'File No. II/12 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re: affairs in Persia and Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf. Jan '09 --' [‎50r] (99/178)

good-will and co-operation were necessary, and
were willing to lend him, through his Majesty’s
Government, from £5,000 to £6,000 on con
dition that their application for land was
granted, and that the Sheikh gave or procured
a good title to it on the Company’s behalf.
The Company were ready to pay a reasonable
market value for the land, if bought, or £500
per annum in full for all land required, if
leased for the duration of the Concession, or
any extension of it, and they would demand
interest at 6°/ 0 on their loan.
His Majesty’s Government directed that
the Sheikh should be informed that they were
willing to lend him £5,000 or £6,030 on the
understanding that he concluded an arrange
ment with the Oil Company on the above
terms, and that he granted to a British com
pany a concession containing exclusive rights
to carry out, on lines proposed by Sir William
Willcocks, a scheme of irrigation on the
Karun. Care was to be taken to represent
the loan as coming from His Majesty’s
Government.
11. (Vide paragraph 12 of the Memo*
Karun Irrigation Con- randum for April
cession. 1909.) On the 20th
May, the Government of India forwarded
to His Majesty’s Government copies of reports
containing Sir William Willcocks’ views on the
possibilities of irrigation in the Karun district
of Ahwaz. In their opinion Sir William’s
opinion as to the potential wealth of the Karun
valley confirmed the importance of the British
Government retaining their present position
of paramount influence with the Sheikh of
Mohammerah, and of preventing him from
procuring from other than British sources the
funds for its exploitation. They also drew
attention to the view expressed by Sir William
Willcocks as to the desirability of giving a
scheme of irrigation from the Kerkha river
preference over the Ahwaz scheme, in case the
Sheikh decided to grant a concession to a
British Company in consideration for the loan
of £5,000 or £6,000 which it was proposed
to negotiate through the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company (vide paragraph 10, supra).
12. (Vide paragraph 13 of the Memo-
T * ou i v. t randum for April 1909.)
Loan to the Sheikh of XT . , r r , , '
Mohammerah. His Hajesty s Consul at
Mohammerah reported,
on the 12th May, that the Sheikh admitted
that £1,000 had recently been borrowed by
Hajji Rais, the factotum of the Sheikh, from
Messrs. Wonckhaus of Basrah, on a note of
hand signed by Hajji Rais, on the surety of
the Sheikh. The amount was taken to
complete a sum of £7,000, paid for a date
garden purchased by the Sheikh and is
repayable after the date harvest. According
to a rumour current in Ahwaz but denied at