مجموعة ٦ / ٨ (١) "سلسلة مطبوعة: ١٩٢٩ إلى ١٩٣٨". [و‎‎١‎٤‎٩] (١٠٦٢/٣٠٢)

three days’ time. He would tqtp „•
Yanbu, whence lie intended to 20 to Medin^Lf^ 111 9tl1 I)ecei nber for
journey to Egypt from Yanbu 'two days later? ar ’ retnrIlin ^ to resume his
f 4. His visit has naturally received 1 o-nnd m i ^
it is believed, excited considerable interest i-n Pa ^ attention, and has,
dined to wonder how far Fuad B ev HamS Circ l e - S - 0ne is
S pe„t in Egypt was
any rate, the obvious intention of Talmt v, + ! Ior . 18 visit - ^
favourable to the objects he has in view'as he possibly can C D P H Dragon
aeroplane has been partly occupied since its arrival' in carrying out short
demonstration flights for the benefit of both European and native passengers
I am also informed by my Egjrptian colleague that Talaat Pasha, toYarkf the
occasion brought with him a large selection of goods, probably of Egyptian
manufacture, for distribution as charity to the poor of this country. It is
pleasant to observe this pious practice, oue of the five obligations of the true
Moslem, going so happily hand in hand with, and sanctifying, a more material
commercial purpose. I hope to he in a position to report further on this matter
m due course.
! ; f
5. I am sending a copy of this despatch to the Principal Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs. Department of Overseas Trade, and to His Majesty’s High
Commissioner for Egypt.
( 6 )
{Received on 1.1th February 1934, with Political Secretary’s letter No. 4, dated
35th January 1934.)
Enclosure in Foreign Office covering letter, dated 17th January 1934.
Letter from His Majesty’s Minister, Jedda, to the Foreign Office, No. 351,
dated the 5th December, 1933.
In my telegram No. 197 of the 15th November, I had the honour to indicate
certain aspects of the local financial situation which might have a bearing on
the Saudi attitude towards repayment of their debts. I submit herewith a
somewhat fuller review of the situation.
2. All indications are that the Saudi Government are making the most
determined efforts to reduce expenditure to a minimum and to lose no chance
of augmenting their income, in order to leave themselves the widest possible
margin for the heavy expenditure entailed by the military preparations^ now
being undertaking. The latter are, of course, on a scale unparalleled . in tne
history of this country, for tribal contingents from every quarter of Arabia have
now been sent south, together with all available munitions, including even such
items as a battery of field-guns from Medina brought in by the Turks before
the Great War. The tribesmen receive little or no actual pay, hut need equip
ment, food and transnort ; a recent Mecca estimate nut the present expenditure
under this head at £5,000 a day. The figure is doubtless exaggerated and will
he reduced in any case once the army has been transported to the required area,
hut even a tenth of this figure would be a sufficient drain on the baud 1 ! income.
To minimise it, the Government have recently taken to thorns on os rmpor mg
such necessaries as paraffin, rice and sugar through certain olo. om rus e oca
firms such as Haji Zeinal Ali Ridha, with whom tb« M-msrtr of Finance has
been in relations since his Bombay days. This practice has hi - 0t
hard. !
3. The revenue has diminished almost to vanishin*
aware, the bulk of it is derived from two sources,_m V 1 , nij on 0 f the
The mkwimage of 1933, 20,000, was the worst since did tw fit-tie if anv.
Saudi regime, and the nrospeets for pilgrim ships have arrived
improvement can be looked tor.. Ab P resent l ; J A • 1o , ri - TT1 a aT1( q hookings
from the Straits and Java, hearing exiguous _ nf 1T ;ioHms is moreover
are reported poor. The decline in the average Vc . tendency
noticeable. Better-class and rich pilgrims are hecora ^ peasants, who
seems to he more and more for the pilgrimage _ pilgrimage in the cheapest
bring with them the minimum sum necessary to do the pilgrimage m
Lc49FD