Concessions in Bahrein [Bahrain], Kuwait, &c: correspondence, 1932-Jul 1933 (Colonial Office Secret Print, Middle East No.49) [‎119v] (240/284)

212
Enclosure in No. 239.
(Secret.)
(No. 2G.)
S ir , Kuwait, 2nd February, 1933
I have the honour to report the following interesting conversation which took
place between Shaikh Abdullah as-Salim and myself on the 30th January, 1933.
2. Shaikh Abdullah is, as you know, the son of the late Ruler of Kuwait and is
first cousin of His Excellency Shaikh Ahmad, the present Ruler.
3. He stands out from among other members of the Shaikhly family, in common
sense and general ability, and together with the present Ruler, may be said to be the
only man who reads newspapers, and takes an interest in world affairs.
4. Shaikh Abdullah had been absent in camp during " ID " holidays, which fell
on 27th and 28th January this year, and only returned to Kuwait on the evening of
the 29th. According to custom, therefore, I called on the 30th to congratulate him
on the " ID " festival, and on the conclusion of the fast of Ramathan.
- r ). After the usual greetings and subsequent politenesses. Shaikh Abdullah said
that he wished to discuss with me and in strict confidence the question of the " Oil
Concession." He had a right he said to be heard, as he was the senior member of the
A! Subah family after the Ruler, and any oil concession that was given was not going
to benefit the present Ruler alone, but would affect the whole of the A1 Subah familv,
numbering some 200 souls.
6. Shaikh Abdullah then commenced by complaining that the Shaikh was con
ducting the present oil negotiations far too much in secret, and that he had so far
consulted no one in the State, let alone any members of the family. He followed this
complaint up by certain observations, which for convenience sake I have enumerated
below in the form of sub-paragraphs :—
(a) He accused His Majesty's Government of doing a very wrong and immoral
thing in allowing the Shaikh the free hand that he had been given in the
matter. His Majesty's Government seemed not to have realised that Shaikh
Ahmad was little better than an ordinary Bedouin in mentality, and to
throw the whole responsibility on him for deciding between the merits of the
Anglo-l ersian Oil Company and the Eastern and General Syndicate's
concession was unfair,
(b) ll was not possible for the Shaikh to come to a right and proper decision,
when he was expected to pit his poor brains against Western experts, and
especially against the brains of " a super cunning schemer " (his words),
like Major Holmes.
(c) His Majesty's Government were evading their proper responsibilities, as the
Protecting Power, when they confined their advice to petty points con
nected with financial benefits, and maintained a mysterious silence as to
the policy it were best for the Shaikh to follow, in the interest of his people,
and that of future relations with the Protecting Power.
(d) Shaikh Ahmad was little more than a child in this matter, and His Majesty's
Government should most certainly have advised him clearly and definitelv
that it was to his interest, and that of his successor and descendents to
accept^ the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's draft concession and "turn
down " that of the Eastern and General Syndicate's. " If a child was
going to fall down a well " (to use the Shaikh's words) it was the nurse's
^ business to seize and stop it, it was not sufficient for the nurse to call to
the child and say it must itself decide whether falling down the well was
to its advantage or otherwise.
(e) In the present instance His Majesty's Government, even if indifferent to
the fate of the Ruler, should consider the other members of the familv
as well as the people of Kuwait.
if) Ft was indifference of this kind that in the past had so often led to trouble
and bloodshed in Arab States.
7. Shaikh Abdullah then gave it as his opinion that Shaikh Ahmad was definitely
movin? towards giving the oil concession to Major Holmes. His reason for savins this
was that ^ baikh Ahmad had not received fair treatment nor been supported bv Hio
Majesty s Government, in the matter of the Date Gardens and the Blockade, and to-dav
believed (or was taught to believe by Major Holmes), that if a strong American concern
got into Kuwait, it (the concern) would see to it, through its own Government that
sufficient pressure was brought to bear on Great Britain as would insure better treatment