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a department to control the rubber industry in the Federal territory 

 of the A.cre, than from the governments of the States concerned. 

 Owing to the defective methods of tapping and coagulating in Brazil, 

 only 45 per cent, of the rubber collected is "fine," the rest being of 

 the inferior grades fetching often only half the price of fine " rubber. 

 During 1909 a process was invented by Dr. Pinto for preparing crude 

 rubber, and to test the value of this preparation, a ton of hevea and a 

 ton of caucho prepared by this system are to be sold on the open 

 market in New York. Dr. Pinto received a premium of 2,500 Is. from 

 the Federal Government for his invention. 



The Brazilian Government favours measures to encourage the 

 plantation of hevea on a large scale, and the Governor of Para has 

 also recommended measures to stimulate plantations, but little seems 

 to have been done in the way of protecting the forests from which the 

 States of Para and Amazonas draw some 70 per cent, of their revenues. 

 The export taxes on rubber from Ceara and Bahia are less than those 

 of Para, but it is feared that those of Bahia will be very greatiy 

 increased. A rubber factory is to be established in Bahia. 



The difficulty of supervising rubber estates is general throughout 

 Brazil, though the plantations do not suffer in the same way as the 

 forests do. 



In August, 1909, a congress of proprietors of rubber estates was 

 held in the Acre territory to discuss the best means of maintaining 

 prices and developing the rubber industiy. The message which, on 

 the conclusion of their sittings, they forwarded to the President of the 

 Republic, states the chief difficulties under which the rubber industry 

 labours not only in the Acre but throughout the Republic. The 

 remedies they propose fall roughly under the following heads : — 



Legislation to confirm actual proprietors of estates in their 

 possession. 



Communications. Roads (especially in Alto Purus and Alio 

 Yaco to connect the estates). 



Railway (from frontier of Peru to Bocca do Acre). 

 Steamships, snbvention to. 

 Colonisation, further Government aids to. 

 Commission to study rubber plantations in Ceylon, &c. 

 Taxation, reduction of, especially of export taxes. 



The State of Amazonas, which, begin an agricultural State, is 

 suffering from the gradual rise in exchange and the gradual increase 

 of tariff duties, addressed a petition to the Federal Government, poin:- 

 ing out the alarming increase of duties on articles of prime necessity, 

 such as rice, potatoes, beans, dried meat and clothes, the prices of 

 clothes of the simplest description having risen some 50 per cent, in 

 the last 10 years. 



