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File 357/1919 Pt 2 ‘RAILWAYS IN PERSIA’ [296r] (596/1150)
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.
3
edill %ti 6
ect ftteat 1
a Dtail %
2nd I t
uniesi
‘fK**,
: til0s e co%
10ns m tbij 1: , :
■ rse speakkj
f essential 1
hhe
-e via
Company
could most suitably
^ ^ and the Standard Oil Company. The former
undertake and inspire the new organisation in view of—
(a.) Their relations with Standard.
(V) Their considerable interest in the Persian Railway Syndicate.
(c.) The general interest they possess in the economic prosperity of Persia
(d.) Their commanding position in the world of industry and finance.
*
W to tlel
uaicationpleig
ian railway it
ast.
southwards It
State; enalfe
Vest; and g
issian orbit,
oth strategical
The two companies are the ones best suited to co-operate in bringing the group
into being, because theie is already an understanding between them, because they
are jointly candidates for the Persian Northern Oil Concession, because they have a
common interest in the ^Turkish Petroleum Company, and thereby in the westernmost
sector of the projected South Asiatic Railway, and because of the magnitude of their
joint resources.
The general question of Anglo-American co-operation also arises in this
connection and equally demands consideration on grounds of principle. Throughout
my tenure of this post my advocacy of such co-operation has been frequent and
consistent, so I do not feel it necessary to develop that aspect of the matter at any
length. I believe, however, that if it can be successfully inaugurated, especially as
regards the development of world communications, it will act on the one hand as a
stabilising factor of the first magnitude, on the other hand as a guarantee against
any cut-throat Anglo-American competition, beginning in economic rivalry and
leading to a struggle for political influence. From my available information it seems
unlikely that the United States Government would specifically commit themselves
to promoting such co-operation, and it is even doubtful whether they would go as far
as a platonic benediction. If that be so, the matter should be taken up as a business
West;ankr prop 08 ^ 011 between business people; if business resulted and the group included the
Standard Oil Company, the United States Government would automatically be
committed to support the important American interests thus involved.
One other important aspect of the matter must be dealt with, namely, the methods
to be employed to render the scheme not only palatable but also acceptable to^ the
Persians.
It is quite clear that the present policy of improving Anglo-Persian relations
and of drawing the two countries together in bonds of mutual confidence and interest
must be steadfastly pursued and. even intensihed. When the time comes to approach
the Persian Government the ground must have been carefully prepared, and the
project must be put forward with a genuine and expressed desire to consult Persia’s
i should be tai interests and take into account her desiderata. At all costs, the appearance must
sons: Firstly! be avoided of an attempt to secure Persia’s consent to an enterprise on her soil the
, the risk of t real purpose of which is to serve the interests and requirements of foreign States,
e Mosul oil cott The cardinal point to bear in mind and the one most likely to gain Persian support
tainty tbataw; for the scheme is to give satisfaction to the national desire for direct communication
an to the baibdbetween Mohammerah and Tehran. This, I believe, runs contrary to no essential *
line to IfiMBritish interest, and, moreover, it is nothing more than the execution of the plan
already laid down in the options granted to the Persian Railway Syndicate. From
question of he construction of the Mohammerah Railway alone I should be averse because of the
nnectionak n °dh-south inflection which it would give initially to the system; therefore, that
in the should be built simultaneously with the western line, linking up Tehran,
to the achlo' {c: P ania( l an and Kermanshah with Bagdad immediately, and with the Mediterranean
1 nwiecttoiitFimately.
f frictionbjUl Furthermore, the Persian Government should be given, on terms which can more
usefully be discussed at a later stage, a direct and substantial interest in the railway;
and it will probably be found desirable, in order to satisfy national aspirations and
ecure Persian co-operation, to allow some measure of Persian representation on the
tensive
on due eiii
n m
ersian
f thek-U a11 grades.
directors, and to offer facilities for the training of Persian railway personnel
tier U.ikf I believe that in the foregoing suggestions, which are necessarily of a general
character, may be found the elements of a positive constructive policy, and I trust
I am not stepping outside my province in submitting them for your I
lo^nsideration.
ictionsh 011
ar to
I have, &c.
PERCY
LORAINE.
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