Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎234r] (467/544)

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LORD ROBERT CECIL : What the Foreign Office said was they were not to do
it without communicating with one another.
SIR LOUIS MALLET: That was the object we had in view, but in the Memo
randum we said it was not necessary, and it would be better to leave it perfectly free.
Otherwise we should have to tell the French, and the French would want to get a
concession too. He will probably turn to us if he wants a thing.
MR. BALFOUR : How is he to light Mecca ? He must do it through a manufac
turing country, either England, France, or America, in that case.
SIR LOUIS MALLET : He ought to be free to do so.
MR. BALFOUR : Yes.
MR. MONTAGU : Lord Robert says we bind ourselves to discourage it, but this
clause does not do that; it is negative.
LORD ROBERT CECIL : It says we are not to support them. Supposing a
company came to the Foreign Office or the Department ot Overseas Trade and said,
“ We have a big opportunity, and it will help us greatly if you would convey to the
King of the Hejaz that we are really respectable people.”
LORD CURZON : I think we ought to cut out the last eight words, “ nor to
support their subjects in seeking such.” If the King of the Hejaz wants electric light or
gas. and if among the people who apply for the concession is a British subject, it is
rather hard to say that if the British subject goes to our representative he is not to be
at liberty to support him.
MR. MONTAGU : That is all right so far as the British Foreign Office is
concerned.
LORD ROBERT CECIL : You must cut out “ commercial advantages” as well.
LORD CURZON : We do not seek them. All I thought that meant was that we
do not take the initiative, but that if the initiative comes from him we should not stand
in the way.
MR. BALFOUR: The objection to that is that it must be quite inefficacious.
Supposing a Frenchman casually remarks to the Sultan, “ An excellent firm, so-and-so
are,” is that “ seeking,” or is it not ? Of course it is. You cannot prevent him seeking.
The worst of it is—and I think this is really the most important matter with regard to
these half-civilised States—I btdieve all our troubles are coming from concessions, and
if anybody could suggest a method of dealing with them properly I think they would
perform a great service. I do not think this clause is quite successful as it stands.
LORD ROBERT CECIL: No, but the real thing is it ought all to be done fairly
and freely. You cannot say, and it would be a perfectly ridiculous thing to say, to a
half-civilised State, “ No European is to get a concession there.” That would mean
that they would revert to the condition of civilisation in which they are now.
MR. BALFOUR : This prevents the French representative at Mecca putting on
his uniform and going to the King and saying, ‘ l recommend you to take such-and-
such a company for carrying out such-and-such a purpose. It stops there, but it does
not stop the real methods of persuasion which are different from that.
LORD CURZON : I do not think the French representative any more than ours
will be at Mecca. When the war is over, the French will press upon the King banks
and other institutions at Jeddah and elsewhere. They would get ahead of us in thai
respect, as they tried to do in the early days. Ought we not to stop that ?
LORD ROBERT CECIL : In point of tact, what happened was that immediately
the Arabs came to us and said, “ What do you think about this, and we said. It is a
stupid thing, you had better not do it,’ they did not. .
MR. MONTAGU: But supposing he has influence there?
LORD ROBERT CECIL: That would be all right, I think. 1 should say, “nor
to seek political influence for themselves or their subjects, leaving out “ or concessions
or commercial advantages.’