ملف رقم ١٢٨٣\١٩١٣ الجزء ٥ "التجارة في بلاد الرافدين، إصدار تقرير تجارة جديد" [و‎‎١‎٠‎١] (٢٧٠/١٩٧)

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49. The alignment of the railways in the country will depend upon con
ditions which cannot he foreseen at present. Tim paramount importance of
constructing a railway between Baghdad and Khanikin at the earliest possible
moment is indisputable. The distance is only 95 miles and a large accession
both of passenger traffic and of export trade into Persia would result. Sir
William Willcocks conceived of the following lines to secure the first 3,000,000
acres of land to be reclaimed:—
(1) from Basrah to Amara along the Tigris,
(2) from Amara to Hai,
(3) crossing the Hai and along the old Nahr Melcha Canal to Baghdad
via Ctesiphon,
(4) by the desert route on the right bank of the Euphrates through
Najef and Kerbela to Baghdad,
(5) across the Euphrates Valley via Nasiriyah and Shatra to Hai.
Bail way construction hitherto has been governed purely by military considera
tions, but post-war developments will require most cautious consideration.
It would seem desirable that before anything is done, a Communications Board
should be constituted to work out schemes of communication for the country as
a corporate whole, with a view to the co-ordination of traffic ^ by river, canal,
rail and road so as to ensure that while reasonable competition^ exists there
shall be no loss of power by duplication of facilities. Irrigation interests
should also be represented on the Board since the direction of canal embank
ments will be an important factor in the selection of alignments. The
obiect to be kept in view is that carriage of produce of the country shall be
facilitated and that each productive area shall be tapped by whatever system is
best adapted to the nature of the country. Bailways, in the first instance, will
doubtless be through the best populated areas of the country, that is to say,
along the river banks, but the through route between important towns will
eventually be shortened by means of chord lines which will be^ made through
areas where development proceeds most rapidly. Eeeder lines will be con
structed as circumstances may dictate. When once a comprehensive scheme of
communications has been worked out and sanctioned, the carrying out of
each form of enterprise by rail, road or water should be left to its natural
development, since it would not be possible for any Board to reconcile and
control the conflicting interests of the Companies to which the exploitation
of each form of enterprise is committed.
50. Boads will not play a great part in the opening up of Mesopotamia,
partly because in Iraq land routes are subordinate to the waterways owing to
the difficulties of movement in a country covered with marshes, lagoons, nliga
tion cuts and areas liable to inundation, partly because road metal is at present
procurable only with the greatest difficulty and partly because of the simplicity
and ease with which railways can be constructed across the flat plains. Boads,
however, will be useful in some areas to connect grain producing tracts with
railway or canal, for the export of produce and for the transit of the post.
Tribal responsibility for the up-keep and protection of such roads could easily
be enforced.
51. The most important of the wild or natural products of the country are
gallnuts, liquorice and gum tragacanth. Mr. Lloyd dealt fully these m
his report. The liquorice business was almost entirely in the hands ot an
American firm and the trade seems to have been subject to great fluctuations
owing to manipulation of the American market. It is believed that liquorice
is not produced in large quantities anywhere else than in Mesopotamia and
there is no reason why British merchants should not at least have a share m
the business.
There seems to be special promise of the development of a dried fruit
industry, since the excellent figs, apricots and plums which are already grown
would with a little care in drying probably command far higher prices than
they at present fetch. Superior varieties could probably be introduced by
agricultural experts. The oranges grown in Upper Mesopotamia are of a
fine and sound quality and there should be a ready market for the fruit whic
Economic
possibilities of
Mesopotamia.