File 3047/1909 'Railways: Asiatic Turkey; railway construction in Asia Minor' [‎143r] (290/368)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.]
ASIATIC TURKEY AND ARABIA.
^ CONFIDENTIAL.
[35008 J No. 1.
Sir G. Lowther to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received September 20.)
(No. 743.) 4 ::
Sir, 7’herapia, Septembrr 14, 1909.
WITH reference to your despatch No. 277 of the 7th instant inquiring as to the
concession applied for by Mr. Glasgow, 1 have the honour to enclose herewith a copy of
the preliminary contract made between him and the Turkish Minister of Public Works.
You wall perceive that Mr. Glasgow proves not to be a representative of the
Standard Oil Company, but of the J. G. White Construction Company, described as of
New' York and London. This has given colour to the report which appears to have
been spread mainly by Mr. Glasgow himself that he represented a large amount of
British capital. The American charge d’affaires, who has supported him very warmly,
stated that no doubt, as so large a sum of money would be necessary for the enterprise,
a considerable portion of it—several millions—would beraised in England, and then in
fact he would be representing large British interests.
It is next to be noticed that the proposed railway is apparently to start at Sivas,
and go thence to Diarbekir, Van, Mossul, and Kerkouk, and finally to Youmourtalik,
which is on the Gulf of Fayas, near Mersina. It will not, therefore, encroach upon the
reserved Prussian sphere of the Black Sea basin, but it does not explain how it is
proposed to get to Sivas in order to commence from that town. But the intention is
expressed of endeavouring to invade the German preserve on the sea between Tripoli
and Mersina.
Articles 2 and 3 give the concessionnaires a period of sixteen months within which
to make surveys of the line and to decide whether or not they will take up the
concession, and article 5 holds the Turkish Government from granting any concession
or right to search for petroleum in the vilayets of Van, Bitlis, and Mossul—a prohibition
which appears definitely to postpone Mr. D’Arcy’s negotiations for the Mesopotamian
oil-fields until the end of the sixteen months allowed.
There are other proposals now being put forward, in addition to that which is
being put forward by Mr. Beckett, to whom I referred in my despatch No. 674 of the
17th August, for the construction of railways in Anatolia Peninsula that forms most of modern-day Turkey. , notably one w T hich is being
pressed by a Mr. Chester, who represents an American syndicate ; and another by
Colonel Schaeffer, on behalf of some Belgian capitalists.
1 shall have the honour to report on these schemes as soon as I can obtain
reliable information concerning them.
I have, &c.
GERARD LOWTHER.
[September 20.J
Section 10.
Inclosure in No. 1.
Preliminary Contract.
ENTRE Son Excellence Gabriel Effendi Noradounghian, Senateur, Ministre du
Commerce et des Travaux Publics, agissant au nom du Gouvernement Imperial
ottoman, d’une part; et M. le Dr. Bruce M. Glasgow, agissant en vertu d’une
procuration portant la date du 25 juin, 1909, ci-annexee.'* au nom du syndicat J. G.
White and Co., de New'-York et de Londres, d’autre part, il a ete convenu et arr£t£ ce
qui suit :—
Article 1. Le syndicat J. G. White and Co. s’engage envers le Gouvernement
ottoman, qui acceptesous reserve de 1’approbation des pr^sentes par une loi, k faire k ses
frais, risques, et perils—
1. Les etudes de reconnaissance des chemins de fer suivants, a savoir :
(a.) De Si was a Van, en passant par Kharpout, Arghana, et Diarbekir, Bitlis et la
rive nord ou la rive sud du Lac One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees de Van.
* Not printed.
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