'File 61/11 IV (D 77) Hejaz-Nejd, Miscellaneous' [‎48r] (105/366)

this document is the property of his britannic majesty's government
EASTERN (Arabia).
CONFIDENTIAL.
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April 29, 1931.
Section 4.
[E 2225/337/25
No. 1.
Sir A. Ryan to Mr. A. Henderson.—(Received April 29.)
(No. 126.)
Sir, Jedda, Ayril 2, 1931.
I HAVE the honour to state that Sheikh Yussuf Yasin called on me on the
1st April to talk over privately the general state of the relations between His
Majesty's Government and Ibn Sand. He had proposed this visit, without
indicating its object, at the end of a personal letter informing me of the settlement
of the question of the arrears due to the Eastern Telegraph Company. hen he
came, he explained that he had hung his request to see me on to that matter,
because there was a connexion between it and the much more general purpose he
now had in view. He had thought of putting what he had to say in writing, but
the King had preferred that he should do it by word of mouth.
2. The sheikh expatiated, in the kind of language to which we are
accustomed, on Ibn Sand's desire for sincere friendship with and his reliance on
Great Britain. From a general statement, of which this was the padding, I
extracted four points, which, after hearing it, I enumer^ed for the purposes of
my reply. They were as follows : —
(1) The King and his Government had of late been reduced to a state of per
plexity by the severe attitude in the recent past of His Majesty's
Government and myself. They were anxious lest this attitude should
reflect a change of policy towards this country.
(2) The severity in question had been exhibited more particularly in
connexion with the Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan frontier question. (In this part of
his statement, the sheikh spoke of the frontier question as one in which
his Government regarded themselves as being the injured party.)
(3) Similar severity had marked my representations in connexion with the
Eastern Telegraph Company claim.
(4) The sheikh hinted, rather than said, that my own recent language had
been peculiarly stiff and rigorous and had contributed to the
disquietude of the King and the Hejazi Government.
3. I replied at considerable length to Sheikh Yussuf Yasin, thinking that it
would be useful to speak to him candidly, though temperately, provided I confined
myself to personal expressions of opinion. The general tenor of the conversation
was more important than its details and it is therefore unnecessary to record what
passed, except in brief outline.
4. Having isolated Sheikh Yussuf's points as above, I took them in reverse
order. I explained my personal position as being that of a Minister w T ho had been
appointed here in rather unusual circumstances in order to promote the growth
of good relations already existing. I had held in agreement with the King and
Fuad Bey Hamza that frankness, even if it sometimes entailed disagreeably strong
language, was the best diplomacy. If my methods led to the failure of my efforts,
I should not shrink particularly from being relieved of a post which had its
disadvantages, despite my interest in my work and the kindness which I had
received.
5. Turning to particular questions, I reminded Sheikh Yussuf that I had
discussed many questions of importance since the beginning of February, and that
the two he had named were the only two which had given rise to serious trouble.
The others had not all been settled, but some of them had been disposed of and
the rest were following a normal course.
6. I had, I said, taken a strong line on the question of the Eastern Telegraph
Company, simply because it had gone on for years and had become a scandal,
owing to the failure of the Hejazi Postal Administration to carry out its
obligations under the agreement.
7. I recapitulated the history of the Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan frontier question through
out the period during which I had dealt with it. My ultimate conversation with
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