'F 80 File 82/34 I APOC Concession' [‎41v] (81/436)

the greatest pity that circumstances had rendered it impossible for you to discuss
our relations with him at Geneva. I replied that I did not think he had anything
to regret on that score, as, had such a conversation taken place, subsequent events
would only have made him ridiculous in the same manner as they had made me.
1 went on to say that matters had, if possible, been aggravated by the manner in
which the Persian Government had trumpeted their action abroad and by the
public rejoicings in the form of the decoration of the town and the illuminations
which I understood had been ordered for that night. Feroughi assured me, almost
with emotion, that no such orders had been given.
6. A messenger then came in to say that another foreign Minister had been
waiting some considerable time to keep an appointment. I therefore took my leave
after Feroughi had once again expressed the hope that a friendly settlement would
be speedily reached and his reliance on my good offices, to which I replied that
the action of the Persian Government made it impossible for me to advise His
Majesty's Government to be conciliatory.
7. Almost immediately after the interview Mr. Jacks telephoned to tell me
that the police were removing or defacing the signboards of the company. As I
reported by telegram, I immediately rang up Feroughi and demanded that
immediate action be taken to put a stop to this. He lost no time in getting into
communication with the chief of police, who within two hours had notified the
company that he was taking the necessary steps to prevent anything of the sort.
I subsequently learnt from Mr. Jacks that the report had been somewhat
exaggerated, and that there had only been one case in which the police had given
orders for the removal of a signboard.
8. With regard to the public rejoicings, the town was brilliantly
illuminated and decorated, if allowance be made for the limited resources at the
disposal of the population. The method employed to ensure a satisfactory
measure of public enthusiasm was house-to-house visits by the police. My
chauffeur was actually in a shop when such a visit took place, and I also have first
hand evidence on the point from Mr. Aratoon, the Legation dispenser, who owns
a chemist's shop near by, and other sources. The occasion has been, moreover,
marked by orders to all cinemas that for three days the public are to be admitted
free of all charge. The spontaneous and unofficial nature of the rejoicings has
been delicately emphasised by the fact that all public buildings have been left
severely undecorated. The fact that the first snow-storm of the year rather marred
the celebrations is, I believe, regarded as mildly ominous among some sections of
the populace.
9. A curious, and I suppose characteristic, aspect of the situation is that
it is, for the moment, widely believed among educated Persians that the cancella
tion of the concession is a deliberate piece of play-acting, the theory being that a
new agreement favourable to Persia, but prolonging the concession, has already
been signed, and that the apparently high-handed action of the Persian Govern
ment is simply designed to ensure the smooth passage of the new agreement
through the Majlis.
10. I learn that Dr. Friedlieb, a highly intelligent American Jew, now here
in connexion with the proposed export monopoly, holds similar views, his variant
being that an agreement has been reached on the basis of a 24 per cent, royalty,
and that the cancellation of the concession was accepted by the directors of the
company as the simplest means of ensuring the acquiescence of the shareholders
in this diminution of their profits.
11. Mr. Jacks has learnt from the Administrator-General of Customs that
the latter at once asked the Minister of Finance what attitude the customs
authorities should adopt, as a result of the cancellation of the concession, towards
such questions as to the duty-free importation of the company's stores. The
answer was that everything was to go on exactly as before.
12. I am sending a copy of this despatch to the Foreign Secretary to the
Government of India (No. 240), the Hon. the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. at Bushire (No. 207), the acting British consul, Ahwaz (No. 85),
and to His Majesty's Ambassador at Bagdad (No. 119).
I have, &c.
R. H. HOARE.