The Indianapolis journal., 1894-01-23
AN AMBITIOUS BRITON
Cecil RhOdes's Rise to Foremost
Place in Wealth and Power.
He First Won a Colossal Fortune and
Then Devoted His Money and Ener-
gies to South African Federation.


tile, gold-bearing tablelands between the
Limpopo and the Zambesi TO the marshy,
fever-breeding country of the cattle-raising
Barotse. The British have defeated the
Matabeles; the Matabeles will destroy the
Barotse; the ittest have survived, and the
fittest will survive.
This is the story Of a man who is likely
to profit most by the defeat OF the Mata-
beleS. For years he had humored their
king, whom he used stepping-stone
toward the goal Of his ambition. Perhaps
he knew the day coming when Lo Ben
| gula would stand in his way, and was acute
| enough to see that in the course of time
| the MatabeIes would fall into pit of their
| own digging. However that may be, the day
| did come when the old king was forced into
| a war by his soldiers, who were positively
| certain that they could annihilate the
| whites. The natural result followed. Lo
| Bengula has been driven from the land
| which his father had conquered. and now it
| will be added to the territory controlled by
| the man whose remarkable career we will
| describe.
This man dreamed, ten years ago, of max
| ing South Africa, from the Zambesi to the
cape a solid, glorious. patriotic British col
| ony. He began his work. His success was
wonderful. Province after province fell into
| his hands He saw before him. In shadowy
form. the fulfllment of his dream, and then
| the idea came 10 him, what a glorious re-
public We could make of it
This is the story of the Hon. Cecil John
Rhodes, Premier of Cape Colony, manag
ing director Of the Imperial British South
Africa Company, known from Cape Town to
Niumkorlo as the Diamond King. He is
man of the Bismarck mold, man of whom
| an Englishman. writing in the Review of
Reviews. once said:
"He has the face of a Caesar. the ambi-
l.ONOla. wealth
| Croesus"
1t is true that there is something in Mr.
Rhodes'S face which reminds one OF the
| strong expression of the early Caesars,
] as it is depicted in the sculptured busts,
be drawn by the Imagination. AS to his
| ambition, pointing one day TO a map of
1am6esa t he said d., to i friend al that
| 0laS ambition was not greater than that
| And his wealth-the story is still told In
| pleasure, filled pail with diamonds and
| slowly emptied it while a PHOTOGRAPHERS
from the Cape caught the scene with his
| camera.
WHO HE IS.
The Premier Of Cape Colony is the fourth
son Of the late Rev. Francis William
] Rhodes, who was vicar Of Bishop Stortford
Herts, in England who died in 1878 at the
| age of seventy-two. He left two daugh-
ters and seven sons. Miss Edith Rhodes
| is the author of 1.-THE Adventures of Five
| Spinsters in Norway" OF the sons. Her
bert. the oldest, died while hunting .ele-
| plants in the Shire river region in 1871;
| Francis William, the second, is colonel
| of the First (RoyaD Dragons, and at
| present military secretary to the Governor
of Bombay; Ernest Frederick, the third.
| is a captain of the Royal Engineers; the
fifth, Elmhirst is captain of the Royal
| Berkshire Regiment; the sixth, Arthur NJ,
| is ostrich farming near Port EliZabeth
in Africa, and the youngest. Bernard NJ,
| Rhodes
Stortford, on July 5, 1853, and is therefore
in his forty-first year In 1852 at the age t;,
oldest brother. who was then a planter
in the south Of Natal The family am In Phybsi tba
the young mans lungs were too weak
to stand the air of England;
| ali South Africa fiocked thither in search
| Of diamonds, Herbert Rhodes took his
brother and all the kaftirs on his ,,h farm TO 70
| work of digging for diamonds had settled
into systematic form, and the eXclteInent
England M and entered Oriel College, oxford,
| but the English climate proved again TO
be too strong for him, and ne returned 10
The story of how he worked his way UP
and became stockholder OF many OF tne ne
a common one in South Africa, and applies
| TO thousands of other men, who now form
the aristocracy OF the cape , but ttS S'Tl fl ,
| of how he rose above all these, ana pc
came the greatest power in South Africa
is unique. er.;..
| N illIt. pusily engaged in his mining affairs
| the idea came into his head one day that ne
| would like to take his degree % ne
studied at odd hours sometimes IN ms Io,, pi,
flee. sometimes at the mines, and one day
| sailed for England, passed the examination
| and came back a B. n. -
Among the many mining companies that
We're organized at Kimberley was the
| famous De Beers Mining Company: which
had a capital OF 100000 and owned the rlch-
| est mine i'm south Africa OF this coInp;iI ny
Cecil Rhodes became president and rullhS
spirit ,ooo 49,
| many conpanies were in constant competi-
tion. pouring their product recklessly upon
the market in their frantic struggle asa1nS1 ms
| one another The price of diamonds was
| lower then than IL ever was before CT lilS
been since. Every one saw clearly ina!
| such a state of affairs was suicidal, ana tha'
the diamond industry was DecoIllns @ @less
profitable every day. Several attempts were
made to establish an agTeeIment ar 29h fhe
interests involved and SO stubborn was
each company in maintaining its rights that
| these endelvors were unsuccessful: The
| leading men of south Africa tried their hand
at effecting an amalgamauOn and failed
5dr At tne his, r09IS5terfui guidance the De Beers
| company absorbed the others, one by one
until at last. in 1889; every diamond rinlng IN i
| the De Beers consolidated mines limited
capital f3.95O0O0. The, diamond Industry OF
| soIth a frfca was at last controlled by one
| organization, and from that day 10 TINS tht
| nrice of diamonds all over the world has
| I1,itb but few exceptions, remained even anC
| unchanged To convey an idea or the I'M
| mensitv OF the scheme which Rhodes car
| ried through it is only necessary 10 copy
| from the annual report this sentence:
| ''In the fifteen months ending June 81
| 1902 there were hauled from the mines
| 2 SSS 55S loads of blue ground, yleldlnS 5,U.9
| 4S1 carats of diamonds, which realized to-
S'l'''- AN AMBITIOUS MAN.
Mr.. Rhodes was ambitious. He wanted tC
be rich and he wanted to be powerful The
first he knew would pave an easy way 1ol
the second and so for several years he de
| voted himself TO the accumulation of money
His fortune to-day is estimated at from
SEQ OOc 900 TO So 100000. To him, however
money was merely a means, not an end
| An English writer once said of him: .
| HE would no more cream OF hoaI IiIiis .
| his money for it's own sake than party
| leader would hoard the votes OF his follow
| ers A million pounds was to him an IN
| strIIment of power. q weapon OF ainDltlOn
Cecil Rhodes looked further than Kim
berley He was fired by the ever-fresh dis
| coveries of gold and other valuable deposits
| in the Transvaal and he resolved 10 LAY
| hands on the vast regions lying TO th'
| north-regfOns, in his belief, as rich as any
| that had been discovered yet. His dealing'
with the diamond mines had brought hin
into relations not only with many native
chiefs, bu. with many influential persons a
home. and with their aid, after many EOy
ages 10 England and lengthy negotiation
! in two continents. he obtained rONa
charter for the British South Africa Com
! pany. This success stamped him at once a.
the foremost man in the Cape Colony.
Before he obtained this charter he sen
trusted emiSsaTies TO King LO Bengula, Wn
ruled not only over Matabeleland, but ais
lOrded il over MaShO1aland. He secured
from "a tfEnR1lla