Important Proposal from Java In view of the very large amount of Shanghai money invested in the rubber industry, a proposal for the formation of a rubber! selling trust which has been put forward in Java will be received with great interest here. The scheme is to form a trust on the same lines as the Java Sugar Trust which was brought into existence at a critical period in the history of the sugar industry. It controlled the supply to the public, and by its operation enabled sugar to be sold at a price giving a fair profit to the producers. The suggested rubber selling trust, if it can be brought into being, will work on some such principle. For instance at a time like the present when the world demand for rubber has failed to keep pace with the supply, it will presumably take steps to restrict the amount put on the market, and doubtless will arrange that the output of estates will be kept down to requirements. In this way it is hoped that prices will again be raised to a profitable level.
The scheme, although news of it has reached Shanghai from Java, seems to have originated in Holland. It is reported that it will be submitted to the International Rubbergrowers' Association in The Hague who will ce-operate with the London Rubber—Association, while it is understood that the Singapore Rubber Association is also being apprised of its terms. The Sourabaya Chamber of Commerce is taking an active interest in the promotion of the trust, and it is understood that a meeting of the rubber producers of Java will shortly be called. While in such cases government action is generally disliked, it is felt that the magnitude of the interests concerned and the difficulty of securing concerted action will necessitate an appeal being made to the Governor-General of the Netherlands Indies.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.