Diamond Syndicate?

When the South African diamond fields were opened, a serious difficulty with violently fluctuating diamond prices at once arose. Many people buy jewels as a sort of investment, and this type of buying was discouraged by the lively ups and downs of the prices for the white stones under natural conditions of supply and demand. Hence the De Beers Company assumed the function of buying, carrying and distributing at stable prices diamonds obtained from the South

African fields. For many years before the War, the price of diamonds was set by this company in London, 'in harmony with the Bernato and other large private diamond interests.

With the development of diamond output in the Belgian Congo and Portuguese Angola, however, this practice of stabilizing diamond prices became more and more difficult for the British interests to maintain. Additional trouble has resulted from social and political changes during and after the War in Europe, whereby many previously wealthy families have had their jewels confiscated or have been forced to sell them because of sudden poverty. Against these conditions a Londor syndicate has been struggling hard but with only partial success.

Now, according to press reports, a new syndicate is being formed in which the house of Morgan is to take a prominent part. The syndicate is said to be for five years, and to undertake control of the output of all the important South African diamond fields. If this rumor is true, U. S. capital will invade a business formerly preempted by the British. But control of the business, it is said, will not pass to Manhattan but remain in London.