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treatment that it will undergo when manufactured. We are 

 assured by many that there is extraordinary variability in the 

 real quality of rubber, and to back up this assurance we have 

 a number of specific, scientific, well-regulated experiments, and 

 there really is no doubt whatever I do not think anybody can 

 have any doubt that there is a great variability shown in the 

 real quality of plantation rubber; and we have to get over that 

 in some way or other. I am speaking as a practical producer 

 of rubber. One way would be to produce a rubber which does 

 not vary. Now is that a question of practical politics ? All 

 planters will agree with me, I think, that it is not. The estates 

 vary in their equipment from place to place, and it is impossible 

 to ask one company to sacrifice machinery on which they may 

 have spent 10,000 or 12,000. It is impossible to get all 

 rubber turned out in a uniform way; it is impossible to get all 

 rubber prepared, coagulated, or treated in the field in the same 

 way. I do not think, again, it is a matter of practical politics 

 for us to insist upon any agreement at present between the 

 growers of Plantation rubber to do any one thing uniformly. 

 There are too many growers, and there are too many different 

 systems in vogue at present. We cannot ask them all to send 

 their rubber home all alike. How, then, should we go to work 

 to get over this practical question of variability? In my 

 opinion, gentlemen, variability is an advantage to plantation 

 rubber, as long as it is known. It is unknown variability which 

 is the curse. If a manufacturer knew what his rubber would 

 be like, and knew that he would get a certain specific differ- 

 ence in specific grades, the fact of there being so many grades 

 would surely be an advantage. But the difficulty we are 

 labouring under at present is that we do not know where the 

 variability lies. One rubber may be good; another rubber 

 looking like it may be bad. The two are not distinguishable 

 by appearance, and as they are bought by appearance the people 

 who sell naturally suffer. I am sure, gentlemen, our only 

 practical way of dealing with this question of variability is to 

 measure it and disclose it before the rubber is sold. 



The PRESIDENT : I do not know whether any of our foreign 

 delegates would like to say anything on the scientific side of 

 the question before we pass to another aspect. 



I was going to suggest that it might be convenient at this 

 point to ask Mr. Williams if he has anything to say with regard 

 to the criticisms which have been made on one or two points 

 in connection with his statement. 



Mr. W. A. WILLIAMS: Mr. President and Gentlemen 

 There is one point which I would like to make clear. Judging 

 from Dr. Rideal's remarks, I apparently gave the impression 

 that our reason for discarding crepe rubbers was owing to 



