'File 53/6 (D 2) Koweit [Kuwait] Affairs, 1898-1899' [‎86r] (171/554)

[This Document ia the Property of Her Britannic Majesty s Govemmeat.]
ASIA. [November 30. j
CONFIDENTIAL. Section 1.
' —— )
No. 1.
Sir J. Ardagh to Foreign Office.—{Received November 30.)
My dear Sir Thomas, 18, Queen Anne's Gate, London, November 29, 1898. ^
1 SEND yon some observations on tlie Kapnist scheme inclosed m Mr. de Hnnsen s
No. 426 of tlie 1st August. ' ^ .
I have added thereto some speculations on our future development which may be
of interest as showing my point of view.
" 1 ours sincerely,
(Signed) J. C. Alii) A GIT.
Inclosure in No. 1.
Extract from a Memorandum by Sir J. Ardagh on Count Kapnist s Scheme for a
Railway between Mediterranean and Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Tripoli to Koiveit.
( SL0 COIJNT KAPNIST appears to be a promoter, who hopes, by the intermediation
of certain corrupt officials at Constantinople, for whose eventual benefit a sum of
monev is to bo lodged in trust, to obtain a Concession for the construction of railways
from the Mediterranean through the Euphrates and Tigris basms to the 1 ersian Gulf.
Williams, Meyer, and Co., are stockbrokers who propose to work tao Concession.
The proposals, as set forth in the Petition to the Sultan are extremely vague and
it may be inferred that neither party knows, or wants to Know, anythmg about Jie
details of the project. They are only concerned m making a piofit by floatm, a
COml Suniifi' armain line to pass from Tripoli by Horns, Miaden, Baghdad,
Nasriveh, Balra to Koweit, its length would be about 1,100 miles. Ihe branches
mentioned would add about 1,400 miles; making a total of mles, or 4,000 kilom.
The gauge of the line is stated to be " broad," t.e., presumably 4 ft. 8^ m. oi 5 feet,
and it is to admit of a speed of 60 kilom. (37J miles) an hour, which implies heavy
rails, easy gradients, and careful laying and maintenance, on aoout the scale of oui
The average capital outlay per mile open of the 15,000 miles of » ft. Cm. standard
guage lines in India is 158,000 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. . Converting this at the rate o,. 11- l rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
(a great deal of the capital having been raised when rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. were woi'th -s. o . l more) .he
panital outlav per mile comes to aBout 13,000/. ^ _ __
Lines recently constructed have cost much less—the 860 miles of tlie Bengai-
Na^pur ; the 680 miles of Indian midland; and the 830 miles of Oudh-Eoliilklmnci,
cost about 10,000/. per mile; and the 160 miles Delhi-Umbali-Khalka, about 8,000/.
When it is considered that the Sultan, the Porte, the intermediaries, the concessionnaire,
the brokers, and the Syndicate, all expect commensurate pront before the
constructing Company enters the field, it may be anticipated that the line now in
question will not be made for less than 15,000/. per mile The main line alone oi:
1100 miles, would at this rate require a capital of 16,500,000/. The supplementary
branches mentioned in the Concession, would only have the parent Company between
them and the subscribing capitalists, and might perhaps be moxle for 8,000;. per mi e.
At this rate the 1,400 miles'of branches might be constructed ior j-,.,20J,0^Ci'., making
a total of 27,700,000/. of capital for railways alone.
To this must be added the cost of the two ports at Inpoli and Km\eit, and
presumably another at Alexandretta ; the reclamation drainage and irngatioii of the
lands in the basins of the Euphrates and Tigris; the works needed tor the regularization
and navigation of these rivers ; the exploitation of tlie mines and petroieam deposits
in a belt 100 kilom. (62-5 miles) in width along the railway, which, collectrvely,
would amount to a further sum of at least 3,000,000/., making a grand total of at least
30 000 000/., over which the parent Company would have control, in is is the amount
of' the' outstanding portion of the war indemnity due by lurkey to Ivussia; and
[1726 r/-l]