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whether refineries could not be instituted in India in order to deal with such
sugar.
(5) The timber market.—The main Umber demand before the war was for
date box wood and the amount taken was approximately one million boxes
made of white wood coming chiefly from Fiume and Galatz. Wood for
building came from the Malabar Coast and Singapore but white wood from.
Odessa and Fiume was also competing. Mr. Lloyd thought that American
competition was likely to commence before long and suggested that the impor
tation of Canadian or Swedish timber should be taken up by British
merchants.
Attempts were made before the war to obtain date boxes from India, but
a sample consignment was found to be inferior in quality to the Norwegian
and Swedish boxes and probably also inferior to the boxes from Fiume. A
^ special* note is attached on the subject
Appen 1X ' and attention is invited to the great
importance of supplying from India the Mesopotamia demand not only for
date boxes but also for oil cases and for building timber. In the very distant
future, Mesopotamia may conceivably be able to grow' its own timber, but in the
meanwhile it should provide a large and important market comparatively close
at hand for many c f the less valuable Indian timbers.
( 6 ) Drugs —Lloyd pointed out that British drugs would find a large
sale at reasonable prices if some important firm would give their agency to
a reliable druggist in Baghdad. There is undoubtedly a great field for the
chemist and druggist in Mesopotamia, as well as in Persia, and important
British firms would do well to send representatives immediately after the war
to travel over the principal towns, and stock shops. Leaflets should be printed
in Arabic describing the drugs, the methods of taking them and their results.
Finally, attention may be especially directed to the openings for trade
which may be expected in connection with town development, that is to say,
building materials and plant for sanitation, water supply, electric light, etc.
57. Special facilities might be arranged for British shipping and merchants port
in connection with the management of the port administration, the customs’ ^.aministration,
warehouses and inland transport.
A strip of foreshore with deep water close to the bank at Magil, five wharfage,
miles above the existing Customs House, has been selected for the wharves and
warehouses, of the future port. One permanent wharf has already been con
structed and the complete scheme contemjfiates two miles of continuous deep
water wharves equipped with cranes and warehouses and having direct connec
tion wuth the railway. When the new wharves are ready, it might be possible
to arrange that British steamers should have preference over foreign steamers
in the matter of berths or loading facilities. Arrangements could be made for
the Port Officer to receive information of the coming of foreign ships before
they entered the Gulf and the master of the ship could then be informed
whether there was any likelihood of accommodation being available for him
within a reasonable period.
Before the Port is opened to trade, British ship-owners and merchants will Business sites and
doubtless be given facilities for securing the most favourable sites available for warehouses,
mercantile purposes. Each steamship company regularly visiting the port
should be provided with one or more warehouses according to the volume of
its trade, so that all cargo arriving by the Company’s steamers can be landed
and delivered direct to the consignee against a Customs House pass, thus elimi
nating the inconvenience of an intermediary between the shipping company
and the consignee. A charge covering lighterage, cranage and cooly hire into
the warehouses would either be collected from the consignee or added to the
freight at the port of shipment. Cargo arriving by occasional steamefs might
either be handled by arrangement with the agent of one of the regular lines
or be accommodated in the warehouse which will be provided by the Customs
to deal with goods coming into the port by native craft. All cargo ly ng in the
steamship company’s warehouse after a fixed period might be transferred to a
King s warehouse. A bonded warehouse or warehouses will be required at
no distant date and, later on, the larger companies and firms might be