File 2764/1904 Pt 3 'Baghdad Railway: general negotiations 1910-1912.' [‎33v] (75/544)

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Bagdad Customs, and the continual arr * v ^ ° f “^“^gf^stoms^ffirer) 8 has ^een
encumbered the custom-house space that Bash ( oi+nation 41thoup-h
obliged to devise some tern™ means^or^ ^The cen^ oZe!
contrary to the regulations, is arriving in transit in depdts situated outside
authorised the temporary gf S the town. These dep6ts are hired
the customs boundary and in various parts oi ti (• t - i
bv merchants and are necessarily under Customs control, but this exceptional
meagre has thrown an extra amount of work on the customs officials, and they
also incur responsibilities which the administration has every interest to see them
rel ’ e Recent advices received from Bagdad show that the available storage room in
the town is small, and all has been secured; much more is wanted and, although t e
local agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. of the Imperial Ottoman Bank is quite willing to erect temporary stoies,
no suitable site can be found within the town for putting up such buildings.
The administration has been brought by a series of circumstances to face the
difficult problem of reorganisation and construction at Bagdad, and this is now rendered
more difficult of solution by the fact that the Bagdad Railway Company are taking in
hand the work of construction of the line from Bagdad northwards, and besides have
in view the construction of the port. . j i u
The new Customs buildings should be constructed close to the port and also be
within easy reach of the railway terminus, and it is quite obvious that the Customs
administration can take no steps until the railway company have fixed the site of the
terminus and decided the position of the future port on the river. Even w en t lese
two points are settled, the question of the storage of goods has also to be solved as the
railway company not only have the right to construct the port of Bagdad, but by
articles 23 and 24 of the convention of the 5th March, 1903, also have the right to build
warehouses for the storage of goods. .
In view of these considerations and of the urgent necessity for coming to a prompt
decision in order to place the customs service at Bagdad on a proper footing, the
administration, rather than undertake the carrying out. of an expensive scheme of
construction, which will very probably involve an expenditure of some £T. 130,000,
would seem more inclined to arrive at some arrangement with the railway company.
Negotiations have not, I understand, actually taken place; the administration has
limited its action to making enquiries of the railway company as to the intentions of the
company with regard to the port, railway terminus, and the stoies, and the sites which
those works are to occupy. Enquiries have also been made as to whether the railway
companv would be prepared to entertain proposals for the building .of the new custom
house, and I understand the company are favourably disposed to discuss matters with
the administration and to make suitable arrangements. Matters appear to have reached
this stage, and it is feared that, should further congestion take place in the Bagdad
Customs, the administration will have no alternative but to come to terms with the
railway company.
In the concluding paragraph of their letter of the 10 th ultimo the Board of Trade
express the view that it appears premature to make any arrangements for the. con
struction of the custom-house and bonded stores by the railway company until the
company which will work the lines from Bagdad to Bussorah has been formed, ana,
further, that, as the lines north and south of Bagdad will be under different companies,
it would be preferable that the construction of the customs buildings should be the joint
undertaking of the two companies rather than that of the Bagdad Railway Company
alone. The actual position of affairs at Bagdad is, however, such that it cannot be
allowed to continue indefinitely ; some line of action must be adopted, and the hands of
the administration may be forced at any time to come to some arrangement with the
Bagdad Company.
Although the Bagdad Railway Company have given up their concession for
the construction and working of the Bagdad-Bussorah section, they still retain the
exclusive right to build the port of Bagdad and to put up warehouses for the storage
of goods, and it is conceivable that some arrangement for the erection and working of
these and similar stores conjointly with the new company that is to construct the
Bagdad-Bussorah section might be come to were this company already formed.
The subject of participation in the building of the port and warehouses might possibly
be considered in the forthcoming discussions relative to the Bussorah section.
February 24, 1912.