September 1, 1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



-.41 



attempt to valorize rubber was made in 1909, and proved 

 an expensive venture to the Bank of Brazil; but this 

 later plan differs somewhat from any of its predecessors, 

 as apparently it does not comtemplate the withholding 

 from the market for any length of time of anj large 

 quantity of rubber. Under the present plan the owner 

 of a quantity of rubber who may be pressed for read) 

 money is not compelled to sell his rubber to the tir>t 

 bidder — usually an intermediary — at whatever pric< he 

 ma) be offered. By putting his rubber in the warehouse 

 and securing an advance of 80 per cent he is afforded 

 time to look for the most advantageous market. 



If this government assistance is used only in this way, 

 to enable the owner of the rubber to look aboul for the 

 highest bidder or to hold his rubber during a few days 

 of exceptionally low price.-, until the markel reaches it - 

 normal level again, it will be an advantage undoubtedly 

 tn the producing industry. But if any general attempt 

 is made to hold hack Brazilian rubber in large quanti- 

 ties with the expectation of affecting the market gen- 

 erally, the plan will undoubtedly prove quite as inef- 

 fective as in the past. It Brazil's valorization venture 

 proved a failure in 1909 when the Amazon production 

 was 42,000 tons as against a plantation output of 3.(>00 

 tons, what sort of a corner would Brazil be able to effect 

 in L915 with an Amazon production not exceeding ciO.OOO 

 tons, as against a plantation total of 85,000 tons. 



FORTY MILLIONS FOR POSSIBLE PUNCTURES. 



IT is estimated that there are 1,623,555 pleasure cars 

 equipped with pneumatic tires now in use in the 

 United States. But as it is always wise to be con- 

 servative when venturing into statistics we will call 

 the number an even 1,600,000. Assuming that the aver- 

 age cost of properly tiring a car is $25 a wheel, or 

 $100 for the car, we have an aggregate cost of tire 

 equipment for pleasure cars of $160,000,000. That is 

 a fairly large item, but it cannot reasonably be be- 

 grudged, as the tires which are in actual use on the 

 four wheels are an essential part of the car. without 

 which the pleasure motor vehicle would be a jolting- 

 impossibility. 



But what this paragraph is particularly concerned 

 with is that fifth tire which is not in use, but which is 

 necessitated by the always impending puncture. 

 Those 1.600.000 extra tires strapped to the side or to 

 the back of the car as a sort of insurance policy 

 against possible nails or broken glass, cost the car 

 owners forty millions a year. To be sure, that is not 

 all insurance money, because that fifth tire may in 

 time take the place of one which has done its legiti- 

 mate service and run its allotted number of miles. 

 But generally speaking, the fifth tire performs its ex- 

 pected function of replacing a punctured predecessor, 

 from which it follows that the greater part of the 

 forty million dollars now represented by tires that 



do ii' 'I carry luit have rather to be carried, is insurance 

 money, pure and simple. Rather a burdensome extra. 

 When will the genuine puncture-proof tire ap: 

 which will enable the car owner to start out with 

 "tily four tires, with the unfailing assurance that the 

 same four will bring him back? 



HARD TIMES AND THE CHEWING OF GUM. 



THAI species of rubber botanically called Ichras 

 sapota, but more familiarly known a- chicle, may 

 not b( a highly important member of the rubber family, 

 but certainly it is one of the most popular members, and 

 n- activities musl always be followed with interest. It 

 appear- that the year ending with last December — t 

 month- nf distinct depression in American industries gen- 

 erall) -was one of unusual prosperity for purveyors of 



ing gum, if we may judge from the increased pi- 

 nt' the manufacturers of tin- staple. 



Now thi- question naturally arises: In a vear when, 

 owing to changes in tariff and banking systems am 

 the outbreak of an unprecedented war, the social and 

 commercial world was in a -tate of pronounced dejection, 

 why should the chewing of gum show a marked increase? 

 I >oes maxillary activity tend to relieve mental di-turbance, 

 lull the restless spirit and banish care: ( >r is this a matter 

 of pure economics? Do men when times are hard chew 

 gum to save the cost of a fifteen-cent cigar, and do wo 

 resort to chiclet- a- a -on of saving substitute for the 

 seductive sundae? Here is a new- field for tin- ; 

 ogists. Where is Professor Miinsterberg with his in- 

 fallible charts? 



The effects of thi: w \k o\ l he commeri e, i\ 

 tries \\o i i\ \m i- of the United Mate- have been dis- 

 cussed from ever\ angle, Inn there is one effect — of mi 

 importance but still interesting — which has attracted 

 little if any attention, and that is the marked decrease in 

 immigration since the beginning of hostilities. 1 luring 

 the year ending with June. 1914, 1,218,480 new citizens 

 came to our shores. I )uring the \ ear ending with last June. 

 which included eleven months of the war period, the 

 number of immigrants was only 326,709, or but a little 

 over a quarter of the number for the preceding 

 The arrivals last June were 22.598 as compared with 

 71.27H for the same month the year before. 



This marked falling off of immigration is not al- 

 together to be regretted. This country is an asylum for 

 the oppressed of all the earth, of course, and in the de- 

 velopment of its resources there is still a vast deal of 

 manual labor to be performed which native Americans 

 disposed to delegate to new-comers ; but for the 

 permanent good of the country, immigration sh 

 proceed only as rapidly as it can be properly American- 

 ized. Digested aliens build up the body politic; undi- 

 gested aliens are liable to give the body politic some 

 sharp stomachic pains. 



