File 600/1905 Pt 2 'Aden Hinterland: Future Policy' [‎327v] (142/226)

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disputes, by multiplication of formal agreements '■
with them ^and by any excessive readiness to resort (x. /'> k (r r
to expeditions out of all proportion, whether
immediate or indirect, to either the occasions for
them or to any clear advantage to be gained by
them.
3. If,” as His Majesty’s Government -have
decided, the main purpose of the recent delimi
tation is achieved by the fixing of. a line beyond
which Turkish troops or agents cannot advance,
I submit to your Excellency the following propo
sitions as well fitted to carry out our decision.
So far as the Turkish frontier is concerned, it is
in the highest degree desirable that accidental
advances should not be exaggerated, and our first
protest would naturally be by way of action at
Constantinople. Hound Aden and within the
narrow limits of the protectorate a/line should
be drawn within which internal disturbance would
naturally call for watchfulness,* and -acts oi
violence on British territory would, (of co urse^ )
be punished promptly. Beyond that line our
Agent should be careful to avoid every step that
mi ght lead us into military or political entangle^—-
ments, X. without the express sanction of the
Govei^uput-^of^ndi^ A railway to Dthal/ and
a cantonment or sanatorium there,
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shou/d
outside the
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contemplation of
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considered as
Government.^
4. The retention of a Political Officer at.Dthala
was originally provisional. In September 1904
my Predecessor assented to the proposal of the
Government of India “ as a temporary measure, to
“ retain a British officer and a small body of troops
“at Dthala.” This assent he limited to one year,
requesting that after the expiry of that time he
should be informed as to the existence of “ any
“ real necessity for maintaining the official and his
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“ escort at Dthala.” I can
evidence of this necessity^
be withdrawn, there can. be
there are very obvious disa<
tabling the garrison of 883 mi
Dthala. The reasons that wen
the garrison in 1904 would see
their force.
discover no fu rt her
itical ^Officer
vantage, and
e .
no t
vantages, m mam-
sn jnow stationed at
felievecyto demand
now to have lost
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5. The despatch of postal runners or agents of
the British Government into the interior is to be
as much as possible avoided. Any project for
disarming the tribes in the nine centres should be
dismissed from serious consideration. Punitive
expeditions for offences committed during the
demarcation, and not punished then and there, are
now out of the question. No demonstration nW^
the demarcated frontier/seemy to he needed,
6. I trust that these propositions may com
mend themselves to your Excellency, either as
matter for instructions to the Resident whom
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