Gums, Resins, 



100 



[February, 1910. 



And not only this, it is necessary to 

 make advances in respect of immigrants 

 from Ceara, for instance, for their 

 families and for transportation and the 

 like, probably not less than 1 conto 

 [= $62"50] for each labourer secured. It 

 will be seen, then, that the seringal 

 owner, in order to increase his present 

 scale of operations, must have consider- 

 able capital in order ti plan and lay out 

 money practically a year ahead for the 

 purpose. He must apply to the avia- 

 dores for accommodation, and as will 

 readily be seen these firms are not al- 

 ways able to make larger than accustom- 

 ed advances. 



There are many seringals in the lower 

 Amazon districts which for many years 

 have yielded practically a fixed amount 

 of rubber, without regard to the state 

 of the markets. Owing to the habit of 

 many persons in interest in these of 

 living in Europe and drawing on the 

 home houses for funds all the time, 

 there is not always a reserve of capital 

 at home with which to take advantage 

 of new conditions in the market with a 

 view to increased operations if such 

 might prove desirable. It is even less 

 easy to secure means whereby to extend 

 rubber gathering rapidly in more re- 

 mote districts. Of course, ultimately 

 high priced rubber will lend a stimulant 

 to increased collection, just as the 

 world's growing demand for rubber, 

 without regard to pi ices, has led to a 

 larger output in nearly every year since 

 the industry had a beginning. But the 

 rate of growth has been too slow to lead 

 to any hope that the increase in prices 

 within the past twelve months will re- 

 sult in such larger production as to 

 reduce prices before very many months 

 to come. 



There is to be considered, moreover, 

 the development of new financial con- 

 ditions on the Amazon, now coming to 

 a head, whereby, with the aid of local 

 banks, rubber may be stored instead of 

 being thrown on the market immedi- 

 ately upon its arrival at Para, as was 

 so long the case. If this new condi- 

 tion should have any effect whatever 

 upon prices it will not be to make the 

 price to consumers less. This is so plain 

 as to require no argument. 



It seems worth while to refer here 

 to an interview which the India Rubber 

 World had seventeen years ago with 

 the Para merchant Vianna, who gained 

 a reputation for putting rubber prices 

 on a higher basis than had before been 

 known, and doing so more than once, 

 though each time a "slump" followed 

 so quickly as to create a general opinion 



that attempting to "corner" rubber 

 iff bad business, Mr. Vianna said in 

 1892 :- 



" I have handled the rubber business 

 in Para for years, and although it is 

 generally and absolutely known both 

 in the United States and in Europe that 

 through my constant efforts in this 

 market since 1879 the Para rubber crops 

 have been sold to a much better ad- 

 vantage for the receivers and producers, 

 still this is utterly ignored by said re- 

 ceivers, most of them believing that I 

 have had nothing to do with the keep- 

 ing and advancing of prices in the 

 long period, although I have devoted 

 all my attention and ability to such 

 business all this time." 



This, of course, was Senhor Vianna's 

 compliment to himself, and we have 

 no record of how his contemporaries 

 at the time regarded it. But he said 

 further that with few exceptions the 

 rubber producers in those days and 

 the original handlers of rubber as a 

 rule knew nothing about how the rubber 

 business was done abroad, and implied 

 that his lack of local support prevented 

 his doing more in the way of keeping 

 up rubber prices. As he said : — 



•' What they know about this business 

 is the difference, when there is one, 

 between the prices offered by two 

 different buyers, and they are smart 

 enough to take the higher price of the 

 two. This embraces all their knowledge 

 about such an important business," 



As has been pointed out in these 

 pages, the business of rubber produc- 

 tion on the Amazon recently has shown 

 a tendency toward consolidation in the 

 hands of persons with capital and with 

 a broader knowledge of rubber condi- 

 tions in general than in the past, so 

 that, with the assistance of the banks 

 as referred to, it is possible that con- 

 centration and co-operation may be 

 brought about to an extent which 

 would not have been possible in the 

 days of Vianna's former activity in the 

 trade. But the rubber business, back 

 of the primary markets, remains strange- 

 ly complex, and he would be a bold 

 man who would claim to comprehend all 

 its conditions. It would seem, however, 

 that the conditions here outlined as 

 having a tendency to keep up rubber 

 prices are worthy of study. 



There is no new question of ethics in- 

 volved here. The world needs rubber, 

 and rubber must be forthcoming, the 

 same as ivory and innumerable other 

 commercial commodities, the obtaining 

 of which in the past has involved 

 human slavery, The modern cotton in- 



