote at all 

 meetings, but not to be counted on a question of quorum. 



Some of the more important articles are quoted below in full: 



