ABSTRACT
A Chartered Company would be less fettered: an act which would be a breach of international etiquette if committed by a government, would be attributed to commerical enterprise or business acumen if done by a Company. The Trans-Continental telegraph line, which was first mentioned in 1895, may be cited as a case in point. The idea of a charter, which had first openly been broached by Lord Gifford, had long been in Rhodes’ mind, but whereas Lord Gifford’s proposal had reference to Bechuanaland and Matabeleland only, the other had far wider ideas. As a colonising agent it was of the utmost importance that the existence of the Lakes Company should not be jeopardised, and Rhodes offered to come to its assistance financially, on condition that the shareholders should amalgamate their interests with the Chartered Company. Eventually the Royal Charter was sealed under Letters Patent on the 29th of October, 1889.
