Evening star., 1924-04-08
MAY ! A!|DU..!S.. QUEST
| FOR RAW PRODUCTS
Visit of Dutch East, Indies
Executive to Gen. Wood.
Held Significant.
BY J. 9. ROYLE.

SPECIAL Dispatch to The Star.
! NEW YORK, April S.-Gov Gen.
Fock. chief executive Of the Dutch
East Indiea now Is on q visit Of cere-
mony to Gov. Cen. Leonard Wood OF
the Philippines
Some business interests here, in
Washington and in Amsterdam pro-
! fess to see In this visit a move in the
by Secretary Of Commerce Hoover for
some agency by which American con-
sumers could secure advantageously
raw products not produced in the
thus obviate the effects OF any for
eign monopoly tending to control the
price OF such products.
Rubber and cinchona bark, the basis
OF quinine. are among the principal
products of the Dutch East Indies.
listed by Secretary Of Commerce
Hoover as controlled by foreign in
! terests. The Dutch commercial heads
have appealed for American capital
to develop their CONNIE rcial possibiii- :
| tiea 1t Is known that a delegation
OF American expe rts went from Manila
to the Dutch possessions to look over
conditions. Amsterdam. according to
cable dispatches. expects results along &
such lines from the visit of Gov.
Fock.
Importers Skepticai.
American importers here, however,
see no such possibilities in prospect.
either now or in the immediate fu-
ture. Rubber dealers point out that
the Dutch never have entered into the
; so.called Stevenson plan whereby
rubber exports from British possess
sions are restricted according as the
price in world markets rises or falls
above or below is pence. or 36i2
cents under normal rates OF ex-
change. They add that some planta :
! their own accord to these restrictions,
but these are owned by British cap
itaL
On the other hand. they declare the
stevenson plan has been of advantage
| to the Dutch planters and that the
this policy. which is asserted by some
American consumers to have placed
control Of the rubber market In Lon
don They say the Dutch growers
cent of capacity, whereas the British
| producers have been held down to 60
per cent. with a corresponding in
crease of overhead cost.
, Not q Monopoly Is View.
American dealers (net consumers
declare that the Stevenson plan has
not created. a monopoly or ever a
CeHtTdI SeIIDB agency. 1nfS pIan was
essential. they say, because if over
production continued. many pianta-
tions would have had to be aban-
doned. Had this taken place. II would
eventually have created a shortage Of
rubber which could not have been
met, since II requires seven years for
! new plantation to come into bear
| ing and would have led to more Sc
we're and upsetting price changes
than have occurred under the Steven
son plan.
Dealers in rubber say that as there
are numerous trading concerns estab-
lished in America, England, the con-
| tinent and the far east. there Is
always free trading market. Some
New York importers are buying di-
rect at eastern primary markets and
many American consumers have
established similar agencies there
So long as this condition exists, they
declare. London cannot be a control
The dealers attribute the increase
in the cost OF rubber last year to
hysterical buying and speculation.
Some years year, ago ther. was q large
market and at times bold operators
sought to force prices up or down
or control a certain position, but the
American importers say such specu-
iation has almost entirely disap-
peared.
oTeu f1&t0H.
In this connection. one Of the
largest factors in the crude rubber
trade in America said today:
1t might be interesting to note
that Tor some time past prices ema-
hating from London have been lower
than those ruling at the points of
production. Particularly during the
last two months London has been
selling from its stock Of rubber at
values lower than the import cost
from eastern producing points.
1t is perhaps safe to say that at
present the rubber market is more
free from speculation or manipulation
than 1t has ever been. Prices today
are low and somewhat under the
average cost of production as apply
ing in general to most of the estates
If We take into consideration that the
world will need considerably over
100000 tons Of rubber in 1924 this
quantity cannot be produced on the
average and admit OF any profit at
prices ruling at this time