from a Birmingham reader
The Birmingham Trades Council Journal for December carried the following satirical item by James Valentine:
".eeisn't it dastardly that the British South Africa Company 5 is being kicked out of Zambia by the wogs. In 1890, Cecil Rhodes offered one of the chiefs £2,000 per year for a monopoly of the mineral rights in Northern Rhodesia. .So far, the comp-ny has only made a bere £161,000,000 on the deal and apart from taxes, it now turns 20% of its local royalties over to the local government. The government of Zambi- denies the legality of the company's claim to the royalties. But the company says that in 1950 the Northern Rhodesian government guaranteed the company's claim to the mineral rights. And mind you, that was a proper all-white government, The niggers didn't have a vote, let alone rule the damned country.
"The ending of the company's royalties will lose it the £250 million that it would have gathered in by 1986, when the agreement was originally due to terminate. No wonder chairman, ex-Conservative M.P. Emrys Evans, calls it "bare-faced appropriation." Profits last year a bare £8 million, Earnings, after all expenses and taxes, a measly 99.2% of the ordinary capital. The 13 directors slaving away for a mere £70,000 between them. I'11 bet the Zambian Government gets nearly that much...."