Administering a large area requires much money. So much so that despite all the mineral wealth brought on stream, the company was not able to pay a dividend until after administration of Southern Rhodesia was turned over. Well speculative companies usually don’t pay. We know that the company succeeded in finding the minerals, but did it lead to great wealth? and whatever happened to it. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
The stamp shows the coat of arms of the British South Africa Company that had administered Rhodesia for 33 of the 50 years. Notice however the two native warriors, one from 1890 and one from 1940. Notice how different they look and think how much work was involved in getting between the two. No wonder the company only made money after offloading administrative tasks. Cecil Rhodes and his backers had a vision that would have required more minerals than even he could find.
Todays stamp is issue A9, a half penny stamp issued by the British Crown Colony of Southern Rhodesia on June 3rd, 1940. It was an 8 stamp issue in various denominations celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of Southern Rhodesia under the auspices of Cecil Rhodes and his British South Africa Company. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents unused. The stamp is worth more used unlike the rest of the set. Even 80 years ago 1/2 cent wouldn’t take your letter far.
The British South African Company received a Royal Charter in 1889. Cecil Rhodes was backed by several prominent Jewish financiers and was tasked with discovering new mineral wealth, negotiating mineral rights from African tribes and bringing it to market. A tall order, but the kind of stock issue that can fluctuate wildly on good or not so good news. It was more than money though to Rhodes. He had visions of a British railroad from Cairo to Cape Town that would have all along it communities of English settlers. He thought the Africans belonged on reservations until civilized.
The gold rush had indeed attracted English settlers especially to Southern Rhodesia and the company financed a train through Northern Rhodesia but stopping short of Lake Victoria, the original goal, where it could connect to the northern African part. It was very expensive to build a railroad, secure and maintain it. Rhodes also had vision that added lands would allow for large families of settlers that didn’t pan out. Since mineral output was below what was hoped and lower margin copper and lead rather than gold the train did not make money. The company continued to administer the railroad until the late 1940s.
After Rhodes death, the area became a British Colony. This was not Rhodes intention, he thought the settlers where still Englishmen who deserved representation in British Parliament. In taking over the colony, the settlers paid half and Britain paid the company half for mineral rights in Rhodesia and the accumulated deficit from the former administration. Finally the company was able to make a profit and pay a dividend. The profits got a lot better in the 30s and 40s as the company brought on stream new copper resources in Northern Rhodesia. Under threat of nationalization, the British South Africa Company sold mineral rights in Northern Rhodesia to Zambia for 4 million pounds in 1964, again half paid by Britain and half by Zambia. In 1965 the remaining operations were merged into a British engineering company called Charter Consolidated. One third of the shares were still owned by Anglo American, the misleadingly named operation of Cecil Rhodes’ Jewish financial backers. In the 1980s Charter sold off the remaining mining operations, This was then sold in 2012 to Colfax, an American spinoff of the American engineering firm Daneher. When you think of these timelines what comes out is the machinations of finance taking over from Rhodes’ drive to find and build things. One wonders if Rhodes needed better backers or just there were more limits on what could be found than what could be hollowed out.
Well my drink is empty. Rhodes died at only 47 without heirs. If he had lived another say 25 years, would he have had the ability to find enough resources to make his vision for Africa a reality? Not likely, but also unlikely was the manifest destiny of the few English settlements in the then Indian/First Nation territory of North America. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020.