Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 September 1891 — BACKED BY MILLIONS,! [ARTICLE]

BACKED BY MILLIONS,!

BUT SQUELCHED BY YANKEE SHREWDNESS. Blooming Britishers and B ily Brazilian* Learn a Lesson from American Rubber, Men—The Bamj Game Tried Once Too Often—The Promoters L so Heavily. The Rubber Syndicate Collapses. The great rubber syndicate of Para, New York, and J ondo:i has collapsed, and John C. Gonalev Viauna, al as the Baron de Goir.deriz. the b: gbear of the trade, has once mere been defeated in an attempt tj corner the world’s supply of crude rubber. 1 his time the loss will fall chiefly on bankers of Rio and Lon- ( don, who were inveigled into the Baron’s latest scheie The syndicate represented by Air. Vienna wai organized under the title Compania du Gran Para, wth the Baron as manager. The headquarters of tho concern are in Para, with branch offices in London, Par s, and New York. Although the syndicate, during the last nine months, obtained possession of 90 per < ent. of the available supply of the world; the capital—said to be $25,000,000 under its control is not sufficient to hold this and also to buy up the new crop now earning into Para from the forests of Bra il. The result is that the synd cate cou cover its margins with the London houses with which the Baron made his deal two months ago. Binglehurst <fc Co. and the Baring Bros, were mentioned as the principals in the deal, but there were other firms also that held stock on margin for the syndicate, and it is they who first began to sell. The unloading of 103 tons on the market was followed by a general break, and rubber, which baa been forced up to 85 cents by the syndicate, fell to 64 cents, or 32 pence British money. It was a severe blow to the Brazilian bankers and Londo i capitalists.. When the rubber meichants of the I nited States noted the large quantities of rubber coming into Para hey prepared for a break. They had previously kept out of the market and sold all the rubber they had in stock. Only three weeks ago 200 tons were shipped to Liverpoal from the syndicate, the shippers acting on the policy of giving Baron de Gomderiz rope enough tj hang himself. Rubber manufacturers here curtailed their requirements in every possible way, and some of them temporarily closed their establishments. Thus they pricked the second great rubber bubble of a decade. The manufacturers of the United States were can ;ht by the Baron in 1883, but they crushed him by closing down their factories after rubber had been forced up from 40 cents to $1.25 per pound. They do not suffer now by the collapse of the wily Brazilian, but the English and Brazilians do. When the Baron’s bankers saw the policy being pursued by the United States importers and manufacturers they called on him to cover his margins. Had the syndicate been able to carry out its plans it would have made many millions of dollars, but as soon as its backers refused to carry stock any longer the market v. as broken and they began to sell. One small firm in London that held fifty tons called on the Baron to cover his margins, and he failed to do so. Then another small holder unloaded a like quantity. This was followed by Baring Bros, and Singlehurst & Co., and then the run on the market became general. Rubber fell from 84 cents to 64 cents, 400 tons being unloaded at the latter figure. At the opening of the year’s business the outlook of the United States rubber manufacturers was not bright, as the Baron’s speculations had forced rubber up so high that there was no profit te be made. Even the druggists’ supplies and surgical Instrument trades felt the effect of the Baron’s manipulations of the market The rubber-shoe trade suffered most severely, as more than half the crude rubber imported here is used by rubber shoe men. The present decline is a gain tor the entire trade, and the Baron’s scheme, which was directed chiefly against our manufacturers, Inures to their advantage.