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'Mesopotamia Commission. Report of the Commission Appointed by Act of Parliament to Enquire into the Operations of War in Mesopotamia, together with a Special Report by Commander J Wedgwood, DSO, MP, and Appendices. London: HMSO, 1917.' [‎54v] (108/248)

The record is made up of 1 volume (122 folios). It was created in 1906-1918. 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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106 PART XL—CAUSES CONTRIBUTING TO THE ERRORS OF
JUDGMENT AND SHORTCOMINGS OF RESPONSIBLE AUTHORITIES
D. Atmosphere of Economy up to Date of War and Effect upon Military
Preparations in India.
41. As regards finance it must be remembered that the Indian Government Act, 1858
precluded the cost of overseas expeditions from being charged upon the revenues of India
unless with the consent of both Houses of Parliament. In September and November, 1914,
accordingly, resolutions were passed by Parliament empowering the Indian Government to
defray the ordinary cost of the troops employed overseas, in so far as such ordinary tost
would have been payable by India, had the troops remained in that country. Any excess
over such ordinary cost was to be borne by the Imperial Government in addition to the full
cost of any troops required to replace the troops sent overseas. The effect of these resolutions
was that, so far as the overseas expeditions were concerned, India participated in the war
without thereby incurring any direct increase of her normal military expenditure in peace
time. Whatever may'have been the justice of such an arrangement as regards the expedi
tion to France, it clearly redounded to the advantage of India in the case of the expedition
to Mesopotamia, which, as we have seen, was recognised by the Indian Government as a
military measure protecting their North-Western Frontier from attack, aud they obtained
this advantage without cost to themselves. Their net military expenditure for the year
1914-15 was actually nearly £50,000 less than the estimate which had been made for
that year before war was declared, and on the assumption that expenditure would be on
a peace basis. In introducing the Indian Financial Statement for 1915-16, Sir W. Meyer,
the Finance Member, stated : “ Our chief economy occurs under the ^Military Services,”
and, though the war had already been waging for more than eight months, he budgeted
for a military expenditure half a million less than the corresponding expenditure for the
previous year. Although this estimate has, in fact, been exceeded by the actual expendi
ture, the excess, according to the latest figures available to us, has never amounted to more
than £2,000,000, or 20 per cent, of the normal military expenditure in India. It is, of
course, common knowledge that the United Kingdom’s war expenditure represents an
increase of more than 1,000 per cent., over the normal. During the period under our
review no additional taxation and no loans were raised with a view to helping England
in bearing the cost of a war in which the very existence of our Indian Empire was threatened.
The disparity between the financial war burdens of I ndia and the rest of the Empire was
even the subject of comment in the Vice regal Council where there was a general expectation
of new taxation. One member went so far as to say in Council, " Handsome as our offer
ings may have been, they have not, I regret to say, been on the same princely footing and
basis as that of our fellow Colonials. However, I am confident that the demand has only
to he- made, and loyal India will rise as one man and offer to pay the expenses of our Ex
peditionary Forces, in the same way as Canada and Australia are doing,” and he went on
to suggest an increase in taxation to meet such expenditure.
But prosperous though the country was, the Indian Government refused to listen to
such suggestions. Lord Hardinge and Sir William Meyer both recognised the financial
strength of India’s position, but, notwithstanding the financial needs of the war, they con
sidered it permissible for India to continue to spend a sum of 9.4 million pounds (equal to
about 18 per cent, of India’s Imperial revenue) on capital works, railways, irrigation, etc.
In fact, to quote the words of a native member of the Council, this budget “ made the
country almost forget the serious economic and financial effects of the war.”
It has been argued that India had no cause to be sparing in expenditure on the overseas
expeditions because the Imperial Government were bearing all the abnormal cost of the
war. But Sir F. Aylmer informed us that when he was Adjutant-General at Simla, the
Finance Department frequently demurred to proposed new war expenditure in the fear
lest the expenditure should persist after the war, and become a charge upon India, and we
know that a similar motive influenced the financial officials in their dealing with Sir J.
Nixon’s demand for a railway.
Thus the atmosphere and influence of economy continued at Simla long after the
war broke out, and there are indications of a reluctance on the part of the Indian Govern
ment to recognise the indisputable fact that war meant extra expenditure. They seemed
.... to have struggled hard to carry on war upon a peace budget, and it is hardly open to doubt
that this tendency was one of the causes of the inadequate expenditure incurred, and the
lack of provision made for the wants of the Mesopotamia Expedition during the first
16 months of its operations.
The Government, rather than the governed, were the laggards, and in our judgment
the measures now taken by the present Viceroy and his Council in mobihsing latent

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Content

A signed proof, folios 1-100, plus additional material, folios 101-124. The cover bears the signature of Sir Arthur Hirtzel, Assistant Under-Secretary of State. The report has been annotated in blue pencil at various points.

Contents:

  • 'Part I. Preface.
  • 'Part II. Origin of Mesopotamia [Iraq] Expedition.'
  • 'Part III. Advance from Basra to Kurna.'
  • 'Part IV. The Advance to Amara [Al-'Amārah] and Kut [Al-Kūt].'
  • 'Part V. Correspondence and Telegrams as to Advance on Baghdad.'
  • 'Part VI. The Advance from Kut to Ctesiphon.'
  • 'Part VII. Operations for Relief of Kut.'
  • 'Part VIII. Armament, Equipment, Reinforcements, &c.'
  • 'Part IX. Transport.'
  • 'Part X. Medical Breakdown.'
  • 'Part XI. Causes Contributing to the Errors of Judgement and Shortcomings of Responsible Authorities.'
  • 'Part XII. Findings and Conclusions. Recommendations.'
  • 'Separate Report by Commander J Wedgwood, DSO, MP.'
  • 'Appendix I. Vincent-Bingley Report.'
  • 'Appendix II. Memorandum by Sir Beauchamp Duff.'
  • 'Appendix III. Colonel Hehir's Account of the Siege of Kut-el-Amara.'

Additional material:

  • Folio 101. Manuscript note [by Arthur Hirtzel] on net military expenditure.
  • Folios 102-109. Copy of the East India (Army Administration), Further Papers regarding the Administration of the Army in India , 1906.
  • Folios 110-115. Manuscript notes, titled 'Suggested redraft & amplification of second half of parag 1' [unknown hand].
  • Folio 116. A clipping from the Daily Telegraph , Wednesday 4 July 1917, featuring an article titled 'Mesopotamia. Ex-Viceroy's Statement. The Medical Breakdown.'
  • Folios 117-124. An expanded typescript version of Hirtzel's manuscript notes (folio 101).
Extent and format
1 volume (122 folios)
Arrangement

A table of contents can be found at folio 4v.

An index can be found at folios 93-97.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 124; 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 110-115; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence. The volume comprises a stitched pamphlet, and other stitched and loose-leaf material.

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'Mesopotamia Commission. Report of the Commission Appointed by Act of Parliament to Enquire into the Operations of War in Mesopotamia, together with a Special Report by Commander J Wedgwood, DSO, MP, and Appendices. London: HMSO, 1917.' [‎54v] (108/248), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/257, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036338403.0x00006d> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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