'File 73/7 I (D 19) Status of Kuwait & Baghdad Railway, and Anglo-Turkish negotiations 1911' [‎155r] (343/631)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty s Goverumeni]
EASTERN DEPARTMENT. [March 17.]
SECRET SERIES. S ectiok 1
1,9732 ! No. I
Sir G. Lowther to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received March 17.)
(No. 156.)
Sir, Constantinople, March 10, 1911.
I ilAVE the honour to transmit herewith the translation of a speech delivered
on the 5th instant in reply to the criticisms of Ismail Kemal Bey by the Grand Vizier
on the subject of the liabilities of the Ottoman Government towards the Bagdad
Railway Company.
ion will observe that his Highness stated that, apart from the convention, i.e., of
1903, the company had a claim upon the excess revenues of the customs under the
firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). granting the concession, but that when the 3 per cent, increase was obtained,
the company abandoned that claim. Now, when there was a question of obtaining an
increase of 4 per cent, the same question presented itself.
Before transmitting to you the text of the speech, 1 thought it well to inquire of
his Highness whether he had been properly reported, and invited him to inform me
which was the firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). that granted these revenues as guarantees.
At first his Highness was disposed to say that he could not carry the complicated
details of the liabilities of the Ottoman Government in his head, but, after some
pressure ou my part, he stated that it was not a firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). , but the convention of 1908 that
set aside as a guarantee the excess revenues of the debt. 1 said I could not accept
that interpretation, and then read him the article of the convention dealing with that
point, showing him that, if the two paragraphs were read together, it was clear that
these revenues were only set aside for the prolongation of the line as far as Halif.
His Highness declined to accept this view, and insisted strongly that the " prolongement
de la ligne de Bagdad meant the whole railway.
For convenience of reference, I insert here the paragraph referred to
" Convention additionnelle, faisant suite a la convention du 20 fevrier, 1318
(5 mars, 1903)
" Le Gouvernement Imperial a decide de prolonger la ligne de Bagdad depuis
Boulgourlou jusqu'a la localite dite Helif, situee aux abords de Mardine, et de construire
un embranchement de Tel-Habesch a Alep. La longueur de cette ligne et de
Teinbranchement est d'environ 840 kilom.
" L'excedent des revenus concedes a la Dette publique ayant ete afPecte au
prolongement de la ligne de Bagdad, la garantie pour ces 840 kilom. de ligne sera
payee sur les excedents des revenus concedes a la Dette publique a raison de 11,000 fr.
par kilometre, en conformite de I'article 35 de la Convention de Bagdad.
I was, however, quite unable to move his Highness on this point, although T
reminded him that last year (as reported in my despatch No 276, Secret, of the
3rd May) the point of view of the Ottoman Government was that they were only
bound by a moral and not a legal obligation to the continuation oi the line. Hakki
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. was quite unable to explain how, if he relied on the 1908 convention, it had, as
he stated in his speech, been necessary to obtain from the railway an abandonment of
their claim to the 3 per cent, surtax. The enigma may, however, be explained by the
enclosures m this embassy s despatch No. 48 of the Jth February, 190^. Imally, his
Highness said that the argument was not an important one, as there was no question
of the 4 per cent, surtax being required for the construction of the Halif-Bagdad
section. This, of course, is true, but only because Turkey is providing for ordinary
expenditure out of loans. .
I then explained to his Highness again at length that our consent to tne mciease
of the 4 per cent, was dependent not only on the abandonment of the claim of the
4 per cent, by the Bagdad Railway, but to a general settlement of the railway question,
which would not interfere with our existing rights in those regions, and, 1 added, that
to avoid any misunderstanding 1 would place our views again on paper for Kilaat lasha.
I have, &c.
GERARD LOWTHER.
[1932 r—l]