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File 357/1919 Pt 2 ‘RAILWAYS IN PERSIA’ [90r] (184/1150)
The record is made up of 1 volume (573 folios). It was created in 5 Dec 1921-28 Jan 1931. It was written in English. 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.
1 This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government i
PERSIA.
D" ']
7241
*
!929
October 14, 1929
CONFIDENTIAL.
Section 3.
r ^285/172/34] No. 1.
Sir R. Clive to Mr. A. Henderson.—{Received October 14.)
{No. 515. Confidential.)
Sir, Tehran, October 6 , 1929.
AT the risk of wearying you with pessimistic views on the subject of the trunk
railway project from the Caspian to the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, 1 have the honour to enclose—as
being of possible interest—copies of an unofficial correspondence with the United
States Charge d’Affaires in regard to the financial prospects of the railway if and when
built, apart from the cost of construction and the question of how that construction is
to he financed. I would refer you in the latter connexion to my despatch No. 337 of
the 15th June.
2 . I have the impression that the leading members of the railway syndicate,
both German and American, have considerably modified their original views since under
taking the preliminary contract for the 100 -mile section in the north and
south respectively; they find dealing with the Persian authorities, especially since
Taimourtache has been relieved of all work in connexion with the railway, discouraging
to the last degree, and this, perhaps, is not surprising when it is realised that the
present Minister of Public Works is an illiterate general and that the chief Persian
adviser on railway matters is a young nephew of the Prime Minister, whose sole
qualification is that he has spent two terms on the electrical side of a German
engineering college. Moreover, the Persians, being entirely ignorant of railway
matters, are absurdly suspicious both of the Germans and of the Americans and always
imagine that they are being robbed. At the same time their attitude is quite
irresponsible. An estimate, with a beautiful picture of a magnificent railway station
at Ahwaz, to cost 200,000
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
, was sanctioned by the Shah the same day and the
money paid over to the syndicate. A simultaneous request for a few thousand
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
to build a modest railway repair shop at Ahwaz was turned down. No one now denies
that the railway must cost from 20 to 30 million sterling, and no one has a clear idea
where the money is to be found. It is useless to pretend that the 5 or 6 million
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
annually received from the sugar and tea monopoly are anything like a gilt-edge
security. I'he monopoly tax is admittedly too high and is unpopular, while, if a
contraband preventive service is to be organised, the cost should properly come
out of the profits of the sugar and tea monopoly. The remaining securities are the
customs and the oil royalties, and of these the oil royalties undoubtedly are in the nature
of a gilt-edge security, but I hesitate to believe that the Persian Government will
lightly pledge this invaluable nest-egg in order to finance the building of the railway.
3. At the same time, I learn privately that the syndicate are at present engaged
in negotiations with the Persian Government for a final contract to build the line, and
a reliable informant tells me that they have even offered to complete it in seven-eight
years and find the money on the security of—
(a.) The sugar and tea monopoly.
(b.) The oil royalties.
On the latter point I feel very sceptical. I cannot believe it will be so easy to find the
money, which can hardly be less than 15 million sterling, to be borrowed before the
railway is completed, and that at a rate of interest including sinking fund, which can
hardly, I imagine, be less than 10 per cent. This is also the view of the acting chief
manager of the Imperial Bank.
4. Regarding the enclosed correspondence, I decided to write privately to the
United States Charge d’Affaires to show the present loss on running of the Duzdap
Railway, after a conversation I had had with him in which he told me that the Ulen
Company had made an estimate showing a considerable profit over working expenses
from the moment that the railway should be completed. I am not in a position to
question the figures given in Mr. Williamson’s reply, but I am inclined to consider
tbem rather as an ex parte statement which has been made on insufficient data, in order
to impress the Persians. Moreover, no account is taken of the fact that the railway
would almost certainly be under Persian and not foreign management.
[935 o—3]
About this item
- Content
This volume contains papers relating to the construction of the Trans-Persian Railway. It contains material relating to:
- The Persian Railway Syndicate’s attempt to enlist the aid of Rabbi Joseph Saul Kornfeld, the United States Envoy to Persia [Iran], and the British Foreign Office’s subsequent unfavourable attitude towards the Syndicate
- The Persian Railway Syndicate’s proposal to invite American companies for the construction of railways in Persia
- The concessions for the Mohammerah [Khorramshahr]-Khanakin [Khanaqin] and Khanakin-Tehran railways
- The proposed railway from Khanakin to Tehran and the estimated cost for the three principal divisions of the railway
- The restrictions of the British Government on the Persian Railway Syndicate’s grant of a loan to the Persian Government
- The possibility of a ‘fusion of interests’ between the Persian Railway Syndicate and the Stronach Dutton System of Road Rails Limited
- The possible extension of the American Chester Group’s railway concession from Turkey into Persia
- The plans of the Prime Minister of Persia [Rezā Khān Sardār Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Sepah] for a railway line extending from Ahwaz [Ahvaz] to Khorramabad, Dizful [Dezful], and Sultanabad [Arak] to Tehran
- The endeavour of an American group to obtain a concession for a line from Mohammerah to Khorramabad and Tehran
- The expenditures of the Persian Railway Syndicate for the Khanakin-Tehran and the Mohamerah-Khoramabad surveys
