♦ IX ♦
The
first draft of a scheme for the formation of 'Anglo American Rhodesia
Limited' was sent to Johannesburg from the London office on 12 July
1928. It provided for a capitalization of £1 million, divided into two milHon shares of 105. each, wliich were to be subscribed by Anglo American Corporation at 125. 6d. each,
thus giving the proposed new company a reserve of 25 per cent of the
paid-up capital. It was to be registered in Northern Rhodesia; Anglo
American Corporation was to appoint the chairman and deputy chairman,
and it was recognized that it would be necessary subsequent to the
formation and capitalization of the company to offer participation to
certain City friends and also to make provision for American
participation, though it was clearly envisaged that any American
participation should be on a minority basis. In the course of
subsequent discussions, it became clear that the circle of participants
should be widened, but the real difficulties concerned the first and
third of the issues mentioned in the previous section, i.e. the nature
of the local machinery of control and the provenance and nature of
American participation.
As
far as the first point is concerned, it must be agreed that there were
at stake questions of principle as well as questions of personality.
The two main protagonists were Carl Davis, who had become (in 1926)
technical director in London of Anglo American Corporation, and Leslie
Pollak, who had become more and more concerned with Rho-desian affairs.
At the time the discussions between the two men were taking place, the
immediate point at issue was to find an adequate successor to Mr. C.
B. Kingston, then in general charge of the Broken Hill office. Carl
Davis, himself an outstanding mining expert of American origin, was
naturally in favour of appointing as head of the proposed organization
someone who 'must have achieved a reputation as an operating man, i.e.
manager of some well-known mining enterprises in the American
copper-field'. He was prepared to admit, however, that if a business
man of high standing—such a man as Leslie Pollak himself —were
appointed, there should be no friction between him and the technicians.
Leslie Pollak stressed two factors: first, the post would involve
important negotiations with Government and though
there
is perhaps no inherent objection to a technical man handling such
matters, is there any particular advantage in getting him to do so? It
certainly is true that some technical men possess great business acumen
but if this
