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File 2764/1904 Pt 2 'Baghdad Railway: General negotiations 1908-10.' [40v] (89/799)
The record is made up of 1 volume (391 folios). It was created in 1908-1910. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
remain at the disposal of the promoters funds exceeding by several millions of pounds
the actual cost of construction, while, if the branch lines were included in the estimate,
the surplus would be still higher. It is on these grounds that His Majesty’s Govern
ment are unable to approve of the financial burdens underlying the Bagdad Railway
concession: they consider that there would be manifest advantages in substituting a
form of guarantee approximating to that adopted by the Government of India, whereby
a minimum rate of interest is assured upon the capital actually employed in
constructing and working a railway, and any surplus profits over and above that
guaranteed minimum are equally divided between the Government and the railway
company: this system is productive of economy in construction and efficiency in
working, factors which are indispensable in order to secure commercial success and
satisfactory results.
Secondly, as regards the attitude of the Sublime Porte towards British interests,
His Majesty’s Government are far from suggesting that the Ottoman Government are
at liberty to disregard their contractual obligations under the Bagdad Railway
Convention simply and solely because those obligations, though concluded with
evident disregard of her real interests, are burdensome to Turkey; what they do take
exception to is the fact that the Ottoman Government, while showing no inclination to
treat on their merits the applications for concessions and trade facilities, however
modest m character, from British subjects, have apparently contemplated certain
financial arrangements tending to facilitate and to hasten the progress of the Bagdad
Railway towards the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
: and inasmuch as those arrangements cannot
become operative until the year 1915, the solicitude of the Ottoman Government to
bind themselves without further delay and to smooth the way for a monopoly of the
economic exploitation of the country cannot but cause serious misgiving and some
perplexity to^ those who have at heart the financial regeneration of the Ottoman Empire.
His Majesty s Government, by manifestations of practical sympathy, have given
tangible proof of their^ desire to contribute towards that regeneration which is the
lounelation of all administrative reform ; yet it appears that the Ottoman Govermnent
at a time when they are desirous, on the one hand, of raising the customs duties on
foreign imports from 11 per cent, to 15 per cent, are ready on the other hand to go
tto 't 4 l eir v,'^ P rom °te the prosecution of an enterprise admittedly burdensome to
the Turkish^ Exchequer, without so much as attempting by negotiation with the
wTin” 1 " 68 t0 ng ab ° Ut 311 alleviation of burdens which that enterprise
In the face of these considerations, His Majesty’s Government are reluctantly
by GreTt^Brit^nT ‘ hat ‘a 0 M Oman , G0Vernment ’ oblivious of the services rendered
by Great Britain during the Near Eastern crisis of 1908-1909, are deliberately
therX m underSnW tS the e Pr0greSS l° f the . Ba ^ad .Railway on its present basis and
ereby undermining the commercial position of this country in Mesopotamia which
coLhXttafL^OR 118 ed p m those reg i ons for the last 200 years: W cai1
conclude that the Ottoman Government have allowed themselves to be influenced bv
prejudiced and unworthy suspicions m regard to British designs in that region The
policy of Great Britain m Mesopotamia is directed towards the maintenance of the
n^rnnrT 0 ’ Hls + Ma J?sty s Government emphatically disclaim any designs of territorial
ggrandisement m those regions, and they are prepared to furnish the Ottoman Govem-
j ment with the most binding assurances to this effect
1905 pxpppriw 11 nnn . Dela anci ^ejel is continually increasing, the numbers in
this region must possess forTSSh Indian tradereTnVcomZ’rce 86 ^ Which
PereianhKR^n^n ^twVSnend't ^ ° n t ^ ° f the
and the sacrifice of many valuable lives : in the early of SheteeZ centre
About this item
- Content
The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, newspaper cuttings, maps and notes, relating to negotiations over the proposed Berlin to Baghdad Railway in the period 1903-1907.
The discussion in the volume relates to the economic, commercial, political and military considerations impinging on British strategy for the international negotiations over the development of a railway to Baghdad in particular.
Further discussion surrounds the motivations and strategies of British competitors in the area; included in the volume are four maps.
The principal correspondents in the volume include the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Lord Lansdowne, Sir Edward Grey), His Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople (Sir Nicholas O'Connor), the Under Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir Charles Hardinge, Sir Thomas Henry Sanderson), and for India (Earl Percy, Sir Arthur Godley), the Viceroy of India (Lord Curzon of Keddleston), the Secretary to the Political and Secret Department of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. (Sir Richmond Richie) and the London Manager of the Imperial Bank of Persia (George Newell).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (391 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 2764 (Bagdad Railway) consists of five volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/56-60. The volumes are divided into five parts with each part comprising one volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 392; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 329-358; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The foliation sequence does not include the front cover.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/57
- Title
- File 2764/1904 Pt 2 'Baghdad Railway: General negotiations 1908-10.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1r:164v, 166r:238r, 238r:238v, 238v:277r, 277r:277v, 277v:285r, 285r:285v, 285v:363v, 365r:392r, 392
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence