File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎424v] (853/898)

To oreoare for the pilgrims who are expected to travel vm AkaDa, the Turkish
Director of Quarantine at Jeddah, who has been the subject ol many adverse comments
in previous reports from this agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , was sent to Akaba and Ma am He had been m
Akaba perhaps two days when he telegraphed that a wharf had been begun, a
quarantine station selected, and a hospita established and equipped with everything
necessary ' and a few days later he was able to announce that similar blessings (m.mif
the wharf) had been conferred on Ma'am How well one knows those Hashimite
hospitals, where the only drug in stock is eye-wash and the qualifications of the doctors
are fully equal to their chief task of falsifying the death statistics.
The purchase of steamers by King Hussein hangs fire. The boasted San Remo
turned out to be so rotten that the sale fell through, though not, it is believed, without
considerable loss to the King. However, I understand that one steamer has at last
been secured, and that the King is coming down to Jeddah to see it when it arrives a
few days hence. It is certain that the King hopes to send at least one ship-load of
Persian and Irak pilgrims back to Basra in his own steamer this year. Basra is selected
for this honour because it is the only port outside the Hedjaz where the King can hope
to escape responsibility for the violations of the Pans Convention which he will
doubtless commit. His Majesty’s High Commissioner at Bagdad has been warned of
this as a difficult situation might arise. What is to happen if a boatload of Irakis
complain, on arrival at Basra, that His Hashimite Majesty has overcrowded them
dangerously, failed to provide them with a hospital or doctor, and kept them short of
water ? Will King Faisal act the part of a Roman son and tine the captain ? Of
course the King’s steamers may be models of perfection, and may serve to lower
the passage rates and to raise the standard of all the other lines. On the other hand,
they may be like everything else that King Hussein touches. . .
Among the pilgrims this year is the famous Osman Digna. Ihe King is paying him
much attention, perhaps because he hopes for recognition as Caliph, which should be the
easier to obtain in that Osman Digna is in his dotage, or perhaps because of a common
interest in the institution of slavery.
A humiliating discovery has just been made. Most of the British Indians m the
Hedjaz buy, keep and sell slaves as freely as Hedjazis do. Before more serious
measures are considered, an attempt will be made, by strict enquiry, to disabuse, them
of the belief that the English laws relating to the slave trade cannot follow them into a
foreign country.
Five of His Majesty’s ships : “ Cornflower,” “ Clematis,” and three destroyers,
which have all been patrolling the slave routes, called at Jeddah on the 20th May. The
arrival of so many ships at once caused a slight sensation in Jeddah. The local
authorities would have been warned beforehand but for the well-founded fear that the
King would get up a reception and report the visit in the press as a call to pay respects
to the Caliph. _
The press-gang for the army is going round the African colony again, to provide
food for Ibn Sand’s powder, it may be supposed. So far we know of only one case
where a recruit has been beaten to death by the police for unwillingness to join the
Hashimite army. Many of these men are probably Nigerians by birth, but they rarely
have any papers, and it is difficult to disprove the claim that they are Hedjazis. In one
case where it is known that the man came from Nigeria some fifteen years ago, the
Hedjaz authorities are being asked to release him.
To those who have seen Dr. Naji-al-Asil in London it will have been evident that
on his first arrival there he disposed of considerable funds. Information here shows
that at first he used to draw his money, though irregularly, in thousands of pounds.
Lately the stream has flowed more slowly. The last payment, some two months ago,
was 1501. A few days ago Messrs. Gellatly, Hajikey and Co., in Jeddah, were informed
by their principals in London that they had paffi Dr. Naji 5001 : would they please
recover this amount from the Hedjaz Government. To the request for payment of the
5001. the Hedjaz authorities offered Messrs. Gellatly, Hankey and Co. 150Z. ! Dr. Najis
tenancy of what he describes as his “ second home ” (the Hyde Park Hotel) must
be getting precarious. The jaws of Bloomsbury gape for him.