T HE NOME N U GGET
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CHINA'S VIEWPOINT
We have had the pleasure twice within the two
days’ stay in Seattle of Dr. Hsai of listening to that
learned and eloquent representative of the Chinese
government discuss his country’s problems Tn the light
of recent developments. By way of explanation, Dr.
Hsai, who modestly describes his status as that of his
government’s public relations man in America, is a
scholar of note, one of his nation’s best known diplo
mats, an authority on international law and, last but
not least, by virtue of the necessity of his present
mission, has developed into a journalist of no mean
parts.
More candid than we have been taught to expect
from diplomats, Dr. Hsai admitted bluntly that his
countrymen were jubilant over America’s final entry
into the war. He hastened to add, and we believed in
all sincerity, that he found no joy in the prospect of
the shedding of American blood nor in the hardships
which are the inevitable by-products of war. We did
not find his jubilation either surprising nor objection
able. In fact, we would have been inclined to discount
either his sincerity or his patriotism had he disclaim
ed his elation.
For more than four years the Chinese have fought
^gainst terrific odds, the battle of democracy in the
Pacific. During that time they have seen us, in spite of
protestations of friendship, supply Japan with gasoline
and scrap iron, maintain the Japanese economy by our
purchases from that nation and otherwise apparently
belie our friendship. They have seen the British suc
cumb to pressure and close the Burma Road, the Chin
ese lifeline. But the Chnese have a genius for biding
their time. Never once, said Dr. Hsai, did the faith of
the Chinese people falter with regard to the ultimate
part to be played by their American friends.
The days immediately preceding the Japanese at
tack were dark days for China. Informed Chinese
knew of the American abhorrence of war. They knew
of the pressure being exerted on our officials to avoid
war, even at the cost of selling the Chinese down the
river. They felt that the conflict was eventually inevi
table and they felt that further appeasement, further
concessions to the Japanese calculated to delay war
could easily be the last straw which would render
futile their thousands upon countless thousands of
maimed and dead, their smouldering ruins where once
stood populous cities ... in short the entire heroic
struggle.
Small wonder that China is jubilant. Small won
der that her people, heartened at last by the active
participation of powerful allies, have taken on new
life, and instead of planning on a purely defensive
war, are marshalling their forces for an offensive
which shall last until the last Japanese is dead or
'driven from the ground of China.
Just a little touch of Chinese philosophy which
America might emulate. Said Dr. Hsai, “I give you my
pledge that my countrymen will fight through to the
end—until victory is complete — until the military
clique of Japan is crushed and the Japanese people
have learned their lesson — have recovered from the
insanity which has possessed them and have become
sane and good neighbors with whom to live.” With
the memory of yesterday’s countless atrocities burn
ing in his heart, with the certainty of tomorrow’s at
rocities in his mind, this Chinese doctor of philosophy
desires only to sufficiently crush Japan as to admin
ister a lesson to one of the upstart brats of civiliza
tion in the hope that she may still learn to be a good
neighbor.—The Alaska Weekly.
U. S. Grows
Own Latex
Guayule Farms Can Make
Nation Independent of
Far East Rubber
(New- York Times)
In the tiny branches of a dwarf
deciduous tree may lie the solu
tion to American independence
in the importation of rubber.
This shrub, the guayule plant,
! native of the north central plat
eaus of Mexico, is now being eul
tivated in California, Texas and
! Arizona.
Guayule has as h'gh as 20 per
i cent rubber content. Champion
of this home-grown product, Wil
liam O’Neil, president of the Gen
eral Tire and Rubber Company,
believes that through quantity
production guayule (pronounced
“gwy-you-lee") can meet all
United States rubber require
ments within two years of the
start of mass planting.
He has . urged Congressional
support of a bill now before the
Agricultural Committee of the
House as a means of insuring this
country against a rubber short
age. In case of war with Japan,
our supply might be cut off or
material’y reduced. The Far East
is the source of 95 percent of all
rubber used in the United States.
GFAYCLE’S ADVANTAGES
Four reasons in support of gua
yule and against synthetic rub
ber are listed by Mr. O’Neil:
1. Huge expenditures neces
sary for the construeion of syn
thetic plants are unnecessary for
use of guayule.
2. Guayu'e can be used in pres
ent rubber-working machinery
without making new demands on
the defense machine-tool indus
try.
