We have sent out some of
the best men in the business, seeking new sources in South
America, in Mexico, in Ceylon, Malaysia and the Congo. What our
people do not know about rubber is hardly worth knowing, from the
crude gum to the thousands of forms of finished products. Goodyear
is a wealthy little town, too, for its size. Naturally all its
investments are in rubber, not only in our own mills but in
companies all over the world. Last year several of our leading
citizens became interested in a new concession in the Congo
granted to a group of American capitalists, among whom was Lewis
Borland, who is easily the local magnate of our town. When this
group organised an expedition to explore the region preparatory to
taking up the concession, several of the best known people in
Goodyear accompanied the party and later subscribed for large
blocks of stock.
"I say all this so that you will understand at the start just what
part rubber plays in the life of our little community. You can
readily see that such being the case, whatever advantage the world
at large might gain from cheap synthetic rubber would scarcely
benefit those whose money and labour had been expended on the
assumption that rubber would be scarce and dear.
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