COST OF PRODUCTION 117 



the suppression of the export duties, in consideration of 

 an annual grant of 1,000,000 for such period as may 

 be required ; to suspend temporarily the Customs 

 charges on imported foodstuffs and other necessities 

 of life, at an annual cost to the National Exchequer of 

 some 650,000 ; and to appoint a competent Commis- 

 sion to investigate the question of the extraction of 

 latex, in order to ascertain in what direction improve- 

 ments can be made to increase the yield. The obliga- 

 tion to the State Governments is the introduction of 

 drastic financial reforms and economies with a view to 

 reduce public expenditure to one-half the present 

 amount. It remains with the Brazilian people to 

 decide whether the conservation of the rubber industry 

 is worth the inevitable sacrifices it entails. 



