مجموعة ٦ / ٨ (٢) "سلسلة مطبوعة. ١٩٣٨-" [و‎‎١‎٦] (٣٨/٣١)

27
must have been copied straight from the statute-book of some highly orga
nised state, is far too elaborate to be applied properly in this country, and I
should hardly have thought it worth reporting but for one article which
reads as follows :—•
Article 21. The sale of proprietary medical preparations imported
from abroad is prohibited, unless previous permission for the
sale has been obtained, and the Public Health Department
shall not authorise the sale without first taking specimens and
ascertaining the composition, the effective medical substances
which they contain, and the method of use.
2. Such British proprietary medical articles as to be found in this
country must have a very small sale, but as even that small sale may be held
up, if only for a time, by the promulgation of this regulation, 1 have
thought the matter worth reporting.
3. A copy of this despatch is being sent to the Department of Overseas
1 ’ Trade [No. 11. (766/270/2].
(25)
Enclosure in Foreign Office covering letter, dated the 12th May 1938.
[E.-1701/196/25.}
Letter from Sir R. Bullard, to Viscount Halifax.—(Received March
28), (No. 46), dated Jedda, March 11, 1938.
I have the honour to inform you that Ibn Saud summoned me to a final
audience to-day before his departure for Mecca and thence to Nejd for his
annual holiday. I was thus able to convey in person to the King, as well as
by letter to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the congratulations on the
discovery of oil in Hasa which you sent in your telegram No. 37, dated the
9th March. The King was much pleased at this mark of sympathy and
expressed his appreciation and thanks. I have since received a letter in the
same sense, written on the King’s behalf, from the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs.
2. What with the visit of Her Royal Highness Princess Alice and Lord
Athlone, every detail of whose journey he follows personally with the great
est interest, and the discovery of oil, the King was in an excellent humour.
He talked a good deal about European politics, going to pieces over names
like Czechoslovakia, but showing a shrewd knowledge of the situation, but
he did not refer to the projected negotiations between His Majesty’s Gov
ernment and the Government of Italy, as I had thought he might do.
3 Much of the talk was about the Yemen. The Imam, said the King,
was always worrying about something. He made a lot out of Philby’s
journey, and the other day he said that the British were working up to
Nejran and asked what the King was going to do about it. This seemed
to amuse the King, who always seems to find the Imam slightly ridiculous.
He proceeded to criticise the Yemenis as thoroughly factious and savage
and untrustworthy, and related various incidents in support of this thesis.
He then talked about the Hadhramaut in the sense of the communication
from Fuad Bey which I have reported in my despatch No. 39, dated the
8th March. I hope to have time before the bag closes to give the gist of
the King’s remarks as a postscript to that despatch.
4. The King repeated the kind invitation which he gave me on the
occasion of Lord Belhaven’s visit (my despatch No. 9, dated the 19th Jan
uary) to spend some time with him in the desert next spring, if the rains
should be good. As he pressed for a reply, I could only say that, if His
Majesty did not mind my being no great sportsman, I should be very glad
to come. It seemed to me that I might do more good in camp with the
King for a week or so, than sitting at a desk in Jedda, and I trust that you
will approve my general acceptance of the invitation.