"كتيّب الجزيرة العربية المُعد تحت إشراف القسم التاريخي لوزارة الخارجية – رقم ٩٠". [‎٥‎٣] (١٤٨/٦٨)

Arabia] RAILWAYS 53
the line, and the station for Hail), Medain Sali
(beyond which only Moslems may travel), El-Ala, and
Hadie. Most of the stations are merely solitary
blockhouses, without food supplies, often without water,
and insufficiently protected against raids. The head
offices are at Damascus, and Ma'an has a repairing
shop.
Certain of the Arab tribes were made responsible
for the safety of the railway. For this service they
received a yearly subsidy from the Porte, which, how
ever, normally kept small garrisons along the line.
Relations to Government. —The scheme for the Hejaz
Eailway was put through mainly by the instrument
ality of Izzet Pasha, a favourite of Abdul Hamid, who
organised a High Commission to raise the necessary
funds. Construction was begun in 1901, and in 1908
the line was opened as far as Medina. The original
plans provided for its extension to Mecca by 1910; the
Young Turk Revolution, however, removed Izzet
Pasha, the new Government was unwilling to incur
further expense, and these causes, together with the
determined opposition of the Sherif of Mecca and the
Harb Arabs, brought construction to a standstill. The
purpose of the railway was ostensibly purely religious,
to enable pilgrims to travel easily and quickly to the
Holy Cities; but in point of fact it was also military,
and was intended to strengthen Turkey's hold on
Arabia.
Finance. —The capital required was raised partly by
voluntary contributions from Moslems all the world
over, and partly by the allocation to 1 the Hejaz fund of
certain taxes and stamps, of 10 per cent, of the fees of
officials at the Holy Places, and of the proceeds of the
sale of the skins of sacrificed sheep. By 1908 the fund
had reached £3,200,000, of which £1,000,000 repre
sented voluntary contributions. The cost of construc
tion from Damascus to El-Ala, including the branch
line from Haifa to Deraa, and rolling-stock, stations,
officials' pay, &o., amounted to about £2,250,000. From
El-Ala onwards the construction was wholly in the