Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-23
COFFEE PRICE RISE
REPORT ST|RS j. s.
Congress and Hoover Ready
to RetaIiate if Rates Fol-
low Rubber Rise.

BY the Associated Press.
With Congress and Secretary Hoo
Yer actively seeking To rescue Amer
lean consumers from high rubber
prices. which have Great Britain $
support. now comes news of the plan
of the State of Sac Paulo, Brazil, TO
hold up the price of coffee, also with
British financial backing.
IIesitatinG to attempt loans in this
country largely because of the recent
plea OF Secretary Hoover that Amer
lean bankers deny credits to foreign
ers for such purposes. sac Paulo eX-
poets to borrow approximately $50
oO0 900 from London bankers. The
Brazilian legislature has been asked
to authorize the loan. which would
be used to bolster the coffee market
against any material price declines.
However. the prospect that Amer
leans may be asked to pay high prices
for coffee. as we'll as rubber, hnds
Congress and Mr.. Hoover ready to
develop retaliatory measures. When
the congressional investigation into
the rubber situation gets under way
after the holidays it simultaneously
will delve into the subject of the con.
troll Of coffee prices in Brazil as well
as into other similar foreign monop-
olies.
Hoover i'm Fighting Mood.
Mr. Hoover himself has launched
an attack on the rubber prices. In
which he will enlist the cooperation
of American automobile users, ana
there is no doubt that he will reiterate
his appeal to decrease consumption OF
coffee.
Only recently the Secretary declared
that prices charged Americans for
many foreign commodities were un-
fair and that steps must be taken to
defend ourselves against trade war
being made upon us. He suggested
that consumers organize IN Il strong
sympathetic campaign to restrict
their use of the products monopolized.
that substitutes he used more largely
and that American buyers be per
mitted through legislation to combine
for the emergency against foreign
monopolies.
Effects of the policy of Secretary
Hoover in urging rubber consumers
IN conserve rubber products were
seen by Commerce Department Off
cials today in the recent drop in crude
rubber prices from the highest levels
attained. Mr. Hoover Yesterday an
nounced nationwide campaign
Urging greater conservation III use ot
rubber. President Coolidge has been
advised of the policy and has left the
matter in Mr.. Hoover's hands.
Efforts Cover Two Years.
Extraordinary efforts of the Govern
ment and the industries concerned to
get fair rubber prices have been IN
prosress for two years. When rubber
dropped from so cents pound during
the war to II cents afterward owners
of British pla lantations and the British
colonial Office devised a scheme to
levy an export tax, which would cut
exports to so per cent of the rate
producing capacity on the plantations.
The British plantations produce
nearly 70 per cent of the world sup
ply. and the United States consumes
almost that much. Rubber manufac-
turers in the United States protested
the scheme at its outset. although
the hackers of the new law declared
that price of 35 cents was all they
wished to attain. the law being so
designed that as the price rose the
percentage Of output might be in
creased.
The scheme got under way in 1872
and began to take effect early thus
year. The price has risen almost stead
1ly since, with no CheckS, until rubber
has exceeded 81 a pound. The quantity
allowed to go to export has been in
creased. but not until February l.
even in the face of the present unex-
pected price, will the plantations be
permitted to ship their rated 100 per
cent.
Undue Restriction.
The Commerce Departments inves-
tigation has indicated that, even
when the legal 100 per cent release
goes into effect the rubber supply will
be unduly restricted, because the
colonial law says that 400 pounds an
acre shall be considered the exportable
maximum, although many we'll man.
aged plantations can, for a time at
least, turn out upward of 500 pounds
an acre.
1t has been charged frequently
that the British war debt to the
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