'File 61/11 IV (D 77) Hejaz-Nejd, Miscellaneous' [‎53v] (116/366)

to cope with present difficulties, they have decided on a form of popular
consultation, in order to be able to tell the townspeople later that they had their
opportunity of making themselves heard. He criticises the arrangements in
various particulars, e.g., he says that the conference has been saddled with the
secretariat of the permanent Legislative Council, a nominated body with an inept
secretarial service, and he hints at possible hanky-panky in connexion with the
Mecca ballot-boxes.
5. The '' Umm-al-Qura " of the 5th June was full of it all. It gives a list
of representatives, two being the president of the Legislative Council and another
person on behalf of the Government; twenty-two for Mecca; eleven for Jedda;
Medina; three each for Taif and Yambo; and ten members of the
Legislative Council. 1 understand from other sources, though this is not stated
in the paper, that the members include separate representatives of the body of
L lama. It also appears that Governors, &c., certainly the Governor of Jedda,
are participating in the labours of the conference. It elected its own president,
one Sheikh Mohammed-al-Marzuki, and other officers, after the King had opened
the proceedings with a speech and Sheikh Yusuf Yasin had read the agenda.
Three committees were appointed to deal respectively with («) public morals
and the control of the pilgrimage; {h) judicial matters; and (c) general affairs.
1 he public have been invited to communicate any useful suggestions in writing
to the secretary. On the second day the conference drew up a loyal address in
reply to the King s speech. The King gave a banquet on the evening of the
first day.
6. It will be observed that several of the most approved parliamentary
forms have been observed. Has the Hejaz then become a parliamentary country
to the extent that autocracy seeks a lead from the people? Has there been
another of those bloodless revolutions in a form adapted to the conditions of the
Holy Land ? The answer to both questions is probably in the negative. It would
be unfair to Ibn Saud to suggest that it is all eye-wash. He is confronted with
many problems. He would certainly like to solve the more urgent of them, e.g.,
to appease the many complaints connected with the pilgrimage "and to find a way
out of the present financial and economic morass. He may think sincerely that
it is a useful thing to seek wisdom even among the people. Whoever actually
elected or selected the representatives of Jedda,"for instance, they have not been
ill-chosen. But the King will not and dare not part with power; nor can the
best available representatives have the necessary knowledge, even if they were
given the power, to solve the financial problems which dominate the position.
The locomotive is off the rails. The most that can be hoped of such a conference
is that it will serve as a safety valve and prevent the boiler from bursting, while
the engine muddles its way through the desert under the auspices of the King and
his advisers, who still remain really in charge of it. This mechanical illustration
reminds me of the one concrete proposal which I have heard of so far in connexion
with the problems submitted to the conference. It is that motor-cars should be
abolished or severely restricted. The money for them goes out of the country
and their increased use tends to destroy established trades. If the camel came
back into his own, depression would be relieved. The honourable trade of making
camel-litters would, for instance, revive.
7. I am sending copies of this despatch to the Secretary to the Government
of India in the Foreign and Political Department, His Majesty's High
Commissioners at Bagdad and Jerusalem, and to the honourable the Political
Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
I have, &c.
ANDREW RYAN.