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'Expenditure on Malleson Mission and troops in East Persia, 1918 to 1921' [‎7v] (14/34)

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The record is made up of 1 file (17 folios). It was created in 1921. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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1-i
the war), and eannot therefore be responsible for the military cost of the Malleson
Mission and the troops ancillary to it. The Cabinet did not dissent from this view,
as is, I think, made plain by the paragraph in the minutes of 5th May immediately
preceding the recorded “ decision ” regarding the withdrawal.
In any case it is clear that the fact that insufficient funds have been provided in
the Army Estimates cannot be a reason for asking my Council to agree to accepting
as a charge against Indian revenues expenditure which under Statute cannot be borne
thereby, and expenditure for a force which was not used in Persia for Indian require
ments at all.
I will ask the Government of India to telegraph a revised estimate of the expendi
ture which will fall on the Imperial Government during 1920-21 for troops in South
and East Persia. In the meantime I can only guess what the figure will be, but I
expect it will be in the neighbourhood of 4,000,000h rather than 2,000,000L sterling,
apart from the expenditure f v t° k e shared between Foreign Office and 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. ) on
“Consular guards” at Meshed and Seistan after completion of the withdrawal. Can
your military advisers suggest any steps which could be taken to expedite withdrawal
at this season of the year ?
I hope to send an official letter to the Treasury shortly on the whole question and
will communicate a copy to the War Office.
As your letter has been sent to the Cabinet, I am circulating a copy of this also.
Yours sincerely,
The Right Hon. Winston S. Churchill, M.P. E. S. Montagu.
12 .—The Wight Hon. IF. S. Churchill to the Right Hon. E. S. Montagu.
War Office,
My dear Secretary of State for India, 2nd July 1920.
You wrote to me on the 1st June, in reply to a letter of mine, about the-
incidence of the charge for troops in East Persia, and the correspondence is before
the Cabinet.
In the hope that we may arrive at a final settlement of this vexed question, I
have had an official letter (of which a copy is enclosed) sent to the Treasury, which
Department, I understand, will bring the matter up for decision. You will see that
we do not admit at all that you are debarred by Statute from bearing part of the
charges in question.
I am afraid that my military advisers are not in a position to share the responsi
bility of saying how the troops in question should be withdrawn.
Yours, &c..
The Right Hon. E. S. Montagu, M.P. Winston S. Churchill.
13 .—War Office to Treasury.
No. 0102/346. (F. 1.) War Office,
S_[ r5 18th June 1920.
The Army Council have before them a letter of the 1st instant (copy enclosed),
addressed by the Secretary of State for India to the Secretary of State for War, and
circulated by the former to the Cabinet, on the subject of the charge for the troops in
South and East Persia, including General Malleson’s Mission.
The Government of India Act lays down that “ the revenues of India shall not,
“ without the consent of both Houses of Parliament, be applicable to defraying the
“ expenses of any military operation carried on beyond the external frontiers of
“ India.” But no military operations are now in question, and in the opinion of the
Army Council it would be as proper to charge the whole or a part of the cost of these
troops to Indian revenues as it was before the war, when the cost of troops in Persia
was shared equally between the Government of India anti the Foreign Office. This
view was placed before the Treasury in War Office letter 0162/315 (F. 1) of 27th
September last, and is supported in Lord Curzon’s letter of the 15th April last to Mr.
Montagu (also circulated to the Cabinet).
The Council wish, therefore, to record their dissent from 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. view
and to express their hope that that Department may be pressed to accept the proposal
placed before them in Treasure letters of 21st February (1636) and 17th March
(12609).
I am, &c.,
B. B. Cubitt.
The Secretary, Treasury.

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Content

This previously secret file, compiled by 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. , contains various papers relating to expenditure on the Malleson Mission and troops in East Persia between 1918 and 1921.

The file opens with a note about the contents of the file, and is followed by an 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. Political Department Memorandum and a memorandum by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Correspondence regarding expenditure is then included which dates from after the Chancellor's memorandum (November 1919) until January 1921.

There are two appendices. Appendix I contains correspondence on the subject which was exchanged prior to the Chancellor's memorandum. Appendix II provides copies of the main military and political telegrams which are referred to in the memoranda and the later correspondence regarding expenditure. At the end of the file is a copy of a separate telegram from the Viceroy, Army Department, to the Secretary of State for India dated August 1919 (folios 16-17).

The main correspondents throughout the file are 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 Treasury, the War Office (including the Secretary of State for War, Winston Churchill), the Secretary of State for India (Edwin Samuel Montagu), and the Viceroy, Army Department.

Extent and format
1 file (17 folios)
Arrangement

The content of the main file is arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file. The content of the appendices is also arranged in chronological order within each appendix.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 17; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Expenditure on Malleson Mission and troops in East Persia, 1918 to 1921' [‎7v] (14/34), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/36, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100035604843.0x00000f> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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