File 2764/1904 Pt 2 'Baghdad Railway: General negotiations 1908-10.' [‎206r] (420/799)

jl hi « Document is the Property^of His Britannic Majesty S Gevemment .1
• BAGDAD BAIL WAY.
r ^. i r>N- Ci-
[August 11.]
SECRET.
Section 1.
30257]
No. 1.
(Confidential.) ^ ^ ^ &> C ' Hardin 9 eAugust 11 .)
My dear Hardinge, ^
I ENCLOSE, for your information » r ^^tinople, August 5, 1909.
Railway which I wrote for the Ambassador. P7 ° a sh ° rt memorand um on the Bagdad
Yours ever,
ARAM BLOCK.
Inclosure in No. 1.
(Confidential.) Memorandum by Sir A. Block.
(the a^d ° f ! he A l nat ° 1 , ian EaiIw ^. called on me to-day
part 7ttXLZt R, 1 d f h ® c onv 6raation by asking if I was negotiating on the
customs increase I safd ^b f" a 1°^ ° f f a 20 ' 000 ’ 000 . “cured on the 4 per cent.
National Bank wonln ^ ^ ne ^ 0 ^ a . tl0 ^ s h * d not commenced, but that naturally the
if r m e Gme T T \ P r 4 P fn “Pf* 6 ri m an y loan operations in the future At
uledoino- thk in-refllL^ h T d ^ Gov c rr ' ment ha <l expressed the intention of
A K g i th i ^ ase of customs for a loan, and that I had been told that the German
mbassador had expressly stated that the Government v/ould not claim the proceeds
tat admitted trt rtT Eailwa y- He did not “cm quite pleased with this,
t admitted that the Bagdad Railway Company would have to put up with the loss
of tins revenue. M Huguenm continued that seeing the drop in the Leipts of the
pu ic debt administration of last year (£ T. 150,000, including £ T. 38,000 of the
Roumehan tribute which will be recovered, so that the net decrease is £ T. 112 000)
and hence m the surplus of the debt revenues assigned to the Bagdad Railway, the
Germans had realised with regret that all their calculations as to the means of
constructing sections 4 and 5 (series 3) from Aleppo to Helif had been upset. He
^vas somewhat consoled upon learning that in the first four months of this year,
according to telegraphic information, our receipts had increased £ T. 100 000 but he
still considered the outlook as anything but hopeful for the railway.
I explained to him the situation as follows :—
Surplus of 1909-10, say
Government’s share
Less permanent charges
Less floating charges*
Remains
£ T.
500.000
375.000
139.000
36,409
199,591
available for his railway, for which he requires as far as Aleppo
& 1. 200,000 as interest on construction loan, and, say, £ T. 44,000 for working
expenses (2,500 fr., or £ T. 110 X 400 kilom., £ T. 44,000), or in all £ T. 244,000. As
the Government onlv pays^when the railway is constructed and working, the money
would probably not be required at that moment, and, if it was, there were supplementary
guarantees, such as the sheep tax of the vilayets of Konia and Aleppo, on which a
U .+.r tj SU ^ Q ^ ^ h ad been set free for forty years by the recent arrangement
with Russia regarding the w T ar indemnity :—
£ T.
500,000
.. 375,000
In 1910-11, taking the surpluses again at
Government’s share
Less permanent charges
Remains
And the same sum will be available in future years.
139.000
236.000
, ^ have kft out of account the advances of the Anatolian Railway Company on the supposition that
°t ei anangements could be come to between the Government and the company as to the date and manner
0 ![ lr rei mbursement. They amount in all to £ T. 630,000, of which £ T. 300,000 is pavable after the
annuity of Series II of the Bagdad Railway.
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