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Coll 17/7(1) 'Iraq and Palestine: agreement for transit through Palestine of goods to and from Iraq; Baghdad-Haifa railway' [350v] (711/1068)
The record is made up of 1 volume (524 folios). It was created in 23 Apr 1929-23 Apr 1936. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
4
19. I again assured His Majesty that I had listened to his views with the
greatest interest, and I renewed my undertaking to give them the closest
consideration and study.
Syrian Situation.
10. Before taking leave of His Majesty I mentioned briefly the present
difficulties of the Iraqi Government with the Mar Shimun. I said that if the
Government were to resign over this question they would greatly enhance the
PatriaMr’s importance by giving him the appearance of being strong enough to
overthrow the Government. On the other hand, if repressive measures were
taken, sr\h as the detention or arrest of the Mar Shimun, he would be invested
with all tSe glamour of martyrdom and might thereby arouse powerful influences
which woul\ compel the Iraqi Government in the end to go to Canossa.
21. KAg Feisal expressed his entire agreement with my remarks, and told
me that he w^s advising his Government in Bagdad in this sense.
22. Sir \ Humphrys and Nuri
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
were both present during my
interview, whic\ lasted over two hours.
I am, &c.
JOHN SIMON.
{E 3415/1857/93]
Enclosure in No. 1.
Memoranfyim respecting the Iraqi Railway System.
THE future of the Hfciqi railway system is to be determined by clause 4 of
the Financial Agreement OYtfie 19th August, 1930, which is an integral part of
the Anglo-Iraq Treaty of \930 and has been confirmed by both Parliaments.
There does not appear to me\o be any real difficulty in carrying this agreement
out, and the supposed impossibility only arises from mistaking mere
technicalities for the substance >of the matter. The real question has nothing to
do with the technical meaning \f ‘ c legal ’ ’ and 11 beneficial ’ in a particular
system of law, for the agreementVtself makes plain what is the sense in whicn
these words are used; a corporation is to be created by special statute f* 16
Iraqi Legislature, and this corporation is to have the free and independent
control and administration of the railway system. There is no difficulty whatever
in passing an Iraqi statute which vVuld create such a corporation with sucn
powers, and very serious consequencesYwould follow, going to the root of me
status of Iraq under the treaty, if it wasVeally the case that the agreement, wmcn
is part of the treaty, could not be carriedVut. „
The only remaining question is as to\he best way of recording the title ol
the State and of the corporation respectively to the property included m the
railway system. Here, again, any difficulty tiyere is can perfectly well be got o\er
by appropriate language in the Iraqi Act of parliament; for example, the Ac
of Parliament could provide that there should\e attached to the Tapu Sanaa o
registration of the property, in the name of the praqi Government, a copy o± e
Iraqi statute setting up the Railway CorporationVnd that the rights of the iat ei
under that statute should be made effective in any with the property. \
this means the exact position of the Railway Cor]
powers would be on official record in the Tapu Department.
I will add one word on the question of lease. T\e agreement provides
the rights and responsibilities of the new corporation ahall be secured by ea
or otherwise and at a nominal rent.” The referenci\to ‘‘lease is n .^ u
because it is quite common in English Acts of Parliament dealing with rai w
to provide that a railway shall be leased in perpetuity top railway company
such and such a rent. There is no question of granting a laase for a few year
the transfer is in perpetuity. And, of course, the referenceVo a nominal re _
to make plain what are the financial terms on which the Railway ^ or ? 0ratl0I t aI ice
exercise its rights over the property. But the matter is of no real impor
because of the phrase “or otherwise.” The substance of theVnatter is,
mind, quite plain, and I hope I may be permitted to say, on t^e barns o
thirty-five years’ experience at the English Bar, that it is \ funda ^
principle in cases such as this that the real intention of the twovmrties
About this item
- Content
The volume contains correspondence, reports and minutes regarding road and rail transport through Iraq, Trans-Jordan [Jordan], Palestine, Syria and Iran. The following topics are discussed in detail:
- The proposed construction of a Baghdad-Haifa rail route. The file also includes records regarding the planned transfer of the Iraqi Government Railway from British to Iraqi control.
