ملف ١٩١٦/٣٨١٦ "بلاد فارس. بخصوص السماح للسيدات البريطانيات بالسفر إلى بلاد فارس" [ظ‎‎١‎٨‎٣] (٥٥٣/٣٧٦)

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In any case travellers to India by the Cape route are exposed to the risk
of delay or detention at the Cape.
9. The Journey by Canada or the United States. —There remains the
possibility of travelling by Canada or the United States. In this case where
a continent has to be crossed, the India Office does not either facilitate the
application or the reverse. If the traveller can obtain a recommendation for
a passport from the American or Canadian Government and is willing to
accept the risks of being unable, from whatever cause, to continue the
journey when she arrives in America or Canada, it is open to her to apply
to the Foreign Office for the necessary passport.
It is understood that a considerable number of Canadian women have
crossed the Atlantic (a danger zone) in recent months, but that they bear
a small proportion to the total number detained in the United Kingdom.
For some the Canadian Government itself provided steamship accommodation.
In any case the journey is not without its risk.
10. Restrictions on Travel from India to the United Kingdom. —The
preceding paragraphs have dealt only with the journey from the United
Kingdom to India. It will have been seen from the Secretary of State’s
telegram quoted in paragraph 2 that the grant of permission to make the
journe} r from India to the United Kingdom is within the discretion of the
Indian authorities. The discretion appears to be exercised somewhat more
freely in India than at home, but there are presumably more difficult cases
in India, where women and children may have spent some time in unhealthy
or tropical conditions and been severed from their friends and relatives for a
lengthy period. A notable case of the working of the rules is that of the
wives and families of Territorial Officers, whose detention in India has
necessitated the grant to them of allowances by Government. Further, a
number of civil officers are deterred from taking leave from India by the
fact that they cannot bring with them their wives and children.
11. The Magnitude of the Problem.. —The far-reaching effect of the recent
orders will be gathered from the foregoing summary. If effectual relief is
to be granted, it must clearly be on a considerable scale and in this con
nection a letter may be quoted from a Public Works Engineer, dated the Gth
June 1917
“ I am serving in France, and am due to proceed to India at the expiration
of my furlough in the Autumn, and am anxious for my wife to
accompany me for my tour of service out there. There must be
very many cases similar to my own, and also many others, where
ladies in India have been separated from, their families at home for
the past three years and also many officers in India who have been
debarred from taking furlough to bring their families home, and it
has struck me that it might be contemplated running a family boat
out to Inaia by the Cape route'to remove the hardships involved to
officers and families who have been long separated owing to
the War.” 1
1 he suggestion is typical of many that have been received, but the root
of the matter is that as yet it has not been possible entirely to secure the
freedom of the seas. In point of fact the suggestion to emplov a special
stearaei to convey to England the families of Territorial Officers was recently
FT? 'y ar Office and Admiralty, but could not be accepted by them.
(War Office Letter, 27th April 1917 ; M. 15414/17.)
I E F
India Office (Public Department),
21st July 1917.
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