File 3142/1903 'Hedjaz Railway' [‎194v] (397/488)

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and other causes, 1 am informed that not much more than 3,300 men are actually
engaged in work. In addition to their rations these men are, or should be, paid at the
rate of 1 piastre for every cubic metre of work done, which those who should know inform
me is not very generous pay. But even this pittance is not always forthcoming, and there
is a good deal of discontent in their ranks in consequence.
I am informed that so far about £ T. 120,000 have been spent here, a sum which
represents money paid to the contractors, the salaries of engineers, assistant engineers and
foremen of works, as well as the pay of the troops employed. A considerable portion of
the Mushir Kyazim Pasha’s salary, viz., £ T. 150 per mensem, has also been paid out of
this fund, the remainder of his pay, viz., £ T. 200 per mensem, being sent direct from
Constantinople.
It would appear that this functionary has made himself very unpopular of late by
evincing a constantly increasing tendency to interfere with the engineers in matters of
detail of which, of course, he is profoundly ignorant, and so an amount of friction has
come into play which threatens to have the most serious consequences, not the least of
which is the possibility of the resignation of Herr Meissner, the Chief Engineer himself, at
the expiration of his two years’ contract, which will, as a matter of fact, take effect very
shortly. It is earnestly hoped, h&wever, that he will not be compelled to take so regrettable
a decision.
In addition to the £ T. 120,000 mentioned above as having been spent here, it may
be calculated that another £ T. 170,000 to £ T. 180,000 have been expended at Constan
tinople (on rails, sleepers, hydraulic lime, a certain amount of rolling-stock, including four
locomotives, &c.), making in all the considerable total of £ T. 300,000. If we take it for
granted, as we are informed by the Press, that some £ T. 500,000 have been subscribed
altogether, it will be seen that three-fifths of this total have already been spent, in return
for which about 180 kilom. of railway, more or less completed, represent the work accom
plished. This works out at £ T. 1,660 per kilom., or, in other words, at a little less than
£T. 2,410 per mile, which, judged by European standards, is decidedly cheap, though it
must be remembered that the labour employed is comparatively cheap, especially that of
the troops, that the country to be traversed presents very few engineering difficulties, and
that the stations on the section of the line (more or less) completed have still to be built.
Then, again, on the asset side must be placed a very large quantity of rails and sleepers
already bought and landed at Beyrout, which are calculated as sufficient for another
40 kilom. of line. Moreover, the initial expenses in a large undertaking like this are
a very serious item, a fact which should also be borne in mind. The result as a whole,
therefore, may be considered as not altogether unsatisfactory.
I might mention in conclusion that Kyazim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , consumed by a very creditable and
intelligible desire to make the line as cheaply as possible, and encouraged very probably by
the contemplation of the results obtained from the employment of troops on the construc
tion of the line, proposed at a recent meeting of the Railway Commission that the Redifs
of this Army Corps should be called out and employed entirely on the works, to the
exclusion of the contractors and the men, foreigners and natives, employed by them.
This proposition, which received the approbation of the other members of the Commission,
with the important exceptions of the Vali and Herr Meissner, the chief engineer, was
referred to Constantinople, where, however, I hear, it has not been adopted.
The Vali informs me that the line will be taken as far as Amman within a few weeks,
to a place called Katraneh in nine months from now', and to Ma’an within eighteen
months. This, however, may be looked upon more in the light of a ‘‘pious opinion.”
I have, &c.
(Signed) W. S. RICHARDS.
P.S.—1 find that I have not explained that the Damascus-Dera’a section of the line
does not pass through Mezerib, though that station is at present connected by rail with
Dera’a. The reason of this is that when the construction of the line was commenced it
was considered probable that the existing French line would be bought by the Turkish
Government, but now that negotiations to bring about that result have practically
ceased, it has been decided to take the new line straight to Dera’a without touching at
Mezerib. i
I might add that I hear that Herr Meissner has received telegraphic instructions to
go and study the proposed line between Dera’a and Haifa, whither two battalions of troops
are to be sent shortly to commence the construction of this railway. I have not, however,
had time yet to verify the truth of this report.
W. S. R.