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THE HOUSE IN CHARTERHOUSE STREET
formed the Anglo-American Corporation, thus bringing large American capital interests (including the House of Morgan) to South Africa. In 1928 he formed the Rhodesian Anglo-American, Ltd., with an original capital of about $10,000,000. His interests extend beyond diamonds, includ­ing also gold, copper, and explosives.
Almost the first thing he did was to take steps toward improving marketing conditions, depressed by the alluvial finds. He was determined that output be restricted and all sales forced, if possible, through one channel. Discussions were initiated among the big producers and the Diamond Syndicate and the results was the formation of the Diamond Corporation. Ltd.r with a paid-up capital of £5,500,000 (less than $25,000,000) and loan facilities for a similar amount. Through this arrangement the producers and the syndicate became joint owners of the diamonds which, be­cause of the extensive alluvial discoveries, had accumulated during the previous few years. And they agreed to spread their sale over a period of years in order to insure a reason­able share of the available trade to the big producers.
This meant the end of the Diamond Syndicate, the be­ginning of the corporation. But before we can fully under­stand the corporation we must peer into the history of the syndicate. Its origin goes back fifty years, when De Beers made an arrangement with six diamond-selling houses in London. These were Barnato Brothers, A. Dunkelsbuhler & Co. Wernherr Beit & Co., Joseph Bros., V. Litkie & Co.. and Mosenthals. There was a depression in England in 1892, continuing into 1893 and forcing diamond values down. It was decided that all the selling houses must be amalgamated even as the mines were being amalgamated. In 1894 an agreement was signed, the houses arranging to pool their stocks and sell as a single agency and, of course,
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