File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎440r] (884/898)

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pilgrim. It is satisfactory to have this news just before the final departure of
Mr. Vice-Consul Grafftey-Smith, who, during his three years’ service in Jeddah, has been
forced while seeing and recommending the better scheme to follow the worse and try
to make it work.
1 he encouraging measure adopted by the authorities in British Malaya, who have
introduced a very satisfactory (though for this year necessarily optional) passport
'ystem, and have sent a Malay pilgrimage officer, with a clerk, to Jeddah to assist their
pdgrims, has been nullified by the refusal of the Hedjaz authorities to assist. A polite
letter was sent to the Acting Secretary for Foreign Affairs informing them of the steps
taken by the British Malaya authorities, and asking them to be so good as to assist by
instructing the pilgrim guides concerned to send to the Malay pilgrimage officer at this
agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. all British Malay pilgrims who had passports of the new form. There is nothing
revolutionary in this, for a similar procedure is followed in regard to Dutch pilgrims.
On the other hand, the assistance of the pilgrim guides is essential, for the pilgrims,
who are usually unable to read the instructions on their passports and are in any case
flurried by the bustle and excitement of their arrival, are entirely in the hands of the
guides, who take charge of them from the moment of arrival and arrange their
programme down to the smallest details. There was a long wait while the King was
consulted by wireless, and then came a reply so futile that the local authorities
apologised for having to convey it to the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. . “ The Hashimite Government
absolutely refuse to recognise the post of Malay pilgrimage officer ” [they weren’t asked
to], “ and the procedure adopted by the authorities of British Malaya because they
differ from the duties of the representative whom the Government propose to appoint
in such countries in the near future. The Government are prepared to recognise only
the procedure followed hitherto by the British agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. .” 1 protested against this
decision, explaining- that the Hashimite Government had quite misunderstood the
position of the Malay pilgrimage officer, and claiming assistance similar to that which
has for many years been afforded to the Netherlands consulate. No reply to this
protest has been received, but all the pilgrim guides concerned have been warned that
any of them who tell British Malay pilgrims to report to this agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. will be imprisoned
and their licences withdrawn. In theory this is neutrality ; in practice it means active
obstruction, since every guide, knowing that if any of his pilgrims report to the British
agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. he may be accused of complicity, will naturally try to prevent their reporting.
Of the many hundreds of British Malay pilgrims who have reached Jeddah, only
seventeen have reported at this agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , and we have authentic information about one
case where a pilgrim asked his guide to show him the way to the British agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , and
was thereupon deprived of his passport by the guide, who promised to do what was
necessary, but neither showed the pilgrim the way to the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. nor himself presented
the passport. I have been obliged to report the matter to His Majesty s Government
and to Singapore. In order that the Hedjaz authorities might know that the matter
was considered serious I sent the telegram in plain language, adding at the end, “ King^
Hussein aware and responsible ”—a piece of information which is in the possession of
everyone in Jeddah.
Of a piece with the King’s attitude in this matter is an incident which occurred a
few days ago. A Russian doctor who has been established in Jeddah for some two
years was asked by an Arab doctor to visit a pilgrim who was believed to be dying.
Hearing that the sick man was a Javanese, the Russian doctor refused to. come unless
the Javanese doctor attached to the Dutch consulate, who is responsible for the health
of Dutch pilgrims, was also invited The Arab doctor reported, the matter to Thabit
“ Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. ,” the Turkish obstructionist who serves the King as chief of quarantine and
health services and general lickspittle, and Thabit warned the Russian doctor that if he
did such a thing again he would be reported to the .King as an enemy of the Arabs.
The King has made it sufficiently evident before this that he -would rather that foreign
pilo-rims should die than that they should owe their lives to the .medical attentions of
the Mahommedan doctors provided by their Governments, but it is interesting to learn
of so frank an avowal of his policy. . , m ,. n Tl ,,
The Russian pilot and mechanic who crashed at laif are still there. . I lie other
machine manages to go up occasionally. No new machines have been received. One
Mahommedan (Palestinian) pilot, trained in Germany, has arrived, but he is not working
as a pilot ; he is touting for lessons in various European languages, which he learned,
he says, in a Jewish school in Jerusalem. He receives. 201. a month as pilot, but says
that he hopes to be made head of the Hedjaz Air Service when the King returns. He
sings the praises of the King for the latter’s opposition to Zionism He says that he
was offered a post as head of a district in Palestine, but refused. His name is lahir.