'The Middle Eastern question or some political problems of Indian defence' [‎167r] (338/616)

LORD LANSDOWNE'S DECLARATION
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British interests which we should certainly resist with
all the means at our disposal." That Lord Lansdowne
should at the same time have intimated that he spoke
in no minatory spirit, and that he was not aware of any
proposals on foot for the establishment of a foreign
naval base in the Gulf were, no doubt, merely oratorical
precautions which did not, and were not meant to,
detract from the emphatic warning his words conveyed
to the world at large. The arguments by which he
led up to his declaration of policy were equally sober
and moderate. " It was owing to British enterprise,
to the expenditure of British lives and money, that
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. is at this moment open to the navi
gation of the world. It was our ships that cleared
those waters of pirates ; it was we who put down the
slave trade ; it was we who buoyed and beaconed those
intricate waters." We had so far succeeded in pre
serving a liberal share of the commerce, and though
we might feel very keenly the competition of other
powers, and could perhaps scarcely hope always to
maintain there or elsewhere the position of superiority
we had acquired as the pioneers of commercial develop
ment throughout the world, and certainly could not
aim at excluding the legitimate trade of other nations,
he entirely agreed that u this country stands with
regard to the navigation of the Gulf in a position
different from that of any other power," and that "our
policy should be directed to protect and promote
British trade in those waters."
As far as it went it was an admirable exposition of
our rights and obligations. Great Britain still holds
a position of complete pre-eminence in the Persian
Gulf. She holds it under the most honourable of title
deeds, for it is none other than the reign of law and