THE WAR YEARS AND AFTER 371
areas
in which Africans could participate legally in the industry, the
attractions of illicit mining would be lessened. Unfortunately, this
expectation has not been realized, one of the chief stumbling blocks
being the large number of African immigrants who have entered the
colony from neighbouring territories.43
The
position on the Gold Coast was somewhat different. The Consolidated
African Selection Trust never, at any time, possessed a monopolistic
control: so far as 'capitalistic' rnining was concerned, several
companies possessed mining rights. Nevertheless, as the report of the
Mines Department (Gold Coast) pointed out for the period 1955-6, in
spite of a general tightening up of security measures, illegal digging
on the property of the various concessionary companies 'continues to
cause grave concern and remains a serious problem'. As regards the
Native industry, the report of the Gold Coast Mines Board of Inquiry,
1956, had this to say:
The
provision of digging licences makes it possible for an African to
acquire an area of land for exploitation by manual working without the
necessity for capital outlay, and without the need to follow the
procedure laid down by the Concessions Ordinance in respect of normal
concessions. While it was intended that the licensee should direct and
control the work on his own area, this is not normally what occurs, and
it is believed that there is considerable buying and selling of stones
contrary to the provisions of the ordinance for which the digging
licence provides a cover. The producing companies complain that there
is also considerable illicit digging on their lands which they find it
impossible to restrain.
The
labour force of licensed diggers work on the tributor system. The
tributors are subject to little control by the licensees. They work in
their own time, by their own methods and where they please in the
licensed area. The total labour torce is estimated at approximately
12,000 but may be larger. Payment to the tributor is on the basis of
diamonds won and there are therefore no terms of employment between the
licensee and the tributor, and no compulsion on the tributor to work.
The
West African situation, therefore, presented two problems— that of the
'black market', a problem primarily political and administrative, i.e.
the prevention of illicit production, poaching on concessionary rights
and smuggling, and the other technical, i.e. given the existence of a
very large number of individual small producers, how to organize
marketing in such a way as to give the 'digger' a fair price and the
industry as a whole protection against panic sales. It was and is
43 252 Mining Journal, 30 January 1959.
