The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-05-18
Price Of Diamonds Advanced.

btiSS VI
The De Beers mining syndicate. which
controls the greater part of the dia-
mond output oc the world, has raised
prices five times since May %, 1905, the
last time making the increase In the
price at least 10 per cent.-News Item.
From the New York World.
Richer than Rockefeller. richer than
the Oil King, who's wealth surpasses
hat Of governments, is Alfred Belt of
South Africa and London He himself
does not say it, for he has no way OF
estimating-within millions of pounds
sterling-his tremendous accommodations,
But, with a perverted pride. England
sets him against America In the matter
OF money, and 1t must be said that
England's claims seem worthy of recog-
nition.
For his understood. nervous, timid
little man is the actual head of the d1a-
mond industry of the world. and con-
trolls with undisputed power the output
and price of this most precious of
gems. He owns-or commands the COM
pany which owns-the only diamond
mines of any Importance in the world,
and it is for him to say just how many
shall be mined and put on the market
for princes, wine agents and other mil
%lionaires to buy.
Alfred Belt, according to authorities
| of his country-or, rather his adopted
country, for he was born in Hamburg
is sale to be a Millionaire, the My
man who has eve achieved that dis
tinction. Just what this means no one
can think, for h human mind cannot
comprehend a billion.
John u. Rockefeller. 1t las been
shown. is as near to being a Millionaire
/ as a man can we'll be, under existing
conditions. OF course. this does not
mean that he has a billion dollars, or
could convert his tremendous holdings
into anything like that. Not In actual
cash. that is, for the total stock OF mon
ely in the world is less h $500, goo, 600.
Belt Supreme in "Ready Money"
The question is, whether John q.
wealth into cash or collateral. could do
1t to as great effect as Alfred Belt.
Probably, in such a contest, Belt
would have the advantage, for dia-
monds and diamond mines look more
like ready money" tina railroads and
oil fields. Rockefeller, of course, can by
turning his hand add immeasurably to
his fortune by Increasing h price of
oil a cent a gallon; but, on the other
hand, so can Belt, by pushing up the
cost of diamonds a shilling or so a
karat. The fortune of either man is,
1T may be said, just as much as the
public will stand for.
GOckelelleT S Wedlll is lle ISSuis, pr
marily, of his having what the world
must have-oil and it's ~by-products.
Belt, on the other hand, deals only IN
Injuries. But there are enough people
who must have these %luxuries to make
them practically a necessity.
1t is precisely his ability to do this
that makes him such a power in the
money world. He controls the three
great Cones or mines. in Kimberley,
whence all the diamonds of the world
come. Two of these are being con-
stantly worked, and their precious out
put stored ava to be marketed when
necessary. The third, the richest mine
of all, it is believed, has eve been
touched, and the wealth 1T may con-
tain cannot even be estimated.
The futility of trying to dispute that
a man with the power of either Rookie
Teller or Belt is worth a billion dollars
may readily be seen. Each is easily
The only question is. which of the two
men, if the necessity should arise. could
the moro easily obtain the larger sum
of actual money? And the answer is,
probably, Alfred Belt.
Who, then, is his Colossus of FL
nance, this money king, who from the
unitarian standpoint is the most sue
cessful human being that has ever
lived. He is no SNOWY figure in the
world of society; nor is he n glowering,
handwriting Scrooge, whose voice
spreads terror and destruction. Just
as Rockefeller in this country is hard
ly known except by his pictures, so,
to an ever greater degree, with Alfred
Belt in London. He is seldom seen,
hardly known, and has a horror of no
toriety.
Alfred Belt is not a s%peculator. He
is a man Of big ideas and the gift OF
the grab. His quick and inventive
brain is too big for his frail body. His
health, never good, has time after time
broken down under the strain.
He a a small and slender physique,
and is not reckoned at all cute in small
transactions. He has the large, lumin-
U.S., brown eyes of a dreamer and the
an extraordinary mack Of getting ear
~ everything he wants. He is abso-
lutely a bundle Of nerves. n his ner-
vousness is at times quite distressing.
In moments of excitement 1T, is prac-
tically impossible for him TOT sit still.
he emphasizes his mari by nervous
tugs at his small, fair mustache.i He
is hardly known in society, but he is
very popular with his own associates.
They call him Alfred" and refer to
him as the Little Man." He has a de-
lightful house at No. &c Park Lane,
London, and really palatial offices in
the city, but he is not os%tentatious. In
fact, he is me Of the most difldent
and %unassuming little men that you
could meet anywhere.
Although he has the controlling in
terest in the great diamond fields in
South Africa, he wears no diamonds.
He does not affect jewelry at all for
personal adornment. but he has a great
taste for a magnificent collection of
antique decorated jeweled objects.
No one ear estimate how much
money has been made in South Africa
since nearly forty years ago when an
unsuspecting Hottentot picked up a
shining pebble on a desolate farm in
G%riqualand. Billions. certainly. I'm
doubtedly, more treasure in diamonds
and gold have been taken from the
South African mines in the last thirty
eight years than any single man has
possessed since the world began. Had
the man owned h mines of South Az
RIGA he would have been the richest
mar OF our time. Yet the greater part
of this wealth is in the hands Of very
few men, and Of these Alfred Belt is
a long way the richest. So far as the
control of solid cash is concerned there
is little doubt that Mr.. Belt is the rich.