returns  oij  the  capital  invested.  From  time  to  time,  d'lie  India 
Rubber  World  ha>  chronicled  the  organization  of  a number  of 
companies,  having  for  their  object  the  application  of  modern  busi- 
ness methods  to  rubber  gathering  in  the.  Amazon  valley,  but  in 
every  case  has  also  been  chronicled  tludr  lack  of  success  if  not 
total  failure. 
fn  this  connection  a contribution  to  our  columns  this  month  bv 
Mr.  AsHMORti  Russ.AN,  an  Fnglish  gentleman  who  has  had  some 
interest  in  most  of  these  companies,  is  of  particular  interest.  Mr. 
RusSAN  having  invested  his  money,  naturally  has  taken  pains  to 
inquire  why  he  has  not  received  anv  dividends,  it  is  especially 
interesting  to  learn  that  he  believes  the  rubber  properties  pur- 
chased by  these  companies  to  have  been  substantially  what  they 
were  represejited  to  be,  and  besides  that  they  are  still  capable  of 
yielding  large  quantities  of  rubber.  As  for  the  failure  to  make  anv 
profits,  Mr.  Russ.AN  points  to  mismanagement  as  the  cause  only 
in  part,  and  mismanagement  can  be  remedied.  But  the  principle 
obstacle  seems  to  be  certain  conddions  existingr  in  the  vast  and 
sparsely  settled  and  loosely  governed  districts  in  which  the  rubber 
trees  grow,  which,  lor  th.e  time  at  least  are  most  unfavourable  to 
foreigners  investing  their  money  there.  A recent  example  of  this 
unfriendly  feeling  tow'ard  foreign  enterprise  has  been  the  attitude 
of  one  Brazilian  state  toward  the  Acre  concession  project,  the  suc- 
cess of  wdiich,  at  least  for  the  present,  must  depend  upon  the  pri- 
vilege of  navigating  the  Brazilian  watercourses  wdiich  connect  the 
Amazon  wdth  the  Acre  district  in  Bolivia.  It  w’ould  be  surprising, 
however,  if  this  latter  condition  should  act  as  a permanent  bar  to 
the  investment  of  foreign  capital  in  the  collection  of  a commodity 
so  much  needed  as  India-rubber  and  the  consumption  of  which  is 
W'holly  outside  of  the  countries  of  production. 
But  South  xAmerica  is  not  the  only  held  in  w'hich  rubber  W'orking 
under  foreign  supervision  has  proved  less  prohtable  than  w'as  pro- 
mised by  the  promoters  of  companies  organized  for  this  purpose. 
On  another  page  of  this  issue  appears  the  annual  report  of  a Bel- 
gian company  formed  to  exploit  rubber  in  the  Congo  Free  State, 
by  which  it  .appears  that  last  year  the  c'ompany,  although  actually 
collecting  and  selling  lOi  tons  of  rubber,  closed  the  year  with  a 
loss.  The  same  c:ompany,  however,  during  two  years  preceding 
had  earned  a satisfactory  profit,  whicdi  would  show'  tliat  the  case  is 
not  altogether  hopeless.  As  for  the  large  profits  reported  by  some 
other  Belgian  companies  on  the  Ciongo,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  state  is  largely  interested  in  these  companies,  and  that 
every  official  and  every  soldier  in  the  rubber  districts  is  required 
to  do  his  utmost  to  induce  the  natives  to  gather  rubber,  from  whi('h 
results  the  stories  of  atrocities  practised  on  the  natives  that  come 
constantly  from  Africa. 
That  much  remains  to  be  learned  of  tlie  pro[)er  treatment  of 
rubber  is  suggested  by  still  another  article  in  this  paijer,  by  Mr. 
Van  den  KekckhovE,  of  Antwerp,  who  insists  that  much  of  the 
rubber  produced  on  the  Congo  finds  a market  at  a ]3rice  much 
Ijw'erthah  its  original  quality  would  warrant,  on  account  of  iin- 
