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THE MOVING MEN
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through
mining on a sound basis was avowedly the limit of his scheme, apart
from a natural pride in figuring as the foremost operator in these
marvellous Diamond Fields, and a rising star of the first magnitude on
the London Stock Exchange. But the assurance of money making was, at
most, a minor consideration with Rhodes. He, too, valued money highly,
but not for the bare delight in piling it up or for the luxuries which
it would purchase. Great wealth was to him the essential means for the
furtherance of great plans. He wanted millions in hand, or the assured
control of millions, to push his design for the lighting-up of the Dark
Continent by the torchbearers of civilization, for the carrying of the
flag of Greater Britain from the Cape to Cairo.
A
man of kindred spirit, but of far more quixotic temper, the great
soldier, General Gordon, once told him of the offer of a roomful of
gold by the Chinese Government for his extraordinary services in
subduing the Tai-Ping rebellion.
" What did you do ? " said Rhodes.
" Refused it, of course," said the disdainful Gordon. " What would you have done ? "
"Done,"
said Rhodes, "why, I would have taken it, and as many more roomfuls as
the Chinese would give me. It is no use to us to have big ideas, if we
have not got the money to carry them out."
The
range of his plans and how he pursued them will be presented in detail
in the chapter dealing with the far-reaching undertakings of the great
Chartered Company which he conceived and brought into existence. It is
sufficient to note at present that he pushed the development of his
grand political aims apace with the means at his command, from the very
beginning of his appearance as a prominent factor in the development
of the diamond mines. He entered the Cape Parliament as a member for
the district of Barkly West, almost coincidently with the formation of
the De Beers Mining Company. From the day of his entrance into the
political field, he worked unwaveringly for the extension of British
dominion into the heart of Africa.
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