‘Confidential. Persia’ [‎514v] (78/112)

<f I thought, therefore, that I was justified in
contending that Lord tiranville’s despatch was
not susceptible of the construction which His
Excellency bad placed upon it, and might, conse
quently, be put aside so far as the Helmand
arbitration now in progress was concerned.
“ I could not, however, I said, refrain from
calling his attention to another despatch which
seemed to me to have an important bearing upon
the subject.
“In February 1888 Sir R. Morier was
instructed to call the attention of the Russian
Government to the anxiety of the Persian Govern
ment for an early and equitable settlement of the
Russo-Persian frontier of Khorasan. M. de Giers
replied by a telegram communicated to Lord
Salisbury by M. de Staal on the 8th March follow
ing, which contained the following statement:—
“ With regard to the general tendency of Russian
policy, M. de Giers stated that the Russian Gov
ernment continued to attach the greatest. value to
the integrity of Persia.
# #
“ As to the delimitation of the frontier between
Khorasan and the territory under Russian control,
the Russian Government considered that this was
a matter for Russia and Persia alone, and could
not recognise a right of interposition on the part
of any other power. But they had every inten
tion of treating Persia equitably in the settlement
of this question.”
" These words mutatis mutandis, seemed to me
exactly applicable to the case we were now dis
cussing. Just as the Russian Government had
contended in 1888 that a delimitation of the
Russo-Persian frontier was a matter for Russia
and Persia alone, so we now contended that a
delimitation of the Perso-Afghan frontier con
cerned Persia and Afghanistan, and we could not
recognise the right of another power to intervene,
“ Count Benckendorff did not deny the force of
the argument which I had used. He begged me,
however, again to bear in mind that His Majesty's
Government were pledged to avoid any interfer
ence with the integrity of Persia, and that it was,
therefore, not unnatural that the Russian Govern
ment should regard with anxiety a readjustment
of the frontier which might possibly have the
effect of impairing that integrity.
“I ventured to say that the solicitude displayed
by the Russian Government was, at any rate, pre
mature, and that, unless they imputed bad faith
to us, they might well assume that the arbitration
in which we were engaged would be carried out
in an equitable manner. It would surely be time
for them to remonstrate or make representations,
if, when the arbitration was over, they found that
it really affected the integrity of Persia.
“His Excellency assured me that there was no
imputation of had faith, but the Russian Govern
ment earnestly desired to avoid a collision between
Persia and Afghanistan.
“ I said that it was because we desired to avoid
such a collision that we had undertaken to act as
arbitrators. If we had ref used to do so, a collision
would, in all probability, have taken place.
“ I afterwards sent His Excellency a memoran
dum, of which a copy is enclosed in this despatch. ”