- Transport developments and trade routes in Syria, and economic competition between French- and British- mandated territories in the region.
- Proposals for the development of free zones at the port in Haifa, for Iraqi and Persian [Iranian] goods. This includes discussion of customs dues, and facilities to be offered to foreign governments.
- Proposals by Haim Effendi Nathaniel, the Iraqi Railways Canvassing Agent, for facilities to assist in the development of a trans-desert motor route between Iraq and Palestine, and the right to carry Iraqi mails via the Amman ['Ammān] route.
- Customs and Trade Agreements between French-mandated territories and Iran.
The principal authors and correspondents are: HM High Commissioner for Palestine; HM High Commissioner for Iraq; the Foreign Office Eastern Department; the Secretary of State for the Colonies; HM Minister at Tehran; and the Committee of Imperial Defence, Standing Ministerial and Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East. The volume also contains a small number of communications received from the Government of Iraq.
The volume contains the following items of note:
- Minutes of a meeting between the Iraqi Treasurer and Haim Effendi Nathaniel, regarding the Baghdad-Haifa Desert Motor Route, held on the 18 January 1933, ff 425-428.
- Records of a meeting between the Treasurer, the Iraqi Delegation, and the Director of Customs at Palestine, regarding the proposed free zone facilities at Haifa for Iraqi goods, and the establishment of terminal facilities and a preferential tariff, ff 371-392.
- Draft minutes of a meeting of the Committee of Imperial Defence, Standing Ministerial and Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East, held Monday 17 July 1933, regarding: 1) the proposed pipeline from the British Oil Development Company's concession near Mosul to the Mediterranean, and 2) the Trans-Desert Railway from Baghdad to Haifa. Plus related despatches received from Baghdad, Aleppo and Beirut, notes on the strategic value of the Baghdad-Haifa railway by the Secretaries of State for Air and War, ff 326-357.
- Communication from the High Commissioner for Iraq (Francis Henry Humphrys) to the Foreign Secretary (John Simon), summarising the development of road and rail transport routes between Iraq, Syria and Palestine from 1925-1934, ff 247-249.
- English translation of the Decree of the French High Commissioner in Syria, 'Governing the Regime of Customs Exemptions granted to Transdesert Transport Concerns maintaining regular services of the transport of international transport goods', ff 222-236.
- Minutes of meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence, Standing Ministerial and Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East, held 11 and 23 October 1934, regarding the proposed Baghdad-Haifa route, ff 139-177, 90-107, and 70-89.
- Memorandum on the Baghdad-Damascus desert route, prepared by the Commercial Secretary to the Baghdad Embassy, 1935, ff 5-10.
The volume also contains a proposal by the Palestine Corporation Limited to construct a highway connecting Palestine and Iraq, found at folios 14-30. This proposal is discussed in depth in the second part of the file, IOR/L/PS/12/2852.
The volume includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folio 1).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (524 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in rough chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 526; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the two leading and ending flyleaves. A previous foliation sequence has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 17/7(1) 'Iraq and Palestine: agreement for transit through Palestine of goods to and from Iraq; Baghdad-Haifa railway' [350v] (711/1068), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2851, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100076591290.0x000070> [accessed 25 April 2024]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2851
- Title
- Coll 17/7(1) 'Iraq and Palestine: agreement for transit through Palestine of goods to and from Iraq; Baghdad-Haifa railway'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:ii-v, 1r:13v, 31r:37v, 40r:212r, 214r:221v, 242r:264v, 266r:312v, 316r:346r, 349r:404r, 407r:411v, 417r:446v, 449r:465v, 468r:471v, 474r:474v, 478r:485v, 488r:502v, 504r:526v, iii-r:iv-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence