"مذكرة تتعلق بالملاحة في نهري دجلة والفرات". [و‎‎١‎١‎٥] (٢٨٤/٢٣٠)

[39221/09].
Foreign Office
Memorandum
(Sir (J. Hardinge),
November 6
[41576/09].
1910.
77
1909— {cont.) during the earlier part of the year, and attacks
were made by Arabs on British and Turkish,
steamers; the service between Bagdad and
Bussorah was temporarily suspended, and His
Majesty's ship " Sphinx " was sent to the latter
place to protect British lives and property.
Schemes for the irrigation of Mesopotamia
were put forward by Sir W. Willcocks, and it was
feared that the proposed works would tend to
render the Tigris and Euphrates unnavigable. In
the course of an interview with Sir 0. Hardinge
in November, he suggested that a concession
should be obtained for the construction of a
railwav from Bagdad via Abou Kernal to
Damascus, with the right of prolongation to the
Persian Gulf. Sir E. Grey considered that the
Tigris and Euphrates navigation concessions
should not stand in the way of irrigation, and
that the Turkish Government could not be
opposed if, in view of the irrigation project and
suggested railway concession, they insisted upon
dropping the Lynch concession.
1910. —In the course of conversation with His
Majesty's Ambassador at Berlin on the Bagdad
Railway question the German Minister for
Foreign Affairs referred to the Lynch con
cession, and Sir E. Goschen was instructed to
explain to Herr von Schoen," as the question
seemed to be misunderstood in Germany, that
British vessels were accorded the right to navigate
the Euphrates and Tigris by firmans of 1834 and
1841, and that a company Was formed by Messrs.
Lynch in 1862 (1861) for the purpose of navi
gating the rivers, since when the firm had
maintained their steamers on the rivers ; further,
that the Lynch-Hamidieh negotiations merely
related to the amalgamation of the Lynch com
pany's concession with the Turkish Hamidieh
company, and the transformation of w T hat had
been for so long a period an entirely British con
cession into a Turkish company, in which
Mr. Lynch had a share. It was pointed out that
no new rights had been acquired, but, on the
contrary. Mr. Lynch was surrendering rights
enjoyed by him for many years, and amalgamat
ing- his interests with those of the Turkish
company.
The Porte showed a disinclination to give
effect to the Lynch -Hamidieh Fusion Convention
without obtaining the sanction of the Turkish
Chamber; and a Bill was submitted to the
[163] X
To Sir E. Goschen,
No. 7,
January 10, 1910.
[46381/09].
Uf