Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎150v] (300/544)

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the Foreign Office and the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , he saw considerable objections
to the War Office proposal to place the Mesopotamian Service under the
Foreign Office pro tem. The Government of India had administered
Mesopotamia with great success, and would regard the transfer of
their duties to the Foreign Office as something in the nature of a
slight.
The Committee decided : —
That the Assistant Secretary for Foreign Affairs and the
Secretary for India shoubl draw up a scheme embodying
joint proposals for their consideration.
5. The Committee had before them a Note by the Political
Department, India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. (E.C.-2080), and a Paper entitled, “ Draft
Instructions for the Commission.” by the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. (E.C.--2104,
Appendix A), on the future Administration of Mesopotamia.
The Chairman said that the idea of a Commission to visit
Mesopotamia to examine the administrative problem on the spot
originated with Sir P. Cox, and had recently been revived by
Cnptain Wilson, in his telegram of the 27th September, 1918. This
proposal had been strongly objected to by the Government of India
who, in the Viceroy's telegram of the 6th October (E C.—1831,
Appendix B), had said that they considered the proposal altogether
premature, and stated that they would earnestly deprecute reference
to a Commission, constituted as suggested, of several questions
vitally affecting Indian interests. The India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. and the Foreign
Office, however, appeared to favour the proposal, and had submitted
Draft Instructions approved by both Departments. The case for
the Commission seemed to be that if the President of the United
States, at the Peace C inference, should put difficulties in our way
in regard to Mesopotamia, it might be useful for us to say “We
have an excellent scheme already in working order there; did he
propose to up-set what was already established
Mr. Montagu pointed out that the two papers in question were
not substantive documents, but were only intended to focus dis
cussion. As regards the Commission, there were two conflicting
views, those held by Captain Wilson, and those of the Government
of India. He thought, however, that in point of fact the Indian
Government were more opposed to the choice of subjects proposed
for the Commission’s investigations than to the actual scheme.
Lord Robert Cecil said that he was most strongly in favour of
the project of sending a Commission. We wished to carry out a
policy which we hoped to concert with the French in regard to all
tiie territories covered by the Draft Instructions. We were faced
with an extraordinarily difficult proposition in the solution of which
the advice of an authoritative Commission, which had examined the
problems on the spot, would be of great assistance. He had that
dav spoken to a man back from the Middle East, who said that the
establishment of an Arab Government presented an almost insoluble
problem.
General Smuts said he agreed with the Indian Government
that the proposal was premature at this stage. The Commission
could only go out in order to work out the details of a policy which
must be laid down in London. That policy, however, was at present
nebulous and fluid. The Draft Instructions were very far-reaching,
and he would speciallv instance Instruction 4, which he maintained
could certainly not be decided by a small Commission.
Lord Robert Cecil said that it would take some time before
the Commission could get to work. He doubted if they would