El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-09-29


/ shape Of these hams that most Of the
I rubber from the Amazon comes. II
! IS gathered in this rude way from
/ camps scattered over a vast territory
and the organization Of the business is
] such that the crop is greatly re-
! Etricted-
Today the world deman for rubber
I mas so increased that the Wilds OF the
Amazon could not possibly supply it.
! Inc Brazllians are pushing their work
20 the fun, but their product is only
about one-fourth of the rubber that
comes into the market. The balance. or
three-fourths Of the whole. is from
rubber plantations which have been
set out on the Malay peninsula and in
Ceyion and Sumatra. We are now
starting plantations in the Philippines
and there is one of 100000 trees there
on the Island OF Basilan not far from
Mindsnao.
supply Keeps Up With Demand.
The cultivated rubber is steadily in
creaslng IN quantity, and 7 am told
that IL viii continue to keen pace
with the demand. At the end Of last
~ ear there were almost 1000. 900 acres
Of cultivated rubber trees, and many
new plantations are being set ont
Some Of the largest rubber companies
of the United States are preparing to
SrOW their own rubber. There is one
IN New England that has three plan
tat1ons in Suma ira. comprising 100000
81 Al mas EaHNVN OF these ALREADY
planted. and in 1915 IL gathered more
than 100000 pounds of rubber from
the l5-0u0 acres of trees that had
come into bearing The president of
another OF our great rubber compa-
MES has advised his stockholders that
ne can produce rubber on their Suma-
ira plantation at a cost Of Il cents
pound, and that Is percent of their
crude rubber needs viii be taken care
OF this year from their own pIanta-
crease this product TO % percent, and
by 1921 they viii be raising half of
all the rubber they use.
Companies Buy vast Tracts OF Land.
There is a big rubber company here
In Akron which makes all sorts of
goods. that has just bought 21.OOO
acres OF land in Sumatra. and another.
devoted only 70 tires will set out
large plantations in southern Asia for
the same purpose.
Another American company has
Sle-OOO,O00 invested in rubber estates
All but 200 OF these receive a salary T
Of Is cents q day. When II is remem- I
bered that the lowest wage paid a ]
common laborer in Akron is 81 cents Z
an hour, the difference in conditions I
between Asia and the United States
may be appreciated The Asiatic rub /
Der cOOlie works ten hours or more
per dav- He gets cent and a half
an hour, while the poorest Of the 4
Akron rubber lahorers gets more than
20 times as much
England Controls Most OF Rubber.
The most Of the rubber plantations
belong TO the British and they con-
troll the supply Of plantation rubber
through their possession Of the East
indies This is the reason why. up TO
The beginning Of the war IN Europe Z
London was the worlds greatest rub
Der market. practically all the crude
-ubber being carried in British ships
In fact. England can dictate TO the
= Orld how much rubber each country
var broke out, cutting off the supply
II the central powers and placing an
embargo on all crude rubber produced
within British territory.
Until we entered the war we were
allowed to get rubber only by depos-
ting bonds in London through the
-ubber companies. that none OF our
mans. and this Notwithstanding the
British colonies were receiving some
hing like s150.000. 900 for the crude
'ubber brought into the United States
understand that these bonds have
ince been returned The setting out
u our own plantations in Sumatra.
which belongs to the Dutch viii. to
certain extent. relieve us OF our de
lendence on Great Britain Other
Countries are starting similar move
nents. and especially the japanese.
Who have done a great deal in rubber
ince the war began
The Japanese have AZ plantations
IA the island Of Johore. opposite Sin
-apore, and these cover more than
Z. 600 acres The Nanyo Rubber Cul- Z
ivatiOn company. a japanese firm.
vas established last year with 81, 000.-