60 THE RUBBER INDUSTRY 



allowing a very large margin of gain; the owner of 

 a rubber estate retails these articles to the seringueiro 

 (collector) at prices equal to anything from 50 to 200 per 

 cent, above cost. As a result, the unfortunate con- 

 sumer pays from 300 to 400 per cent, above the value 

 of the goods when first landed at Manaos or Pard. The 

 excuse for so much profit-snatching is that credit is long, 

 freights high, and -payments uncertain. To a limited 

 extent these statements are true ; but the reason at the 

 bottom of them is that under existing circumstances a 

 chain of indebtedness is a necessary adjunct to the 

 methods employed throughout the rubber districts, for 

 without it the truck system, and the opportunity it 

 offers for illegitimate gain, would very soon become a 

 thing of the past. The rubber industry of the Amazon 

 Valley can never be conducted on a sound commercial 

 basis until this evil factor is eliminated. 



The mode of payment to labourers on the rubber 

 properties is for the manager to credit their accounts 

 at the estate store with the amount of wages earned or 

 the value of the rubber delivered. In the latter case the 

 general practice is to allow the collector one-half the 

 total price for which the rubber is sold at Manaos or 

 Para, after making liberal deductions for loss of weight 

 and incidental expenses. Against the value of the rubber 

 the collector buys the goods actually required for his 

 personal use, and, in addition, any other articles which 

 may catch his fancy. Brazilians are naturally extrava- 

 gant, and this characteristic is fostered to the utmost 

 extent by the custom prevailing of late years in the 

 rubber districts to give unlimited credit to the collectors. 

 So long as the value of rubber stood at an abnormally 



