'MISCELLANEOUS. PERSIA 1882-1898: Maps, Government Papers etc.' [‎22v] (44/202)

At different times at least three Routes have been considered. One from
Alexandretta through Syria to the head of the Persian Oulf. A second from Haifa
via, Damascus and Bagdad, thence following the lines of cultivation and population
through Persia and Beluchistan to Kurrachee, and the third, the more modest and
practicable scheme adopted by this Company, of an almost straight line fiom Port
Said following the course of a pastured valley to the head of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
This line has the great advantage of being practically free from political
complications, of presenting no engineering difficulties or works of any magnitude,
of being under 1,000 miles in length, and capable of construction within a very
limited time, for say £5,000,000 sterling or £5,000 a mile, whereas the other lines
above indicated would entail protracted and delicate negotiations with France,
Turkey, Russia and Persia, with attendant delay of probably several years, an
incalculable outlay of money, and the almost inevitable risks of political
complications in the future.
Full particulars of the route to be followed by the line adopted by this
Company will be found in a comprehensive article by Mr. C. E. D. Black,
in the “Contemporary Review” of April, 1895, in an admirable paper by
Col. A. T. Fraser, R.E., in the “ Journal of the Society of Arts ” for September,
1896, and in a paper read by Mr. Black before the Society of Arts on the 5th of
May, 1897. Extracts from these three authorities and a map accompany this
Prospectus, and will be found to contain rough estimates of the cost of construction
and earning powers of the line, with a comparison of its strategic, commercial and
linancial advantages over the other routes suggested and of the present Red Sea
Route.
It is proposed so soon as definite surveys, estimates and Government
support shall have been obtained, that the Pioneer Company should sell its
undertaking to a larger Construction Company with a nominal Registered Capital
of £600,000, in which Shareholders of the present Company will be entitled to
receive a proportionate 'pro rata allotment in fully-paid Shares, and that the
Construction Company should, after the capital has been secured and actual
contracts have been entered into for the construction of the line, sell to the final
Railway Company itself the whole of its Goodwill and interest in the undertaking
for twice the amount of its issued Share Capital in fully-paid Shares, so that
original subscribers to this the Pioneer Company will not only obtain a magnificent
return for their money,but will be entitled to the credit of having contributed to
the successful carrying-out of an Imperial undertaking of the first magnitude and
of the greatest importance to India and our Eastern possessions, worthy of having
taken shape and being commenced in the 60th year of the Queen’s Reign.
It must be remembered of course that the present scheme, while
supplying the obvious and much needed complement to the Suez Canal route, is
only a link in the chain which must jiltimately be completed to connect India with