376 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 1, 1915. 



The Rubber Growers' Association, of London. 



THE most impressive feature of the entire rubber industry 

 during the last ten years has been the extraordinary growth 

 of the product of the rubber plantation. If anyone were dis- 

 1 to question this statement he lias only to 1 « > < > 1< at the tabu- 

 lation of plantation production I en years ago, in 1905, the sum 

 total of plantation rubber amounted to 145 tons. In !' : :4 it had 

 reached 70.000 tons, with the probability that the production for 

 the present year will equal 85,000 tons. This certainly is a phe- 

 nomenal develop- 

 ment, and sonic of 

 it at least is due 

 to the excellent 

 work of that 

 strong and effi- 

 cient organization, 

 the Rubber I irow ■ 

 t-r^ Association, of 

 London. 



Tins as oi iation 

 was formed in 

 June. 1907 \ 



number of men in- 

 terested in t h c 

 plantation industrj 

 w e r e called to- 

 gether at that time 

 1, Mr. John Mc- 

 E w a n . Among 

 those who re- 

 sponded to his call 

 were Mr. H. K. 



Rutherford, Sir 



,. ,,• u „ „ ,t John McEwan. 



\\ ilham Hood ■> 



["reacher, Mr. A. 



Bethune, Mr. W. F. de Bois Maclaren and Mr. T. -C. 

 Owen. Mr. 11. K- Rutherford was elected the first chair- 

 man of the association, which started with a member- 

 of 60, representing 2.1000 cultivated acres. Up to that time 

 the interests of the rubber planters had been looked after in a 

 general way by the Ceylon Planters' Association, in London, 

 which concerned itself with the welfare of tea planting and 

 ,.ther activities on the island; but as the Eastern rubber pro- 

 duction of the preceding year. 1906, bad reached a total of 510 

 tons, with the promise of extremely rapid growth, it was thought 

 that the time had arrived for a separate organization that 

 should concern itself solely with rubber production. 



The necessity for such an association is shown in the pro- 

 duction figures of the next few years. In 1907 plantation rub- 

 ber amounted to 1,000 tons; the next year it almost doubled, 

 reaching 1,800 tons; the next year it doubled again, reaching 

 3,600 tons, while in 1910 there was more than 100 per cent, in- 

 crease, the production for that year reaching 8,200 tons. 



I or the first six years of its existence the Rubber Growers' 

 Association was housed with the London Chamber of Com- 

 merce, and a few years after the foundation of the association 

 its increasing membership and the importance of the matters 

 with which it had to deal necessitated its incorporaton under the 

 companies act, as the association could no longer carry on its 

 work as an unincorporated body. Accordingly, in 1912, the as- 

 sociation was duly registered as a company, limited by guar- 

 antee, and a license from the London Board of Trade was ob- 

 tained to dispense with the use of- the word "limited" in its 

 title. 



In the following year it was decided that the work of the 



association should be conducted with its own staff and in its 

 own offices. The association was thus placed in a better posi- 

 tion to .leal with the increase in the work which has resulted 

 from the rapid development of the rubber growing industry. 



I 1h membership of the association is now 638, consisting of 

 -107 companies and 231 individuals. The constituent companies 

 represent a total issued capital of £85,000,000, and own 2,459.015 

 acres, of which 7-i' .47.S -,-re, are planted in rubber. 



The extraordi- 

 nary growth of 

 this association, 

 from an initial 

 membership of 60 

 to its present 

 membership o f 

 over ten times 

 that number, and 

 from an initial 

 representation in- 

 cluding less than 

 25,000 cultivated 

 acres to a present 

 cultivation of thir- 

 ty times that area, 

 proves at once the 

 need for such an 

 organization and 

 the efficiency with 

 which it has been 

 conducted. Its 



chairmen have in- 

 cluded, in addition 

 to Mr. Rutherford, 

 first chairman, and 

 Mr. A. Bethune, Mr. 

 men of sterling char- 



Edward L. Hamilton. 



Mr. John McEwan, who served la-t year 

 Richard Magor and Mr. Noel Trotter, all 

 acter and exceptional ability. 



The work of the association covers everything connected with 

 the rubber plantation, reaching from such small details as per- 

 fecting scientific instruments for use in the testing laboratory 

 to proper sanitation and matters of freight and export duty, and 

 even toll,, wing the rubber until it reaches the sales rooms in 

 London. Perhaps the association's most important work in the 

 East is in connection with the administration of the two re- 

 search funds, which consist of amounts guaranteed by com- 

 panies operating, respectively, in Ceylon and the Federated Ma- 

 lay States. The guarantors to these funds receive the benefit 

 of the research and advice of resident chemists, mycologists and 

 factory advisers, and have the exclusive right to their regular 

 private and confidential reports. The work done by these funds 

 is of vital importance to the industry. 



The last annual meeting of the association was held on Febru- 

 ary IS last. The association's report for the year 1914 is a 

 quarto of 56 pages, and shows by its size and by the variety of 

 topics covered the wide area of the association's activities. It 

 i, an interesting report, but even more interesting was the ad- 

 dress delivered at the meeting by the chairman. Mr. McEwan, 

 which, owing to space limitations, can only be referred to briefly 

 here. He spoke at length about the very strenuous and arduous 

 work of the association and its committees necessitated by the 

 outbreak of the war. He referred to the rubber exhibition held in 

 London last July and spoke very pleasantly of the acquaintance 

 that occasion afforded an opportunity to make with the Ameri- 

 can rubber men who participated. Mr. McEwan referred quite 



