LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS ig 



the near future ; and in the existing condition of severe 

 competition with Oriental production, it is doubtful if it 

 will be possible to levy any export duty at all on rubber 

 shipments in the near future if the industry is to survive 

 the crisis that has now overtaken it. Unless the pro- 

 ducers obtain certain measures of relief, they will be 

 ruined, and the whole fabric of the trade of the Amazon 

 Valley will be broken down ; but to give any appreciable 

 assistance the most drastic economies must be practised 

 by the local administrations, and these are extremely 

 difficult to effect at the present time. 



All duties on merchandise imported into the Brazilian 

 section of the Amazon Valley are collected on account 

 of the Federal Government, and the high rates charged 

 under the existing tariff are a constant cause of com- 

 plaint on the part of every class of the community. 

 Industrial enterprise is hampered severely by these 

 duties, on account of the increased cost thereby entailed 

 for most of the necessities of life causing an abnormally 

 high wage rate. The average charges exceed 100 per 

 cent, on the value of all imported materials ; and as this 

 applies to the canned goods and provisions required for 

 the maintenance of the labourers in the interior districts, 

 the price of living is unduly enhanced and the cost of 

 the production of rubber relatively increased. The 

 refusal of the Federal authorities to afford any relief in 

 this direction is based on constitutional law, the 

 argument being that if any reduction of duties was 

 made for the Amazon Valley to aid the rubber industry, 

 a similar concession would be necessary for the 

 remainder of the States forming the Brazilian Republic. 

 This may be the correct interpretation of the letter of 

 the law, but the exceptional difficulties confronting the 



