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CHAPTER VII
DIAMONDS COME TO AMERICA
There has
been more than a blackout of cities and men and materials. There has
been a blackout in the trade relationships between nations that is
slowly starving the bodies and the spirits and the minds of mankind. No
commodity is exempt, least of all the diamond. Before this war the
whole world was buying diamonds. With the advent of the second World
War and the Sino-Japanese War just about all of Europe and two-thirds
of Asia were "blacked out" as purchasers of the gems.
Today
about the only fields for the sale of polished goods are the United
States, Canada, South America, the East Indies, and parts of India. In
all cases a sudden prosperity did something to mitigate the decline in
sales elsewhere. In 1940, for instance, Canada had its best jewelry
sales year in years, with 1941 on the way to top it, in spite of higher
income taxes and luxury taxes. Latin-American exports and
international exchanges had resulted in great increases in sales. In
the Dutch East Indies the greatly increased profits from rubber and
tin sales resulted in larger diamond purchases.
The
great increase in diamond sales in the United States can be traced to
the defense and rearmament program. Low and medium-priced jewelry sales
jumped as the salaries of the American laboring man rose with the
increase in arma-
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