File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [‎94r] (198/586)

To
APPENDIX No. I.
His Excellency Sie P. Z. COS, g.c.le, k.c.s.l, k.c.m.g,
m < lh Commissioner for the Occupied Territories of Mesopotamia,
Sir,
We, the undersigned, voicing the considered opinion of the overwhelming maioritv of the
thG dl ? trict 0f . Basrah beg that you will convey to His BritanSc
J stj, & Government our views concerning the future of the district of Basrah and the
for^he af ores^district^ treatment wllich We hope His Majesty’s Government will prescribe
2 - 1} 18 wdl-known to His Majesty’s Government that the Occupation of Basrah by
n/infNr r0 ° PS T t 19 v 4 welcomed by the inhabitants, and it did not need the assurance
of the Viceroy of India on February 6th, 1915, to convincte them that their interests would be
the peculiar care of His Majesty’s Government.
3. It is also well-known that from the first day of occupation the inhabitants of Basrah
have conducted themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner, have accepted gladly the form of
administration established and the laws applied.
. ' 4- ^ is further well-known that during the disturbances of last year nothing was done
m Basrah to embarass or otherwise cause anxiety to the Civil Administration or His Majesty’s
Government either by disorderly behaviour or seditious propaganda. These disturbances on
the contrary weie greatly deprecated in Basrah the inhabitans of which dissociated and dis
sociate themselves from any movement calculated to compel the withdrawal of British Troops
and British tutelage from the country. We would ask leave in this connection to refer to the
resolution passed by the Basrah Council.
5. The inhabitants of Basrah while recognising and, if they may say so, humbly approving
the principles of self-determination which are about to create the Arab State out of these
occupied territories beg His Majesty’s Government to apply these principles strictly to the case
of the district of Basrah and to secure for it differentiated treatment.
6. The peculiar conditions of Basrah it is well-known have for many years diverged from
those of the Mesopotamian territories north of this district which for the purpose of these
observations we will call ‘Iraq. Basrah, by its position as a port engaged in international
trade, has for many years been the resort of a considerable number of Europeans and other
foreigners who are steadily increasing in numbers and likely to increase at a far greater rate
in the near future. Intercourse with the outside world has always influenced the inhabitants
of Basrah and has given them cause to believe that their progress will be different in kind and
in speed from that of ‘Iraq.
7. With this in mind it is greatly apprehended in Basrah that the inhabitants of Basrah
being a minority in the population of Mesopotamia will be compelled to move at the same rate
and in the same direction as the inhabitants of ‘Iraq, and an the ordinary course of con
stitutional administration will see their revenues expended upon schemes by which they indivi
dually will not be benefitted and with which they will be entirely out of sympathy but which
they will have no power to prevent.
8. We humbly desire in this connection to draw some analogy between the position oi
Basrah and that of the self-governing dependencies of Great Britain which by their distance
from the centre of Government and the unanimity of political purpose among their inhabi
tants were rightly admitted to have good claims to a separate political existence since by that
way alone could their affairs receive the attention which they required.
9. The inhabitants of Basrah would urge His Majesty’s Government to regard their con
tention that a dissatisfied portion of the population of Mesopotamia, sharing different views
in policy, and progressing in a different direction from its neighbours, will, if compelled to
submit to a form of government where its interests are not completely safeguarded, quickly pro
duce a condition of disaffection which will dog the harmonious progress of all sections of the
population of Mesopotamia.
10. The inhabitants of Basrah wish nothing but good to the inhabitants of ‘Iraq and
nothing better than to progress side by side with them in such a way as will tend to the benefit
of them both and to the world in general, but they humbly believe that such an end can only be
obtained by the grant to Basrah of a separate political existence.
11. We therefore place before Your Excellency with the humble request for transmission
to His Majesty’s Government the following scheme for the creation of a separate political entity
out of the district of Basrah though we do not of course regard this scheme as exhaustive or
incapable of modification in detail.
12. We would ask that the district of Basrah be formed into a distinct province under
the Amir of ‘Iraq or whatever Chief Magistrate the people of Mesopotamia ultimately select.
The union thus formed by this link to be styled the United Provinces of ‘Iraq and Basrah.
13. The Province of Basrah to possess its own elected legislative assembly. The assembly
to have full power to legislate upon purely local affairs. The Chief Magistrate of the United
Provinces to have power to veto or to return for amendment any legislation tending to affect the
interests of the people of ‘Iraq.
14. Legislation of a nature affecting both provinces such as extradition of criminals, the
backing of warrants, service of process, execution of judgments, alien immigration, nationality.