'Aden' [‎36r] (1/6)

SECRET.
B. 379.
ADEN.
The question of the administration of Aden involves three areas :—
(i) Aden proper, ?.e., the small area of British territory (some 75 square miles)
surrounding the harbour (to which is attached also, for administrative purposes, the
island of Perim with its coaling-station and lighthouses, lying some 100 miles away at
the entrance to the Bed Sea) ;
(ii) the Aden Protectorate, a very much larger area extending in all directions
(to a minimum depth of about 40 miles) and occupied by a number of independent
Arab Chiefs bound by treaties made through the Aden Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. with the
Government of India ;
(iii) beyond the limits of the Protectorate, the territories of Yemen and A sir,,
formerly Turkish provinces, but since the war governed by their own powerful Arab
rulers—the Imam of Sanaa and the idrisi.
Aden itself was captured in 1831) by a mixed force of the Bombay Army and the
Indian Navy despatched from Bombay. It is by law a part of “ British India,” and is
administered by a Resident appointed by the Government of India, assisted by officers
of the Bombay Political Department. There is a garrison consisting at present
(February 1925) of one Troop Cavalry (the Aden Troop), one British Infantry
Battalion, one Indian Infantry Battalion, one Flight B.A.F., one Company R.G.A. (Coast
Defence) one Signal Section, one Fortress Company (Sappers and Miners) and one
Defence Light Section (Sappers and Miners), and the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. is also General
Officer Commanding, Aden Brigade.. The civil population of the British territory is
made up, in round numbers, as follows;—Arabs 33,000, Somalis and other Moslems
7,000, Jews 4,500, Indians 3,000, Europeans 500.
Before the war the Aden Settlement and Protectorate were administered entirely
by the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. and Government of India, under the ultimate control
of the Secretary of State for India, and the Government of India were also responsible
for the defence of Aden. Shortly after the outbreak of war the Government of India
assumed control also of political relations with the Temen and Asir as well as with
the Protectorate. But as a result of changes introduced in the course ol the war,
and intended at the time to be temporary and provisional only, the system of
administration at the present time is complicated and anomalous. In 1917 it was
decided to transfer the control of political relations (he., primarily, relations with the
Yemen and Asir, but the arrangement has been applied also to political relations with
the Protectorate) to the Foreign Office, and military control (defence and operations)
to the War Office, leaving the local administration in the hands of the Government of
India. On the formation of the Middle Eastern Department of the Colonial Office in
1921, that Department took over the functions of the Foreign Office.
The resulting position is highly unsatisfactory. The General Officer Commanding
and Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. is now r responsible to four separate higher authorities, the
Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. (and through that Government to the Government of India
and 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. ), the Colonial Office, the Commander-in-Chief in India, and the
War Office. It has been impossible, under such arrangements, to avoid some degree
of confusion and friction. The Government of India have pointed out that on the
military side no clear line has been drawn, or perhaps could be drawn, between
defence and administration, and the Resident has explained that some military
questions are now' dealt with by the War Office, some by Army Headquarters, India,
and some by both these authorities. Similar difficulties have arisen in regard to the
distinction between ‘‘political ” and “administrative ” matters. The arrangements of
1917 moreover leave the question of incidence of expenditure, as will be explained
more fully later, in a position which cannot be maintained indefinitely. They
were indeed, as already indicated, intended only as makeshift arrangements to be
revised after the war. Their prolonged continuance is causing inconvenience in all
directions, and it is very desirable to settle the question on a permanent basis without
further delay.
The question falls into two divisions : (i) by what authority shall Aden in future
be administered ? and (ii) on what revenues (and in what proportion if there is a
division of liability) shall expenditure at Aden fall? It appears that in practice
financial considerations may determine the answer to both questions; but it will
nevertheless be desirable to consider the twm questions separately on their merits.
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