"ملف 8/15 سلسلة الجزيرة العربية - ١٩٣٣-١٩٣٩" [ظ‎‎٥‎٣] (٤٣٤/١٠٦)

3. Copies of this letter are being sent to the India Office and the Depart
ment of Overseas Trade.
Enclosure 1 to Serial No. (54).
Letter erom the Resident, Aden, to the Colonial Office, No. 73, dated the
14th March 1934.
I have the honour to draw your attention to the activities of Mr. E. 11.
Bailey in the Yemen and in Aden. He was at one time associated wtih the
Eastern and General Syndicate, Ltd., 19. St. Swithin’s Lane, London, E. 0. 4,
and his movements have periodically been reported in the Aden Political Intelli
gence Summary (paragraphs, inter alia, 1155, 2071 and 2554).
2. During my recent visit to San’a I was informed that in 1933 Bailey had
borrowed money from various local people, the repayment of part of which
he had offered in the form of a Bill on the Western and General Company, Ltd.,
of 19 Bloombury Avenue, W. Payment of this Bill had later been refused, and,
Bailey having left the country, his creditors in San’a had been unable to get
satisfaction. Other private debts that he had contracted there still remain
unsettled, and he has left behind him an unsavoury reputation.
3 . Bailey had also, in March 1932, been associated in Aden with Charles
Lazarus, a South African, and W. Keiller, a local sea-captain, in an unregistered
company called the Red Sea Guano Syndicate Ltd. which was formed for the
winning of guano from localities in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In the
name of the Syndicate he obtained a concession from a Treaty Chief in the
Aden Protectorate, but was unable to develop it, and the project failed in cir
cumstances that reflected little credit on the promoters.
4 . In view of the possibility that, following the conclusion of the Treaty of
Friendship with the Yemen, British enterprise may be attracted to that country,
it is important that British firms who wish to opeiate theie, and the lepiesen-
tatives whom thev send should be of the highest standing and character, Bailey
js in mv opinion not the example that one would wish of British commercial
integrity and I recommend that if he applies to the authorities in the United
Kingdom for papers or facilities for the purpose of revisiting Aden or the
Yemen, they should be refused.
5. I know of nothing to the detriment of the Eastern and General Syndicate,
and I have never previously heard of the existence of the “ Western and
General Company
Enclosure 2 to Serial No. (54).
Extract from Aden, Political Intelligence Summary, No. 170, for week
ended, 12th April 1930.
Mr. E. R. Bailey of the Eastern General Syndicate, Limited has arrived
in Aden from a visit to Jizan where he succeeded in obtaining an invitation
from the Hejaz Government to go to Jiddah to discuss salt and other concessions.
He proposes in the meantime to visit the Yemen with Major Bentmck.
Enclosure 3 to Serial No. (54).
Extract from Aden, Political Intelligence Summary, No. 295, for week
ended, 6th September, 1932.
Bailev who recently returned to Aden from United Kingdom, with draft of
a concession for the exploitation of Salif salt mines which he hopes to negotiate
with the Imam, is reported to have received a somewhat cold reply i rom the
ITodeidah authorities to his request to be allowed to return to that place.
Enclosure 4 to Serial No. (54).
Extract from Aden, Political Intelligence Summary, No. 350, for week
ended, 26th September 1933.
The Imam is reported to have refused to grant permission to Mr. Bailey
to return to Sanaa.