Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎168v] (336/544)

* E.C. 2540.
Armenia:
American Relief.
papers relating to American proposals of relief. Those proposals
might at first ight appear to raise a mirrow issue, but when they
came up for dir< ussion it would be found that the larger problem of
policy lay behind them, as it was impossible to decide what Powers
or agencies should be employed to give relief to Armenia without
raising the big question of the future of Armenia, and the particular
Power or Powers which would be charged with the task of looking
after Armenia in the future. The Chairman then stated, with regard
to Armenia, the broad features of the situation as it had emerged
from the events not merely of the war, but of the period which had
elapsed since the Berlin Treaty.!
A general discussion followed, in which the Committee considered
the question of the future of the various Caucasian regions, including
Georgia, Azerbaijan, Daghestan, &c.
(The discussion icas adjourned.)
(A verbatim report of the discussion is printed as an Annex to
these Minutes.)
2. With regard to the question of the proposals made by
America for affording relief to Armenia, the Committee had before
them a memorandum* from the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs to the Secretary, Eastern Committee, dated the 29th November,
1918. covering a note from the American Charge d’Affaires, dated the
21st November, to Mr. Balfour, in which it was stated that the
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief desired to
undertake at once relief measures for the rehabilitation of the
oppressed nationalities of the Turkish Empire in Constantinople and
Asia Minor, and proposed to send a ship with a cargo of foodstuffs,
clothing, agricultural machinery, seed, medical supplies, and the like,
together with some 300 doctors, relief workers, mechanics, agricul-
tuiists, and so on. Mr. Laughlin’s note further stated that the fore
going plan enjoyed the complete approval of the United States
Government and was part of Mr. Hoover’s food scheme, and His
Majesty’s Government were asked whether they had any objection
to offer to the immediate despatch of this ship.
In a Foreign Office memorandum* on Mr. Laughlin’s note, it was
suggested that in considering the question of the despatch of this
large Mission it would be as well to bear in mind the great economic
importance of the regions which the Mission proposed to visit, and
the possibility that the Mission might include among its members
persons who might not be exclusively devoted to its professed
humanitarian object. The coast of the Black Sea near Trebizond
was believed to be very rich in copper, and the Arghana mines, near
Diarbekr, were known to be among the richest copper-mines in the
world ; and the fear had been expressed that unless we made an effort
to secure an interest in these properties, they would inevitably pass
into the hands of the Americans. Moreover, as the United States
were not at war with Turkey, American citizens would be in a better
position to acquiie concessions and mining properties in Turkey than
their British competitors, who, presumably, are still hampered by the
“ Trading with the Enemy Act.”
Sir John Beale said that nobody knew' what Mr. Hoover’s
general plan was, and he thought that the present proposal offered a
convenient opportunity of obtaining information on the subject. He
thought that if this oiler were accepted as part of Mr. Hoover’s
general plan, we might to some extent prejudice ourselves when that
plan came up for consideration.
After a discussion (which is recorded verbatim as an Annex
tc these Minutes),