Evening star., 1942-03-28


thetic rubber David Lawrence.
today. Just why the President re-
fused to allow the Reconstruction
Finance Corp. to appropriate suf-
ficient money either for Govern
ment-oWned or Government-Spon-
sored plants is not yet officially ex-
planned.
The main conjecture here is that
Mr.. Roosevelt felt that the British
snd Dutch rubber interests had to
he supported lest America develop
an industry of its own which might
later demand tariff protection or
subsidy. Likewise, dollar exchange
was valuable to the British and
Dutch interests and hence the
President was loath to knock the
props from under the British-Dutch
monopoly.
Assistant Attorney General Ar
mold. with his characteristic fair
for publicity, has smeared the
Standard Oil Co. before Senate
committee and given the public the
impression that synthetic rubber de-
velopment was retarded because of
4 commercial relationship between
Standard Oil and German chemi-
cal company. He has endeavored to
allow the inference to be drawn
that even after Pearl Harbor there
was some improper relationship
between the German and American
interests.
Case Continued Before Public.
Standard accepted consent
decree so as to dispose of the tangled
legal questions involved and so as
to devote the time and energies of
it's executives to wartime effort.
But evidently the case is going to
be continued in the court of public
opinion with statements and
counterstatements concerning the
complicated patent relationships.
This is but smoke screen to con-
ceal the error in Judgment made by
the administration itself in failing
to build up synthetic rubber after
Standard Oil and various rubber
company executives begged the
Senate Military Affairs Committee
on June IA. 1910, to finance the
synthetic rubber development.
As long as there was a chance
that British and Dutch rubber in
terests would be supported as
against the interest of American
companies, the latter were naturally
reluctant to build up something only
to have it destroyed by the British
Dutch monopoly which could bring
the price down overnight to 10 cents
pound. The American Govern
ment has been buying rubber from
the British-Dutch monopoly at %
cents pound. Synthetic rubber
can be manufactured at low prices
but the experimental and develop
ment work is costly.
Edward R. Stettinius of the Ma
tional Defense Council urged in the
autumn of 1910 that 500 100000 be
spent by the Government to finance
the building of synthetic rubber
plants. No question of patents or
processes was really at issue. But
Mr.. Roosevelt cut the request down
from $l00,00O,000 to s25,000,0 900.
which would finance only $4,000
tons.
Subsequently, it appeared that
the fear of prosecution under the
antitrust laws for pooling their ac-
tivities caused American rubber and
oil companies to refrain from taking
the initiative, and they urged the
Government to handle the whole
matter.
Apparently the President counted
heavily on the flow Of rubber from
the Dutch East Indies and the Far
East and did not expect the Dutch
to lose their islands to the Japa-
nese. The moment war threatened
last November the American Gov
ernment did a yeoman job in getting
all available rubber out of the Dutch
East Indies. But it is now apparent
that the President erred and that we
would have had some synthetic rub
ber plants turning out large guam
titles of rubber If it had not been
for his reliance on the British Dutch
cartel.
Offered Royalty Free.
Mr.. Arnold is. of course, anxious to
make 1t appear that the consent
decree released German patents.
Actually, on last March II, Stand
ard Oil Co. announced that it would
furnish to both industry and the
American Government royalty free
its valuable butyl patents. AS for
buna rubber, these had already been
made available by the Standard Oil
Co. to the Government and industry
on royalty basis before America
entered the war.
Cartel arrangements have been
under attack for many years. When
Herbert Hoover was President he
fought the Stevenson plan of rub
ber cartels and other monopolies in
raw materials financed by foreign
governments. But the present ad-
ministration has played ball with
the British and Dutch cartels,
doubtless for diplomatic reasons.
Any impression that Standard
failed in any sense to maintain
loyalty to the United States and
to aid the Army and Navy when
ever the latter wished anything to
be done is false, and the forthcom-
ing testimony by the oil and rubber
executives will establish where the
real responsibility for retarding syn
thetic rubber development happens
TO be-