File 3372/1916 Pt 2 'Arabia: French and Italian policy' [‎36r] (80/498)

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I "I lire of I nn] wil.h r|,e Slierif, as one of t)n, nTiia'i'a i" * ll ' i " M 1 ® ,llsca es'an of ibe
ovor pennitled. [ have also exp,-ess, with him> was
object ions lo veeognising hi,,, as King c ff Amhia a V ov » 6 P e Cal and P«»tical
i(Hl(:rat('btates In my. opinion a more reasoini)lo R i 8 f elgn l 9^ a group of Con-
remmo Kmg of Hejaz, and, if desired Jiavr] is U W ° 1,Jd be that he should
l owers "Inis the foreign relations of the Inn StX^ with Foreign
Aral, I otentales or States, should li e i„ 0 nr inn l! ,, 0f . tho , ° th er confederate
Male a title might he devised oonvevino- c ^ ' 1 ° r the Arab lluler of the Iraq
Hakim (I’nler), and all the (Amfede^e Kulerfr^’u SS ^ Ki "g. «•<?■, Sultan or
delerence to King llnssein as Sherif of the Holy Oae, s !' ,u pay appropriate
essenli;d in view of llieir connnitments to the Sfierif If ’-ai • 10 , e -h lz * If considered
even decide to guarantee the payment to him of m ’ ’ 1S \ S Governm ent might
revenues of Iraq, as rec,^L„ e of^histo Z *“ f“‘ e fol ™
1,10 aS a contribution 8 towardZthe °iipkeep 1 of ^he^hhdy
II.
Observations ox the more Detailed Issues.
cmnnmnd /he n/cetm, ^TJLf^n^Teom^T^^''‘h f U
A iny Hussein or hu family carry with the local Arabs ? does
which ZnldcaZ U( ! ! 1 ‘ i l f f n ^ 3 d -™ astic element
and, in my opinion, in Imq as a , ho e i I eve' 10 ^ "i' V ^ et ' m ‘ Jo " btc dly,
themselves with British inLLZ The present 6 N-,qZhi'in"elf ' 6 brm '« ht ideutii >
prestige and influence not only in Hesonotamh W ^ f P oss f t s f a vety great
India, and I feci sure his selection as Head* of the Qt a (" l<>,]g H; e Mohammedans of
ssgs^A - =
niisunderstood and resented l)y the N-iciib and Vb°f ( , -i lrl 111 A 0 P mion > he greatly
humly carry no weight m Iraq, wiiere only the most distant interest is taken hr bin
in the eaily da^s of the Shenf s entry into tfie lists, when the Question of * i • m ‘
military help was being discussed, the General Officer Oommandino- \fpc n ^ 11 -^’ 11111
by ,l,o W«, 0*o, ,.b,ll„r tl,o „ oS^o SZ Sil“3 “ii'.Z
° n , llJ “ a n’ ° r political interests in Mesopotamia. We replied after deliberate
consideration that the inhabitants had not ben, at. ail moved In- ids success^ and
would, in our opinion, regard ins failure with complete indifference. ’
of JLSXS V'™' ^ ^ l ‘ P a ^ or Administrations
' Tliere is adequate Arab or local material available or in the making for the sub
oidinate services oi the administration. 'I lie diilicully we are confronted with at present
and must be for some lime to come, is to find individuals suitable for higher posts in thp
ai,ministration, e.r/., ]\Iiitessarifs, Qaiinaqams, such as would be filled in the Indian
a<i mi lustration by gazetted officers—Deputy Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners
l iie reason is that under the Turkish regime almost all these posts were filled by pure
J yirks ; these have been eliminated, and there is at present no one to fill their* place.
herever we have tried ex-officers of the late Administration they have almost
] nvariably proved unsatisfactory ; they are in fact saturated with the evil traditions of
the regime m which they have been brought up and trained. Until we can create
this element, enlisting as far as we are able the assistance of the Egyptian and
bond an Administrations, we must rely mainly on young British officers. I may
mention here that whereas I have done my utmost to employ experimentally any
inhabitants of the country at all likely to be suitable, this laudable endeavour finds no
favour with the local inhabitants concerned. I am continually appealed to bv them
not to place the conduct of their affairs in the hands of ex-officials of the late regime^
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