"ملخص للأحداث الرئيسية. ١٩٠٨" [و‎‎٥‎٠] (١٥٦/١٠٤)

England, and as a Director of the West Hartlepool Line of Steamers. He said
that according to his calculations the Hamburg-American Line must be losing
about £ 20,000 a year on their Persian Gulf service. He said that he had
been negotiating on behalf of the British Combine with the Hamburg-
American Directorate, and he thought that before long an agreement would be
come to by which the British steamers would not go to Hamburg, Antwerp,
or Potter dam, and the German steamers would not goto Marseilles or any port
in the United Kingdom,
Commercial.
Throughout the year reports have been continually received from all parts Trade 1D Per8ia ‘
of the country regarding the influence which the present state of disorder has
bad on trade operations. Rates have everywhere ruled high on account of
the increased risks and delays in transit. The trade reports of the Nushki-
Sistau trade route alone show an improvement, and this is probably due to the
reason that the trade of the other parts of the country has suffered from the
disturbed condition of affairs ; trade being thus more and more deflected to
the relatively quiet eastern frontier, with its outlet into British territory.
In April it was reported that the Persian Customs had produced a sum of PerBian Cu9tom8 -
£602,207, after the deduction of the expenses of administration, thus showing
an increase of £100,633 on the profits for the previous year.
German Commercial aims in Persia have been marked throughout the year cI ® er Ea n terpre ,ne i r ;
by the activity of German travellers ; but even more by the series of articles p tr 3 i a .
which have been constantly appearing during the period under review in the
various official and un-official German organs.
In April it was reported that an application was being lodged with the J ** هذه التواريخ تقريبية 1 0iide
Persian Government for a concession to the red oxide rights on the Island of
Sirri, situated in the neighbourhood of Lingeh. The intending Concessionaires
were the firm of Haji All Akbar & Sons, Limited, of Manchester, but the appli
cation was entered through their Tehran agent in his capacity as a Persian sub
ject. After a certain amount of discussion, a certificate was obtained from the
firm, to the effect that should a concession be granted it would be controlled
in British interests and would not be shared with any foreigners. The matter,
however, remains more or less in statu, quo owing to a long-standing dispute
as to the ownership of the island.
Towards the close of 1907 it was reported that the Muin-ut.Tujjar, the Oxide
Concessionaire of the Hormuz red oxide, was contemplating raising money by
selling his concession. With the object of preventing the concession falling
into the hands of a foreign firm, endeavours were made to effect an agreement
between Messrs. Ellinger, the Agents of the Muin-ut-L'ujjar, and Messrs.
Strick ; however, negotiations came to a standstill as it was considered that the
terms asked were too high. In August it was reported that the Persian Gov
ernment contemplated the raising of money by cancelling the concession and
then selling it again. Early in September it was intimated that the Germans
had made an offer of £300,000, less interest at 4 per cent, for a grant of the
concession for a period of 12 years. A protest against this proposal was lodged
immediately by the British Representative at Tehran, Later in the same
month, the Muin-ut-Tujjar evinced a wish to agree to the forming of his con
cession into a company in co-operation with Messrs. Ellinger under certain
conditions with regard to British protection.
At the end of May it was reported that oil had been struck at the D’Arcy ca £ Arcy 0l1 Syndl ’
Oil Syndicate camp at Maidan-i-Minuftun at 1,200 feet, and that a spout was
rising to a height of 75 feet above the ground. A further report stated that
the oil was of good quality, and is already used for lime-burning. The flow