Gums, Resins, 



296 



[April, 1912. 



cereals (maize, beans, rice, manioc, etc.) ; 

 also to establish a packing house, to 

 make dairy products, with machinery 

 for the treatment of rice and other 

 cereals and for the manufacture of 

 manioc flour. 



(b) Direct colonization, in conduction 

 with the administration, of the Farm 

 of Sao Marcos to the North of the river 

 Uraricoera, with families of agricul- 

 turists and cattle breeders ; having in 

 view the development of produc- 

 tion of the above-named alimentary 

 articles on the farms leased by the 

 Government, and also particularly the 

 breeding of cattle, horses and mules. 



(c) Concession of privileges to three 

 companies, which may wish to establish 

 large farms on the above conditions in 

 the territory of Acre, between Rio 

 Branco and Xapury ; in the state of 

 Amazonas, in the zone of the river 

 Autaz ; and in the state of Para at a 

 point convenient to the Lower Amazon. 



(d) Concession of privileges for the 

 establishment of a company for the pur- 

 pose of fishing, properly equipped to salt 

 and can fish. 



9. With special reference to the 

 federal territory of Acre, the immediate 

 definition and consequent recognition of 

 lands now held and the granting of the 

 definition titles. 



10. The holding of triennial exposi- 

 tions at Rio de Janeiro, as well as award- 

 ing of prizes for the best product and 

 processes. 



A German View op Brazilian 

 Rubber. 



In dealing with the questions now 

 affecting Brazilian rubber, the Rio de 

 Janeiro correspondent of the "Hamburger 

 Nachrichten," calls attention to the fact, 

 that out of the §315,000,000 represented 

 by the aggregate exports of Brazil in 1910, 

 about $132,500,000 consisted of coffee 

 and $122,500,000 of rubber. The rubber 

 question is thus a vital one for that 

 country. 



The worst point now affecting Brazilian 

 rubber, it is remarked, is not the present 

 low price (for which North American 



speculators are held responsible), but the 

 constantly increasing competition of the 

 rubber plantations of India, Ceylon, the 

 large Sunda islands, the German colonies 

 in Africa, etc., Brazil would, it is added, 

 be quite able to withstand this com- 

 petition, if the cost of production were 

 diminished, and if, above all, the three 

 principal factors, which increase the cost 

 of Brazilian rubber were wholly or 

 partially eliminated. These are : 



1. The export duty of 22 per cent, on 

 the value, which is levied in Para and 

 Amazonas, as well as in the Federal 

 Territory of Acre. 



2. The excessively high price of the 

 necessaries of life in the rubber territory, 

 where nothing is grown. 



3. The high cost of transportation as 

 a result of the Coasting Law. 



With reference to the last-named 

 point, it is remarked that the Amazon, 

 with its tributary streams, has about 

 30,000 miles of good navigation. It might 

 be expected that under such favourable 

 circumstances, transportation would be 

 cheap; in fact cheaper than in any part 

 of the world. The Brazilian law, how- 

 ever, requires for a steamer of 300 — 500 

 tons the same number of officers and as 

 large a crew as for an ocean steamer of 

 1,000 tons. Steamers and other craft 

 which ply between Mauaos and the 

 Madeira-Mawore territory have thus to 

 carry excessive crews. 



According to the statement of an 

 American engineer, the freight rate from 

 Para to Sao Antonio in the territory 

 named, amounts to the equivalent of $25 

 a ton, while the rate fiom Antwerp to 

 the same port only equals $7"50 a ton. 

 In conclusion it is pertinently remarked : 



" Under these circumstances it is clear 

 that neither the rubber business, nor 

 any form of industry can prosper. A 

 primary condition of prosperity is a 

 change in the Navigation law, which is 

 the real cause of the unsatisfactory state 

 of transportation, not only in the Amazon 

 territory, but throughout the Brazilian 

 coast in general, " 



