Coll 28/39 ‘Persia: Printed Correspondence 1929-1936’ [‎434v] (879/1174)

135
Despatch from the Commercial Secretary, British Legation, Tehran
to the Foreign Office, London, No. Overseas Trade (B) 201, dated
18th November 1931.
I have the honour to inform you, in continuation of my despatch of 26th ^
of August, No. Overseas Trade (B) 147 (Enclo. of S. No. 59), that in so far
as it concerns textiles there are as yet no concrete results to be reported re
garding the many enquiries for the textile machinery mentioned in para
graph 4 of my previous despatch. I recently enquired from Dr. Linden-
blatt what the position was as regards the various schemes for cotton spin
ning mills and whether the National Bank had approached, or intended to,
the British manufacturers whose names I had furnished at his request.
He replied that he had no news to impart except that no companies had as
yet been actually formed. He was most insistent in stating that the Nation
al Bank did not wish to interfere themselves: catalogues, specifications and
quotations would be given to the interested parties for them to choose and
decide. He did not wish to do anything that might give rise to the sug
gestion that he was favouring German, British or any other country in the
placing of orders. I have no doubt whatsoever that this is the result of a
conversation which Dr. Lindenblatt had with Teymourtache soon after my
interview with His Highness of August 6th.
2. I have heard from another (confidential) source that the German tex
tile expert, von Huser, has been inspecting likely sites for the installation
of cotton and woollen mills, and has recommended to the Government the
establishment of a woollen factory An East India Company trading post. from the yarn to the finished article, to
produce from 250,000 to 300,000 metres annually, including dye works. He
considers Kermanshah to be the most suitable place for the exploitation of
this industry, and proposes that a cotton factory An East India Company trading post. should also be erected there,
presumably to be worked by the same power plant as the following estimates
seem to imply:—
i
Woollen Factory An East India Company trading post. :—
Rs*
Machinery ....... r ' . .
buildings ....... . .
power plant .... ....
working capital ^ .
, Tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
190,000
60,000
100,000
150,000
Total
600,000
Cotton Factory An East India Company trading post. :—
R«.
Machinery
buildings £ . . .
working capital ... ......
• • •
• • •
90,000
35,000
60,000
Total
175,000
3. The capital is to be subscribed by the public, but it is safe to presume
that the usual lack of initiative and co-operation will prove a stumbling
block in the way of a speedy realization of this scheme as for the various
/others. ' ■ <
4. The local press periodically publishes short paragraphs of industrial
activities. At the end of August the formation in Meshed was announced
of a company to start a wool factory An East India Company trading post. , for which the material “will be bought
in Germany”. No confirmation, or indeed any news, has been received: on
the contrary, His Majesty’s Consul-General reports that there have been
no developments in the scheme for establishing a cotton spinning factory An East India Company trading post. ,
and that the local representative of Messrs. Wonckhaus & Company is as
pessimistic as ever about the Persians ever making a success of business.