File 600/1905 Pt 2 'Aden Hinterland: Future Policy' [‎329v] (146/226)

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to expeditions out of all proportion, whether
immediate or indirect, to either the occasions for
them or to any clear advantage to be gained by
them.
3. If, as His Majesty’s Government have
decided, the main purpose of the recent delimi
tation is achieved by the fixing of a line beyond
which Turkish troops or agents cannot advance,
I submit to your Excellency the following propo
sitions as well fitted to carry out our decision.
So far as the Tnrkish frontier is concerned, it is
in the highest degree desirable that accidental
advances should not be exaggerated, and our first
protest would naturally be by way of action at
Constantinople. Round Aden and. within the
narrow limits of the protectorate^^ hire should
ho drawn within which internal disturbance would
naturally call for watchfulness, acts of
violence on British territory would, of course,
be punished promptly. Beyond that line our
Agent should be careful to avoid every step that
might lead us into military or political entangle
ments, without the express sanction of the
Government of India. A railway to Dthali and
a cantonment or sanatorium there, should be
considered as outside the contempla'ion of the
Government^ X ~~
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4. The retention of a Political Officer at Dthakf 4 ,
was originally provisional. In September 19(74
my Predecessor assented to the proposal of the
Government of India “ as a temporary measure, to
“ retain a British officer and a small body of troops
“ at Dthala.” This assent he limited to one year,
requesting that after the expiry of that time he
should be informed as to the existence of “ any
“ real necessity for maintaining the official and his
“ escort at Dthal^d’ In November 1905, however,
he accepted the reasons of the Government of
India for making it permanent. /^Foi 7 my own
part I can discover no further evidence of this
necessity. If the Political Officer b/ withdrawn,
there can he no advantage, andHrere are very^
obvious disadvantages, in maintaining the garrison
of 883 men now stationed at Dthala. The reasons
that were believed to demand me garrison in 1904
would seem now to have lost tjaeir force.
JL JThe despatch of postal runners or agents of
the British Government into the interior is to be
as much as possible avoided. Any project for _
disarming the tribes in the nine ‘CentEes should he
dismissed from serious consideration. Punitive
expeditions for offences committed during the
demarcation, and not punished then and there, are
now out of the question. No demonstration along
the demarcated frontier seems to he needed.
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