Firestone Jr.

Recently a chunky, handsome young man sailed 10,000 miles through calm and stormy seas, returned (TIME, June 28). Last week he journeyed to White Pine Camp at President Coolidge's invitation. He presented his card: Harvey S. Firestone Jr. If such things were done, there might have been in one corner of the card: Son of famed tire-magnate; in another corner Princeton University, 1920; and finally, below his name in bold type: Extremely well-informed on rubber.

Mr. Firestone got down to business, spoke convincingly, aggressively. Said he:

1) Americans pay $136,000,000 a year increase over what they did prior to March, 1922, because of the British monopoly's restriction on output.

2) Although, the U. S. consumes 70% of the world's rubber supply, it produces only a little over 2%.

3) Bearing in mind the 25,000,000 acres of fertile land on Mindanao, "In 15 years the United States could become independent of the British rubber monopoly, provided the land laws of the Philippine Islands are revised to encourage American investments in an extensive way."

And Mr. Firestone knows whereof he speaks, for his company has experimented on rubber-growing in many a strange hot clime, particularly down in Liberia where the Firestones have a 1,000,000-acre rubber concession, 10,000 acres of which have already been cleared and planted.

Armed with information from journalists, representatives, ex-governors, Carmi Alderman Thompson and young Mr. Firestone, the Spokesman for the President expressed himself as favorably inclined toward encouragement of rubber projects.