- The possibility of forming a Railway Syndicate with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and Standard Oil Company
- The Persian Government’s decision to carry out a survey of the Mohammerah-Tehran-Bandar-i Gez [Bandar-i Gaz] railway line with the assistance of a German engineer
- The Consortium industriel pour l’Orient’s proposal to build a railway connecting Meshed [Mashhad] to the Tripoli-Homs Line
- The preference of the British Army Council and the Air Council for an East-West rather than a North-South railway in Persia for strategic reasons
- The exploitation of coal and iron deposits in Mazanderan [Mazandaran] for the construction of railways in Persia, and the concerns of Russia about a Trans-Persian Railway connecting the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to the Caspian Sea
- The Act of the Persian Majlis [Parliament] for the construction of the Persian Trunk Railway
- The Persian Majlis’s Passage of the Bill for Railway Survey and Construction
- The Persian Majlis’s passage of the Railway Construction Bill, from Mohammerah and Bandar-i Gez to Tehran
- The Persian Majlis’s passage of a law for constructing a railway between Khor Musa-Mohammerah-Bandar-i Gez;
- The Persian Majlis’s authorisation of the Minister of Public Work to employ foreign experts for the construction of the Railway;
- The inauguration of the Bandar-i Gaz-Tehran-Ahwaz Railway in the presence of the Shah of Persia [Rezā Shāh Pahlavi]
- The British concerns and preference for a British rather than an American firm to build the Southern Section of the Railway
- The passage of the Railway Survey Law by the Persian Majlis and the contract between the Persian Government and the American company Ulen, and two German companies, Philipp Holzmann and Julius Berger-Siemens Union [sic., Siemens Bauunion] to carry out a complete survey of the Railway
- The contract between the Persian Government, represented by Minister of Public Works [General Ḥabib Allāh Khān Shaybānī], and the Persian Railway Syndicate, represented by MD Carrel and MNS Mavrogordato
- The contracts between the Persian Government and the Persian Railway Syndicate for the constructions of ports at Bandar-i Qays and Khor Musa (Bandar-i Shahpur) and a dam over the Karun River at Ahwaz
- The plans for building the line from Bandar Shapur north of Ahwaz, and revival of the line from Hamadan to Tehran
- The construction of the railway lines from Bandar Shah and Khor Musa, the diversion of German resources to the construction of electrical and cement works, and the postponement of building a port at Khor Musa
- The reservations of the British Minister in Persia [Robert Henry Clive] about the construction of the Railway as opposed to motor roads in Persia, and the subsidisation of the enterprise through the tea and sugar monopolies
- The increase in the cost of the Southern Section of the Railway and predicted opposition of the Persian Government
- The visit by the Shah of Persia to the Southern Section of the Railway, his unfavourable impression of the state of the railway, and the American Minister in Persia’s advice to Ulen and Company to stop working on the railway in case of difficulties with the Persian Government
- The cancellation of the contract between the Persian Government and the Persian Railway Syndicate over delayed payments, and the agreement between the German and Ulen groups within the Syndicate to work on the Northern and Southern sections of the Trans-Persian Railway respectively
- The Anglo-Persian Oil Company’s concerns about the Railway providing greater access and mobility to the Russians
- The dispute between the Persian Government and the German-American syndicate for the construction of the Railway
- The negotiations between the Persian Government and the German companies Julius Berger Konsortium, Philipp Holzmann, and Siemens Bauunion for the construction of the Northern Section of the Trans-Persian Railway
- The possible takeover by the Batignolles Construction Company of the building of the Southern Section of the Trans-Persian Railway from the American and British companies Ulen and Company and Stewart and McDonnell
- The Persian Government’s appointment of Suzuki Hajime from the Japanese Railway Department’s Engineering Bureau
- The breakdown of negotiations between the Batignolles Construction Company and the Government of Persia, and the latter’s decision to proceed with the construction of the remaining sections of the railway
- The proposals of the Batignolles Construction Company to the Government of Persia in the absence of a contract
- The extension of the Southern Section of the Railway from Khor Musa to Dizful, Hamadan and Kazvin [Qazvin], and the Northern Section from Tehran to Sari and the southern coast of the Caspian Sea.
The volume also includes the following sketch maps:
- A sketch map of the Trans-Persian Railway, from Khor Musa to Sari and the coast of the Caspian Sea, showing the ‘Line Completed’, ‘Line Surveyed’, and ‘Division between the Northern and Southern Sections’ (f 14)
- A sketch map of the Northern Section of the Railway, showing the routes to Pahlavi, Semnan, and Balfurush [Barfurush], with a second map of the Southern Section, showing alternative routes and termini, running either from Mohammerah or Khor Musa to Dizful and Hamadan (f 156)
- A sketch map showing the existing and projected railways in Persia (f 204).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (573 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 357 (Persia: Railways) consists of two volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/793-794. The volumes are divided into two parts, with each part comprising one volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 573; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/794
- Title
- File 357/1919 Pt 2 ‘RAILWAYS IN PERSIA’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:13v, 15r:18v, 19v:23v, 24v:31v, 35v:38v, 39v:42v, 45v:48v, 56v:57v, 58v:62v, 64r:98v, 99v:106v, 110r:117v, 118v:122v, 123v, 125r:126v, 128r:148v, 150v:155v, 157r:163v, 165r:169v, 171r:173v, 175r:181v, 182v:188v, 190r:203v, 205r:206v, 208r:226r, 227v:266v, 268r:489v, 490v, 494v, 498v, 502v, 507v:523v, 524v:526v, 534v:544v, 545v:546v, 547v, 548v:552v, 553v:555v, 557v:572v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence