Dr.
Bancroft and Mr. Dowsett do not contemplate with satisfaction being
asked to work for a British company in a British Colony under the
direction of an American. I feel a real regret that the young field
engineers and geologists should have other than an Englishman at the
head of the local organization and Dr. Bancroft shares this feeling. .
. I have taken special pains to establish cordial relations with the
Governor in the interests of the corporation, with the result that he
turns to us in the frankest possible way for assistance in all matters
of serious importance to the industry. With an American in charge the
position may be somewhat changed.
This was, in fact, the point which had been made by Leslie Pollak.17
♦ X ♦
On
27 July 1927 Edmund Davis in London wrote to S. Guggenheim, a partner
in the very eminent New York mining house of Guggenheim Brothers,
setting out the position of the concession companies, Bwana M'Kubwa and
Rhodesia Broken Hill, and expressing his conviction that 'if your firm,
with its world-wide reputation, were to come in now and associate
itself with us in the development of such a promising territory, it
would be taking up the position at a comparatively early stage'. On 29
October 1927 he received a reply from New York, couched in extremely
courteous terms, but explaining that the firm
are
seldom, if ever, interested in minority-financing, that is to say that,
whereas they are always interested in the possibility of acquiring the
ownership control of any mine of known merit (whether this ownership
or control be secured by themselves alone or in association with
others) they are not interested in what might be considered purely as a
banking transaction, or in the underwriting or purchase of the
securities of a company with whose management they are not connected.
These
contacts, therefore, had no immediate consequences; they took place at
a time when American interests were becoming increasingly aware of the
significance of the Copperbelt, and they were to influence Edmund Davis
a year later. For the time being, another American group, closely
linked with the Chester Beatty interests, was to play a more
significant role. The American Metal Company, incorporated in
17
In his letter, C. B. Kingston added that 'I accept the risk of
incurring the displeasure of the board in writing so frankly about a
matter that they may regard as being outside my sphere, but the matter
is in my opinion of sufficient importance to justify plain speaking.'
