"الملف 73/7 I (D 19) وضع الكويت، سكة حديد بغداد، والمفاوضات الأنجلو تركية في ١٩١١" [ظ‎‎١‎٥‎٩] (٦٣١/٣٥٢)

RMMWINHIWJ JifllNUUI I
I
human
-i i + with foehn^s of tli6 loftiest and puresi
heart, and ihat crus hed, but it can never, even for a day, bow
patriotism ^We'beg ^em W rcmemljer this, and to give np the tone
to the insults of foK .^derstand insult and store it up m our hearts. II wo
ofcoutcmp. ai .d ins I we ma y retort still more to-morrow, a fact that wou.d
make this slight retort . thiuk 0 f its not for a tew vears. but
be taken into account. * — — — ^ ^ ^ 3 ^ ^
R r a We shall pay no attention to the claim made n\' ii^e
Times " over Koweit in the
x- TP 1 ' 1 ihnt it not and never can be, considered as Ottoman territory, for
name of England, that i ^ froni L ; r( | Onrzon's book that the Sheikh of
we have already proved by of tlie Ottoman Government are so
" Say what you
your rights." And
ther VhTBa S Xd U RarW qulstion is not the Koweit question, England andjhirkey
have undertaken by mutual agreement to maintain the statu* quo m Koweit. Wdi let
the question stay at that. We do not need Koweit harbour m order to build the
Bagdad Railway and to carry the Bagdad -Bussorah section to the shores of the leisian
Gulf. If- the terminus is not at Koweit, it can be somowhere else on the sea , s o if
England refuses to recognise our right, and raises iitliculties against having tn<
terminus at Ivoweit, that cannot prevent oui constructing ii* iiJie.
This will not do as much harm ; but what will England gain ? She does not
come as conciliator into the negotiations now beginning with regard to the Persian
Gulf and the Bagdad Railway; but she must also remember that she does not come in
as a conqueror whose will is law. It is our first desire to be on friendly terms with
England, and that is why we took into consideration England's commercial interests in
Irak, and her position in the Persian Gulf, and invited her to negotiate, in order to
avoid misunderstandings and to lay the foundations of a sound and lasting friendship.
Our object was to get a clear idea of England's point of view and to reconcile English
and Ottoman interests, and to do nothing to wound a Government whose friendship we
desired. To judge by the language of the "Times,' one would think we had taken
this course either from fear or from necessity; it holds such language and makes such
demands as might be heard, not when friendly negotiations are being entered into,
but when a victor is issuing commands to the utterly vanquished. But we were
influenced neither by fear nor by necessity ; it should baknown that Ottoman patriotism
and amour-propre could not bear such a thing.
According to the " Times," the Bagdad Railway question affects English interests
in two ways : (1) the protection of British commercial interests in the points through
which the line passes^ (2) the maintenance of British pre-eminence in the Persian
Gulf. 1 his means that is Avhat the English want. If they prevent the line from going
to Koweit. and take up a not. very friendly attitude towards us, will they gain what
t^ey want ? If we fail to persuade the German company to hand over the Bagdad-
Bussorah section to an international company and we have it made by the German
company, what will British commerce gain ? It is known that she would gain nothing
But is it so diihcult to estimate what she woidd lose? If the railway, instead of
terminating at Koweit, ends at some other point on the sea, will no harm be done to
England s preferential position m the Gulf ?
K H Th R Sa f 5 h « '■? retu -" for the eo^truction of the Bagdad-Khanikin branch line
by the Bagdad kaiJway Company England can make other railways in Irak and
connect them with their rai ways in Persia. How can they hope" to get such i
concession from us after putting such difficulties in our way and acting in such an
~ m "' ! " " »■"" -•W. c
and compels us to build the railway in some .^r" rp 10 ^'^ 0111 " ,nend8hl P>
flagrant injustice, or would commit an evil n ' ' , e S ullt y of such
credit of a country like England ' Tn ^n.-inu .hp U< " r « dound 30 little to the
' r " ndi ' ^" "• if« »■srasaa.'Sf st