THE WAR YEARS AND AFTER 353
being allowed, however, to accumulate any profit in diamonds which would also be frozen.
The
fact that we might have to pay income tax on accumulated diamonds,
which cannot be sold, and for which the cash does not exist, did not
seem to trouble him.
Why
the Diamond Corporation, which is not a producer but a dealer in
diamonds, should make any such arrangement, is a mystery to me.
(3)
Colonel Stallard then told me that he had prepared a scheme embodying
his ideas, and that he would in due course write to me. He indicated to
me, however, how he proposed to divide the trade. Particulars attached.
. . .28
♦ XVI ♦
Thereafter,
things were to go very much better, though the situation was by no
means without difficulty. The general course of events was summed up by
Ernest Oppenheimer himself in a letter which he sent to the Minister of
Mines on 11 September 1942.29 The actual phases of the discussion were duly described in letters to his son, Harry. On 10 May he was writing:
28 These are the figures referred to supra, section XIV.
20 'This is a personal note which I wish to write you supplementary to my other letter of today.
'Last May, you invited me to meet you for the purpose of discussing with you the various problems confronting the diamond trade.
'You
met me in the friendliest manner, and began the discussion by assuring
me you were most desirous of arriving at new arrangements provided that
adequate protection was given the South African diamond industry.
'You asked that I should co-operate with you in finding a solution to the many problems by mrking afresh start and that we should forget about past conferences and correspondence. Our discussions were of an exploratory nature and not binding on either you or me.
'In the atmosphere thus created, we had a very full and frank talk, taking in all aspects of the trade. You prepared an aide-memoire, and
I did likewise (my copy being in pencil), and did so for no other
purpose than to remind me of the topics of our conversation in order to
facilitate discussion between my colleagues and myself.
'Thereafter,
I visited Kimberley and explained matters to the directors of De Beers
and its associate companies, informing them fully of the discussions
which had taken place between you and me.
'Subsequently,
De Beers, on behalf of itself and associate companies, submitted
certain proposals which became the basis of negotiations.
'It
would clearly not be in the spirit of our discussion if either of us
were to claim that definite engagements had been arrived at, and based
such claims on the aides-memoire. I do not suggest that you put
forward such a contention, but your letter could be so construed. It is
of the greatest importance for the future of the diamond trade that the
cordial relations which have been established between us should be
maintained.
'I
am sure you will agree that the procedure I have adopted in my letter
of today, namely, of comparing the proposals submitted by De Beers and
its associates with the suggestions contained in your letter, is the
most appropriate and likely to yield the best results.'
