The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-01-12

! or f'dT EaSCern pldnUdClOnS return JC
 President Getulio Vargas, when he received our group of visiting United States newspapermen at the Cattette Palace in Rio de Jan eiro told us of his great interest in efforts to intensity Brazilian rubber production. Recently he proclaimed the Month of Rubber in which every type of publicity was directed at the production battle" in the Amazon. Vargas has also exempted rubber workers from Army service.
 Way up in the rubber forests of the State of Anazonas, near Ma naus, we saw some of the patriotic posters used in this drive. One of them said: Rubber tapper! Each stroke of your machete should car- ry with it your hate of the enemy! Think of your brothers killed by the Axis corsairs Think of the thousands who die on the battle fronts. Forward, rubber tapperr'
 Various alphabetical agencies were created to recruit workers, train them in tapping, and trans port them to the jungle. And Rubber Bank"-the "Banco do Credito da Borracha" was formed to purchase the entire rubber pro- duction, extend credit to producers, ship it. etc. Its capital is S7.500,000 Sixty per cent was subscribed by Brazil and 40 per cent by the Rub- Der Development Go. On it's board of directors sit four BrazilianS and two 'Norte- -AmericanoS."
 The whole rubber program is un- der the direction of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Arthur de Souza Cos- ta, who is well known in Wash ington and New York. The execu- tive director is one of Brazils most prominent businessmen-Dr. Val entim Boucas. Boucas regards the bank as a model for future United States Brazilian cooperation.
 Having visited the United States 26 times, Dr. Boucas speaks perfect English. He is as much a go-getter as any businessman in New York. Chicago or San Francisco. He fore sees the possibility of the United States getting too interested in syn thetics, or of even going back to the Far East for it's rubber after the war-and forget Brazil. He thinks this would be a mistake, as the United States, needs the Anna zon product as rubber insurance"
 After Pearl Harbor," he told us, you wanted rubber from Brazil in hurry. This is not the last war. There will be other ones in the fu- ture. You had better keep up the production of rubber which is cas- fly accessible to you" Boucas said that it was hard to start up the rubber industry in Brazil again, be- cause after "1913 everybody aband- oned Brazil and went to the Far East-where, let us be frank-there was slave labor.
 Tn 1915 the Amazon still had the largest river fleet in the world, but in 1942 it had only one fourth of 1t. There's criticism that rubber production is not as great as de- sired. People forget that you can rapidly create an industrial organ ization, but you can't simply appeal to the tree to start producing rub- Der overnight"
 Boucas is confident that Brazilian production will increase in l944, and plenty will be sent to the United States. But" he added, it would be a great disillusionment for Bra gil, if after l946, when the present contract expires. you would forget the rubber arrangements made with Brazil at a moment of great dang CT and need right after Pearl Har- bor"
 The hard Job of recruiting labor to work in the Amazon was in charge of one of Brazil's most col- orful characters-Jcao Albreto Lins de Barros, Economic Coordinator of Brazil.' He was one of the mi litary leaders of the unsuccessful 1924 revolution. and of the success fui 1880 movement which put Var