Coll 6/9 'Jeddah Reports Jany 1931–' [‎183v] (367/802)

the King's failure to keep his old firm grip on the affairs of his country, and to
some extent to His Majesty's increasing obsession with sport. This, from so
great an admirer, is significant, and it may well be that jealousy, e.g., between
the heir apparent and his brother Feisal, and criticism of Ibn Saud, even in his
own circle, are affecting the machine of Government at the centre. Mr. Philby,
it may be noted, tends to be increasingly critical of Saudi ways and persons in
private conversation, though he gave a fairly glowing account of Saudi affairs
in the Egyptian Gazette of the 11th December, and a very similar article in the
Near East of the 20th December. Incidentally he puts the King’s cash payments
to tribesmen in the autumn (paragraph 266 of last report) at about £2,000 gold
per day for some two months.
301. The Saudi Air Force (paragraph 272 of the last report) has continued
to show some activity, mainly, however, in the form of flights in the immediate
neighbourhood of Jedda, where two Wapitis, marked S.4 and S.8 have been kept
parked by the roadside outside the town on the inner edge of the piece of flat
coast used as an aerodrome. They were moved into hangars on the 27th December.
It is still uncertain whether a third machine is in working order and, if so, where
it is. It is possible that the machine which crashed at Taif on the 5th July
(paragraph 152 of report for July) has never been reconditioned as was supposed,
but is still there.
302. The pearl-fishers, referred to in the report for October, paragraph
240 (/) and earlier, who have been operating under the Qusaibi concession in
southern waters of the Red Sea, returned to Jedda early in December. They
were favourably impressed with the potentialities of the Southern Saudi shores,
but at present shells were too small and the waters over-fished. Sheikh
Abdurrahman Qusaibi informed His Majesty’s Minister that he had so far lost
money over this enterprise. It is stated that he proposes to urge Ibn Saud to
impose a close season for pearl fishing. Meanwhile, the Venezuelan divers were
making preparations for departure at the end of the month.
303. The Minister of Finance was active in spite of Ramadan. He is said
by some to have gone Sufi, and his devotional fervour in Mecca has attracted
attention. This piety has not, however, prevented him from constantly dashing
down to Jedda or caused him to relax his hold on the purse-strings. It was
reported about the 21st that all payments to officials had been suspended, though
they were promised something at the after-Ramadan festival in January, and
that drafts on the customs were no longer to be accepted in part payment of duty
on newly imported goods. Orders in the latter sense would appear to have been
issued, but they may be of merely temporary operation.
304. The negotiations for an agreement between the Saudi Government and
the mainly British group, represented by Mr. Twitchell (paragraph 277 of the
last report), viz., the Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate (Limited), were completed
on the 23rd December. Full information is not yet available, and the agreement
has still to be ratified. It is understood that the syndicate are to have exclusive
rights, over an area comprising the Hejaz and a good part of Asir, of prospecting
for minerals other than oil and other liquids, gold being the principal bait. The
Government are to get 15 per cent, of the shares in any company formed to exploit
particular concessions, 5 per cent, of any gold, &c., extracted, and customs duty
at a flat rate of 10 per cent, on all material, &c., imported. Mr. Twitchell left
for Egypt and Syria on the 26th December, and is believed to be already making
active preparations for his prospecting campaign.
305. The Minister of Finance was also busy with the scheme for an overland
pilgrim route between Najaf and Medina (paragraph 278 of the last report).
Sheikh Abdulla Suleiman is not thought himself to favour this enterprise, but
the Iraqi survey party visited Mecca and Jedda during December, and, when
they left overland for Iraq about the 27th December, it was understood that the
matters had been advanced sufficiently to enable the route to be used for the
forthcoming pilgrimage. It is said, however, that the charges will be very high.
306. Mr. Philby’s firm, Sharqieh (Limited), have imported something like
ninety Ford vehicles under the agreement referred to in paragraph 279 of the
last report and earlier. The arrangements for paying for cars supplied to
transport companies seem to be satisfactory. Mr. Philby has had to go easier
with the Government themselves, but he claimed early in the month to have
extracted from £2,000 to £3,000 from them. The Government have taken