The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-08-04
VALUE OF DIAMONDS,
'he Price of Pure Stones is Main
tanned by Monopoly.

talned by Monopoly.
w men was in London a short time
ago. said Mr.. D. De S. Mendes, the
diamond cutter, 81 was allowed as spe-
clal iaVor to see the great diamond that
was found last year in South Africa.
tnlnk they are going to call it the
jubilee diamond, but / believe it is not
ye1 Named 1t is the whitest stone in
tne world, and one of the largest, and
Is owned by eight persons on shares,
tne value being greater than any one
even OF the enormously rich diamond
dealers could afford.
when found it was of an irregular
snape' being somewhat like an egg with
the small end somewhat elongated.
Inc owners, in order to reduce it to a
regular shape, split off this end, and
AFTER cutting the fragment found they
had a forty-karat brilliant, which they
sold tothe King of Portugal for f40, 900.
The value of the remainder was not i'm
paired BY the subtraction of this trifle,
but rather enhanced, since the split was
successful, and the shape of the stone is
improved. 1t is valued by the owners
at tl'5O0, 900, and any gentleman who
wishes to invest in rather costly trife
can not do better than examine it.
'Ihe owners intend keeping it until
- Prince of Wales shall succeed to
saaare of England, and then trying
t(sell it to him. Failing this sale, it
ishard to tell what they can do with
it.'
who are the owners now?" was
asked Of Mr.. Mendes.
II do not think I'd better mention
Names" he replied, with the caution
which dealer in diamonds must needs
have. There is considerable mystery
maintained about it, and it would not
perhaps be safe to tell all the facts,
even if / knew them, about when the
stone was found, who bought it and
what they paid l know that there is
such stone, however, for have seen
it, and l know it is owned in eight
shares, for the gentleman who showed
it to me owns one-eighth.
1T is difficult for people outside the
business to realize the enormous wealth
Of the diamond dealers in London" he
continued. "As an indication, / may
say that the same gentleman showed
me one package of stones aggregating
5000 carats, which he valued at five
guineas a carat. This as by no means
his stock in trade. 1t was one of a
number of packages"
''He is one OF the shareholders in the
two great companies which practically
control the diamond market of the
world. They are the Central Diamond
Mining Company, and the Kimberley
Diamond Mining Company. Between
the two, they own or control
every important claim in the
world in which diamonds are
found. These are in Africa, for,
as is well known, the supply from the
I'D mines has entirely ceased. The
.tSa companies control hundreds OF
mifa>ns of capital, and were formed
by consolidation of all the small COM
panies owning claims, for the purpose
of controlling the output, and so keep
ing up the value of diamonds"
ais the value then huctuatingP'
at has fluctuated considerably with
in few years. The scare or furry
in the trade that was talked about
after the African mines were discov-
cred, and which was pooh-poohed by
the bulls, was a very active reality,
and was very nearly approaching a
panic when the consolidation was eff
fected. The large dealers saw plainly
that unless something was done tC
limit the supply the market would be
broken, and they banded together and
bought control of all the diamond
mines. Since that time no new dia-
monds have been put on the market
excepting those which they have al.
lowed, and the price, which had gone
down, has been restored to about what
it had been for many years"
"Then the price or value of dia.
monds no longer depends upon theil
natural supply, but upon an artificial
restriction of it"
Precisely So"
"And it is within the power OF these
two companies to break the market
whenever they choose"
Undoubtedly, but they will never
do it, for they would be throwing away
millions of pounds of their own proper
ty."-M. Y. Cor. st. Louis Globe-Demo
crat.