I
cannot tell you how delighted and proud I am to be here today, and to
have been asked to lay the foundation stone, or rather should I say to
open this building, for the architects assure me that the foundations
were well and truly laid several years ago.
To
those of us who are actively engaged in the diamond trade, may I say
that I think this new building is a symbol which shows how well the
trade has recovered from the dangers and vicissitudes which for so long
beset it?
For
my part, I have been in the diamond business for just over sixty years.
When I was elected chairman of De Beers in 1929, I can well remember
the difficult situation which faced me from the outset. Confidence in
diamonds had been shaken by the irrational exploitation of the rich
alluvial diamond fields of Lichtcnburg and Namaqualand. There was a
general unwillingness to adjust outlooks to the new situation which
these discoveries had created. During the subsequent years of the
economic crisis, sales of diamonds came almost to an end, and many
people believed that there was no future for the diamond trade.
I
often wonder in retrospect how indeed we weathered those storms. I
never lost my confidence, which was shared by my late brothers, that
all would come right in the end. This new building is its own tribute
to the untiring work of my brothers here in London. . . .
I must also recall the splendid co-operation I had in those times from Sir Chester Beatty, Mr. van Bree and Mr. de Vilhens.50
We devoted ourselves towards the establishment of sound principles, by
which in prosperous times the producing companies paid conservative
dividends, thus building up powerful financial reserves to protect the
diamond trade in any depression.
For
several years past now the demand for gem diamonds has far exceeded the
production of the mines although all mines are working at full
capacity. Yet some people still believe that we are holding back stocks
of diamonds so as to keep the prices at an artificially high level. It
is not true: indeed our engineers are working continuously to increase
production to meet the demand.
No
doubt difficult times will come again, but I can assure you of my own
confidence that the financial reserves built up in the recent years of
prosperity will prove adequate to any future eventualities.
Before
I close my remarks on the diamond aspect, I should like to draw your
attention to the fact, which though so obvious can yet be overlooked,
that it is in London that we have built these new diamond offices. I am
sure that this strengthening of London's position is not unappreciated.
50 The leaders respectively of the West African, Belgian Congo and Angola companies.
