319 
3- The middlemen will not appreciate the rubber in the wash- 
ed state; 
The middlemen must follow eventually the lead of the 
manufacturers to whom they sell. 
4. That the manufacturers possess their own machinery for 
washing rubber and will prefer to keep that process in 
their own hands : 
This argument is more subtle but on analysis is un- 
sound. In the first place the rubber on which their ma- 
chines are employed at present is jungle produce almost 
entirely ; the amount of cultivated rubber being quite trivial 
in comparison. The export of washed rubber from planta- 
tions will not decrease the amount of crude rubber coming 
into the market, at any rate during the lives of the ma- 
chines in use at present, and therefore as much employ- 
ment for the manufacturers’ washing machines will be 
provided in the future as in the past. Cultivated rubber 
will be an extra supply — it being ready washed will do 
away with the necessity for new washing machines being 
erected, but cannot throw out of employment those already 
in use. That rubber manufacturers will wish to keep this 
process in their own hands is, I consider, improbable — it 
is not in any way a secret or specialised branch of the 
manufacture, but is an additional labour forced upon them 
in preparation for the skilled, and special subsequent 
treatment. 
5. That the enhanced value of the washed rubber will not lead 
to an increase in price. This is an untenable objection, 
open competition must adjust the price according to the 
value. Also it is on record that one of the biggest manu- 
facturers in England has offered 2 d to 3^ above top market 
price for such washed Para rubber; this question is now 
being put before the manufacturers in England and a 
definite reply is shortly expected. 
6. That the washed rubber may be wilfully adulterated and the 
manufacturer therefore will wish to keep the washing pro- 
cess under his own control : From a technical and scienti- 
fic point Of view this objection is unsound. The appearance 
of the rubber is sufficient proof of its having been washed, 
and any added impurity which cannot be detected on in- 
spection must have been added before washing. If the 
washing on the plantation still leave that impurity in the 
rubber, washing in the manufactory would also leave it, and 
the manufacturer gains nothing by doing it himself. Again 
it is far easier to adulterate the “biscuits’' than it is to 
adulterate washed sheet. Wilful adulteration will therefore 
if practised at all be practised on “biscuit’' rather than 
on washed sheet. 
s/m 