3. Guayule can be used in the
manufacture of tires just as it
comes from the rubber-extract
ing machines. Synthetic must be
mixed with natural rubber in
tire making. He points out that
Germany has cut down the per
centage of erstaz in tires from 65
to 35. •!
4. Guayule would give Ameri-1
can farmers another crop and
could make this country inde
pendent of the Far East for rub-'
ber.
Proponents of guayule admit
that because of labor costs gua-t
yu'e rubber cannot compete with i
hevea, or tree rubber, in nor-!
mal times. This view is general-!
ly held, but one rubber expert,;
Dr. David Spnce of Stanford Uni I
versity. maintains that, with!
slightly improved methods and!
mass plantings, guayule rubber j
cou'd be produced at a cost as
low as that of hevea.
Large Crop In Two Years
It is Mr. O’Neil’s plan to plant
as soon as possible all the gua-j
yule seed available in this coun
try. At the end of one year these]
plants would produce enough
seeds to plant 400,000 acres of
guayule, more than enough to*
supply all the needs of this coun
try.
There are two definite schools]
of thought as to the cheapest and |
most efficient way to produce!
guayule rubber.
The first, held by Dr. Spence,
is to spread the seed broadcast!
and harvest at the end of the]
first year. The plants would then j
_■■
«■
The new IJ. S. Cruiser Atlanta knifed through the seas when tliis view was made by the Navy. The
(8,000 ton Atlanta, capable of speeding more than 50 miles per hour was recently commissioned
J
have about 6 percent rubber con
tent. Dr. Spence maintains that
this cuts cost because no culti
v-'t on is necessary.
The second plan, advanced by
the United States Department of
Agriculture, is to grow the
shrubs in four-year cycles. At
j the end of four years 'the rub
ber content is from 18 to 20 per
cent.
“The first essential is to get
enough seed.” savs Mr. O’Neil.
“After we have done that let’s
■Mant enough under the Spenoe
evstem to take care of a year’s
needs. At the same time we
should plant more thinly under
the cycle system and have the
rubber stored in the living tis
anes of the plant until we need
it. This plan would permit of
our having a large supply of gua
yule rubber two years after the
orogram was inaugurated. And
at the same time having a re
serve in the older shrubs.”
The Congressional bill calls for
setting up a guayule rubber cor
poration operated by a board of
directors, one of whom would be
the Secretary of Agriculture. It
provides S25.000.000 to finance
the corporation and a planting of
guayule not to exceed 45.000
acres. It was introduced by Rep
resentative John Z. Anderson of
California and is now before the
budget director for approval.
l?. S. Variety Found
Guayule was first brought to
ths country in 1905. It was diffi
cult to domesticate in the early i
years, but Dr. W, B. McCallum,
a botanist for the Intercontinent
al Rubber Company, tried hun-!
dreds of various species and fin
ally found one which not only
docs well in the United States
but actually has tw'ee the rub
ber content of the native Mexi
can shrub.
An experimental station was
set up by Intercontinental at
Salinas, Calif., and machines for
planting, cultivating and harvest
ing have been perfected. Rubber
extracting machinery was devis
ed and a process developed for
deresinating the American rub
ber.
Chemical Difference
The chemical difference be
tween guayule and havea rubber
is that guayule has a resin con
tent of from 18 to 20 percent, as
against 4 percent for tree rub
ber. The cost of deresinating is
so low, however—one-fourth of
a cent a pound, according to Dr.
Spence—that it pays for itself in
the resin extracted.
Experiments have shown that
guayule will grow in Texas, Cal
ifornia and Arizona and it is the
belief of the Department of Ag
rculture that it will grow in New
Mexico, Oregon and Washington
and, possibly, in Utah and Nev
ada.
It grows best in a fair soil, the
Department of Agriculture says,
and needs Winter rains, a dry
Summer and temperatures not
lowe tha 20 degrees.
WHERE “WARTIME TIRES” WILL COME FROM
This Ls part of a seven-acre pile of discarded rubber at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Akron,
Ohio, which will be turned into tires made entirely of reclaimed rubber. The “war tires” cannot
be driven over 35 miles per hour, with safety, an official warned.
A
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LITVINOV REACHES U. S.
%
After traveling nearly three-fourths of the way around the world,
Maxim Litvinov, new Russian ambassador to the United States,
and Mrs. Litvinov alight from a clipper plane at San Francisco
j enroute to Washington.