The
secretary reported that on the instructions of the directors, he wrote
to London transfer office on 26 November, asking the views of the
directors in London on the question as to whether or not, now that the
controlling interest in the South West African diamond fields has
passed to the Anglo American Corporation Limited, we should, if
opportunities offer, purchase interests there for the De Beers company,
and a cable was read from London transfer office in reply, dated 23
December, as follows:
'Referring
to your letter 26 November. No. Our opinion is now that the control is
passed we should do nothing, we do not want a minority holding; in
which the board agreed.'
The victory was complete from Ernest Oppenheimer's point of view — since if De Beers had taken
a substantial minority interest in Consolidated Mines, his freedom of
action in the future might have been considerably curbed.
♦ V ♦
The
immediate post-war period was marked by one feature of great
importance: the increasing participation of the State in the affairs of
the diamond trade. Three separate aspects require to be mentioned. The
first concerns the powers of the Administrator of South West Africa
over diamond production in the territory; the second concerns the steps
taken by the Union Government to encourage and foster a diamond-cutting
industry in the Union; the third concerns the assumption of
far-reaching powers of control over the disposal of South African
diamonds by the Union Government.
Under
the old German regime in South West Africa, the producers had, after a
long struggle, obtained an increasing degree of control over the Regie,
holding all the share-capital and having all the seats on the board,
though a State Commissioner with a power to veto was still appointed.
This was the situation attained just before the outbreak of World War
I. During the war, the territory was administered under martial law,
which continued up to 31 December 1920, the Union Government during
this period assuming the functions of the old Diamond Regie.
After
the war and the formation of the Consolidated Diamond Mines, it was
clearly necessary to define the situation anew, and at the end of 1920,
a conference was held in Cape Town between the Minister of Mines, the
Mining Department and the producers, which finally resulted in the
establishment of a Diamond Board for South
