File 1408/1904 Pt 2 ‘Persian Gulf: telegraphs. Henjam-Bunder Abbas-cable’ [‎165r] (334/478)

messages sent on behalf of the British Government to and from its Consulate at
Bunder Abbas, should the British Government desire it.
Done in duplicate at Tehran on the 13th day of May in the year 1905 equivalent
to the 8th day of Bebbi-ul-Avvel in the year 1323 a.h. ,
(Seal.) (Signed) ARTHUR H. HARDINGE.
(Seal.) Signature of Mushir-ed-Dowleh.
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Sir A. Hardinge to the Mushir-ed-Dowleh.
Your Excellency, Tehran, April 29, 1905.
WITH reference to our recent conversations, I have the honour to inform you
that I accept the insertion in Article 1 of the Bunder Abbas Telegraph Agreement of
the word <e movaggatan ” which you were ordered by His Majesty the Shah to introduce
into it.
The other alteration desired by His Majesty, namely, the provision that there
should be a Persian Government office at Henjam side by side with the Indo-
European telegraph office, is less easy to give effect to, as the estimates made by the
British Government did not contemplate two offices on Henjam, and will therefore
have to be revised.
Prom our point of view, the chief inconvenience of two offices will moreover be,
firstly, that every message going to or coming from Bunder Abbas will be delayed by
the necessity of transmission from the Persian to the Indo-European office; and,
secondly, that there is only barely enough water in the tanks at Henjam excavated
by the Telegraph Department, when it established its station in the time of the late
8hah, to suffice, especially in summer, for the necessities of that station itself.
The Customs mirza, as your Excellency is aware, has now asked to use the
telegraph tanks, and, in accordance with M. Naus’ wish, the telegraph officials are
supplying him with water wherever possible, but the water difficulty will be a good
deal increased if a second telegraph station has to be supplied as well.
I am inquiring as to the extra cost which the establishment of such a station
will entail on the Persian Government. The estimate for the Bunder Abbas station
was 8,500 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. (or 3,400 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. ). It may be presumed that, allowing for the
expense of bringing materials and labourers from Bunder Abbas to Henjam, a similar
station could be built on that island for a little more, say, at most, 4,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. ,
which w~ould have to be added to the estimate of 75,000 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. . This does not,
however, provide for the necessity of digging fresh wells or bringing water from
elsewhere, or condensing it, all of which may involve additional—and at present
uncertain—charges.
A greater objection from the Persian point of view seems to me to be that this
additional station is likely to absorb for a good many years all the profits accruing
from the line to the Persian Treasury, and will oblige me to reconsider the statement
which I made in an official note last summer that it would prove financially advan
tageous. Assuming the upkeep of the station to be the same as that allowed for at
Bunder Abbas, we get an annual charge of 6,400 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. , or about 2,560 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. for
each place, or a total of 5,120 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. a-year, plus 600 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. for upkeep and repairs,
say, a total of 5,720 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. a-year. The line ought to earn this in order that the
Persian Treasury should not lose by it, and it may be hoped that at some future date
it will do so, but for the next few years this is hardly possible. It is very difficult to
calculate what it really will earn at first, and it is only by a further reference to
India that I can get the figures necessary to arrive at an approximate calculation.
But Mr. New, in a note of which I inclose a translation, tells me that the Persian
office at Bushire earns about 120/. a month, but that the whole earnings are probably
a little greater. We may, therefore, put them at 135/. a month, or 9,720 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
a-year. Assuming, for the sake of argument that the two stations at Bunder Abbas
and Henjam earn together one-third of this amount, we get a yearly revenue of
3,2t0 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , and deducting 600 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. for annual recurring charges, we get a
yearly revenue of 2,640 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. a-year. This, however, will only just pay for the
single station at Bunder Abbas, together with the upkeep of the line, whereas if to it
is added a second station at Henjam, the loss to the Persian Treasury will be