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25. File 1283/1913 Pt 3 ‘Persian Gulf: Trade Commercial Mission’
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume is concerned with commercial possibilities within Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf for British trade. Of particular concern for British officials is ensuring that British firms are placed in the best possible position to counter expected competition from Germany and Japan following the cessation of hostilities. Much of the file is taken up with proposals for a Mesopotamian Trade Commission, prompted by a report produced by Captain George Lloyd on the economic situation in the Gulf and Mesopotamian markets in 1916; multiple copies of Lloyd's report can be found between folios 216-285. This includes details behind the selection of the Commissioners (Robert Erskine Holland and John Wilson), the division of expenditure between the British and Indian Governments, and the remuneration for the Commissioners. It also outlines some of the process behind the British Government's decision not to publish the report immediately following its submission in 1917, and subsequent reviews of this decision.The volume does not contain a copy of the report produced by the Holland-Wilson Commission. However, a summary of its recommendations can be found on folios 104-06, and a note on the report prepared by the India Office (dated 6 February 1918) can be found on folios 100-03. Copies of the Commission’s original instructions may be found on folios 180 and 182. Proposals from Sir Percy Cox dated 1 March 1917 on measures to turn the Persian Gulf into a British ‘mare clausum’ [closed sea] can be found on folio 154, along with English and French copies of the ‘Recommendations of the Economic Conference of the Allies’ held at Paris 14-17 June 1916 on folios 155-58.Another matter discussed within is an application from Messrs Lynch and Lord Inchcape [James Lyle Mackay] to establish an office for their joint firm — Mackay, Lynch and Company — at Baghdad, and for permission to implement a pre-war concession from the Ottoman Government to run steamers on the Tigris and Euphrates. This includes the minutes of a meeting of the Middle East Committee of the War Cabinet (see folios 84-5) held on the 18 February 1918 on the undesirability of granting a monopoly on these rivers.Other matters covered by the file include proposals — dated 28 February 1918 — from the Bahrain Political Agent (see folios 53-4) towards the establishment of a strong commercial position for British trade at Bahrain, an agent deputed by Messrs Herbert Whitworth Limited to establish branches at Basra and Baghdad, and the construction of a through railway between Basra and Baghdad.The main correspondents are officials of the Board of Trade (Henry Fountain), the India Office (Arthur Hirtzel and John Evelyn Shuckburgh), the Foreign Office, and the Government of India; with significant input from Sir Percy Cox (serving as Chief Political Officer of the Indian Expeditionary Force), and the Under Secretary of State for India (John Dickson-Poynder).Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 287; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
26. File 2073/1913 'Baghdad Railway: Navigation of the Tigris and Euphrates'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume is concerned with negotiations with the Ottoman Government over a new navigation concession for the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. These negotiations — facilitated by the Foreign Office and the Board of Trade — are between Ibrahim Hakki Pasha and Lord Inchcape (James Lyle Mackay), and also involve the formation of a new Anglo-Turkish Company to operate the concession. It is equally concerned with insuring that Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch and his firm the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company are compensated for the introduction of the new company and provided with a suitable stake in the new concern. Both Mr Lynch and Lord Inchcape employ solicitors to represent them, these firms being Messrs Slaughter and May, and Messrs Walters and Company respectively. The negotiations between the two do not proceed smoothly; the file therefore includes discussion by British officials of Mr Lynch's 'intrigues', particularly in Germany (e.g. folios 85-94), to influence negotiations for the new concession in his favour. It also includes counter complaints from Mr Lynch about his treatment by the Foreign Office, and against statements made about his company in the House of Commons by the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, on the 22 July 1913 (e.g. folios 10-26).There is also some discussion in the file of British interests in limiting German access to the Tigris and Euphrates, whether Britain should secure an interest for itself in the Baghdad Railway, and insuring that Britain obtains a suitable stake in any new port built at Basra. There is also some debate respecting the extent the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company is able to exercise the rights of its original concession from 1862, and its prospects for expansion.Most of the correspondence in the file is between officials representing the Board of Trade, the Foreign Office, and the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company. The Foreign Office is principally represented by Alywyn Parker. The Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company on the other hand by Fred W Parry and Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Philip Picot. Numerous copies of the draft concession between the Ottoman authorities and Lord Inchcape can be found throughout the file; often including an additional copy in French.Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 279; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the first and last ending flyleaves. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
27. File 342/1913 'Mesopotamia: Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Co; mail contract'
- Description:
- Abstract: This volume contains memoranda, correspondence, telegrams, and minutes of letters between British officials regarding a contract between the India Office and the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company for mail service and commercial transports on the River Tigris between Baghdad and Basrah; the India Office's complaints for their unsatisfactory service from 1912, and the renewal of the contract in 1914. The volume also briefly discusses the British Post Offices in Baghdad and Basra, and the abolition of British Post Offices in Turkey.The main correspondents are: Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company, the India Office, and the Foreign Office.There is a letter in French within the file, a copy of a declaration from Hakki Pacha, Ottoman Ambassador.The volume includes a divider which gives the year that the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in it arranged by year. This divider is placed at the front of the volume.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 140; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front cover. A previous foliation sequence between ff 44-138, which is also written in pencil and circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
28. File 3531/1905 Pt 1-2 ‘Mesopotamia’
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume comprises two parts discussing steamship contracts and concessions on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Mesopotamia (also referred to as Irak [Iraq]):part 1 concerns negotiations between India Office officials and representatives of the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company, for the extension of the latter’s contract to convey mail by steamship between Basra and Baghdad;part 2 contains correspondence relating to the proposed merger of the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company, owned by Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch, and the Turkish Hamidieh Steamship Company, which lead to considerable discussion and political controversy in Turkey in 1909-1910 (referred to in the British press as the ‘Affaire Lynch’).The volume comprises parts 1 and 2 of 2. Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, year the subject file was opened, subject heading, and list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 390; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.The front cover, along with one leading flyleaf have not been foliated.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
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