Salt Lake Tribune | 1919-09-14 | Page 38 | Supply of Raw Rubber is Now Controlled by British

Supply of Raw Rubber Is Now Controlled by British United States Plays Only Small Part in Output of Material; Plantation Product Is the Best. The listing of the government control con-trol of raw materia! and of exports among the reconstruction policies of European nations will not be without its effect on America's supply of raw-rubber, raw-rubber, especially since the American rubber industries are entirely depen- ) dent upon importations, and cbietly upon the production of British colonial possessions. During 1917 far eastern planta lions produced about 79.5 per cent of the world's supply of crude rubber, anprox-imately anprox-imately SO per cent of this year's crop, or 63 per cenj of the total' production of the world. The only American pos- ! session suitable for the growing of rubber rub-ber is the Philippines, and they produced pro-duced the insignificant total of 1-17 tons in 1917, or sufficient to last one of the large American manufacturers about one day. Indications are that plantations will henceforth furnish an increasing pro- portion of the world's supplv of crude rubber. The difficulties of ' producing wild rubber in sufficient quantities in Brazil and other districts, together with its high cost of production and the superior clean condition of plantation rubber, render the gathering of -wild rubber disadvantageous compared with plantation rubber. It is said that the cost of production of plantation rubber averages approximately 25 cents gold per pound '. o. b. far east, whereas Up River fine cannot be produced profitably prof-itably under 55 cents per pound f. o. b. Brazil. The 55,000 acres planted and controlled con-trolled by American capital comprise the estate of the General Rubber company, com-pany, in Sumatra. American interests have also recently acquired 40,000 acres of undeveloped land in Sumatra. A very limited area is also planted to rubber in Mindanao. Philippines. A fraction over 66 per cent of all rubber plantations are situated in British Brit-ish colonies, so that Great Britain exercises ex-ercises both political and financial control con-trol over the supplv of this important raw material. Of the tctal acreage under un-der British control, S07,4'.ll acres are in the Federa'ed Malav States and Johore: 159.500 acres in "the Straits Settlements: Set-tlements: 2a 1,500 acres in Cevlon; 41,-S'20 41,-S'20 in South India; 29.SS0 in British Borneo; 26.390 in British Burmah, and O000 in the South Sea Islands. I.'nder the Dutch flag there are 352,-455 352,-455 acres in Sumatra; 23S.S30 acres in Java and 10,100 acres in Dutch Borneo, giving the Netherlands political control con-trol over 49 per cent of the total world acreage in rubber plantations. France controls 10.000 acres in Cochin China, and the share of all other countries amounts to 62,577 acres. An almost unlimited area of desirable land for rubber plantations is as yet available for development in Sumatra and Borneo; but such is not the case with the Malay Peuinsula, Cevlon and Java. The only place on American soil where conditions have been found favorable fa-vorable to rubber growing is the Philippine Philip-pine Islands, where about 147 tons were produced in ri"J"nao in 1917. But owing to an insufficient supply of good cheap labor (our government ' prohibits the importation of Chinese coolies) and government restrictions limiting the amount of land that can be controlled bv a corporation, investment has been seouraed.