'Report and Proceedings of a Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence on the Baghdad Railway, Southern Persia, and the Persian Gulf' [‎22r] (48/332)

Second Meeting, Friday, 6th March, 1908.
PRESENT:
The Right Hon. J. Morley, 031., M.P., Secretary of State for India {in the Chair).
The Right Hon. Sir E. Grey, Bart., M.P., Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The Right Hon. D. Lloyd-George, M.P., President of the Board of Trade.
The Viscount Esher, K.C.B., G.C.V.O.
The Right Hon. Sir C. Hardinge, G.C.M.G. [Knight] Grand Cross of [the Order of] St Michael and St George (accolade). , G.C.V.O., Permanent Under-Secretary
of State for Foreign Affairs.
Sir R. Ritchie, K.C.B., Political and Secret Secretary, 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. .
Captain E. J. W. Slade, M.V.O., Director of Naval Intelligence.
General Sir W. G. Nicholson, K.C.B., Quartermaster-General
Major-General J. S. Ewart, C.B., Director of Military Operations.
Captain Sir C. L. Ottley, K.C.M.G., M.V.O. (Secretary).
Sir James Mackay, G.C.M.G. [Knight] Grand Cross of [the Order of] St Michael and St George (accolade). , K.C.I.E., attended as a witness and was examined.
Evidence of Sir J. Mackay.
(Mr. A. Wilson Fox, C.B., of the Board of Trade, was also present.)
II? Mr Morley : Will you tell us what, in your view, is the general aspect of
English trade with and in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ?-In 1906 188 steamers loaded at Basra,
w hfch is at the top of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , of which 166 were British, 6 German, and
6 Russian; so that I think we might say the greater preponderance of trade in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. is carried by British ships. , ^ , T
113. You could tell us if it is trade between the Gulf and England, or between
the Gulf and India, for example ?—By far the greater proportion of the exports from
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. that come to Europe come to Great Britain ; then a large proportion
of the balance of the exports goes to India, and a considerable amount goes to the
United States—to Boston and New York.
114 In English bottoms ?—Yes. The lines between the United Kingdom and
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. are, first, the British India Steamship Company. They do not have
a direct line from London, but they have lines running from Bombay and Karachi up
the Gulf, and they take a considerable quantity of cargo which comes originally from
London and is transhipped at Bombay, it being sent out either by their own steamers
direct to Karachi or Bombay, or by the P. and 0. or other regular lines from this
country. Then we have the Anglo-Algerian Steamship Company, managed by Messrs.
Strick Then we have the Bucknall Steamship Company, which is managed by
Messrs Bucknall, and the West Hartlepool Steam Navigation Company, which is.
managed by Jones, Price, and Co. Then lately Messrs. Andrew Weir and Co. have-
come into the trade, and they charter occasional steamers for homeward loading.
Practically 90 per cent, of the trade from London to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. is carried on by
the Stricks, Bucknalls, and George Price. Then we have the Hamburg-Amerika
Line running from Hamburg to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . That was started about three
or four years ago. They are sending out twelve steamers a-year—practically
about one a month ; they get very little cargo from Hamburg and Antwerp,
and so far they have not called at any British ports. They get a fair quantity of cargo
home entirely for the Continent. Then we have a Russian line between the Black Sea
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