Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs [‎56r] (111/290)

13
Labour and Public Works, Railways, Telegraphs, and Medical,* still remain under
military control. The Depar tment of Inland Water Transport alone employs nearly
800 British ofhcers; the Labour Department some 270; Railways 145; Port
Directorate nearly 50; Local Resources 07; and Public Works 120 . The total
number of British “other ranks” employed in “ quasi-civil " military departments
exceeds 13,000; while that of Indian “followers” amounts to nearly 130,000, of
whom about 55 per cent, were enlisted for the duration of the w r ar, and the remainder
for specified periods.
5 . With regard to the War Office suggestion No. (i) (see paragraph 3), it may
be explained that, under Army regulations, a commissioned officer is not entitled
to any leave on demobilisation. An officer willing to accept civil employment in
Mesopotamia, and at the salne time desirous of proceeding on leave to England,
must adopt one of tw r o courses. Either (a) he may be demobilised in Mesopotamia,
in which case the civil authorities can of course grant him leave at their discretion ;
or (b) he may proceed to the United Kingdom for early discharge, with a view to
subsequent re-employment in Mesopotamia in a civil capacity. In neither case
would the cost of his return passage to Mesopotamia be accepted as a charge upon
Army funds. The War Office (letter of 11 th Eebruary 1919) regard alternative
(b) as the preferable course; and suggest, as a way out of the difficulty, that the
return passages of all officers adopting this procedure should “ be met by the State,
i.e., from the revenues of the occupied territories. This suggestion was telegraphed
out to the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, on the 27th February. He replied (24th
March) agreeing that the cost of return passages might properly be met from Iraq
revenues, and asking for the assistance of the War Office in providing privilege
passages by outw T ard-bound transports.
6 . Suggestion No. (ii) in the War Office letter of the 22nd Eebruary raises
greater difficulties. In agreeing to Colonel Wilson’s proposals for the engagement
of officers on temporary contracts, the Foreign Office laid stress on “ the necessity
for not proceeding too fast in the matter of these appointments”; and it w^as by
their desire (as intimated above) that the period of contracts was limited to one
vear. The reasons for caution are clear enough. Pending a pronouncement by the
Peace Conference, we cannot be certain what our eventual status in Mesopotamia
will be; and it is very desirable on diplomatic grounds to avoid any action having
the appearance of taking the future for granted. -There is no need to labour the
point; the delicacy of the diplomatic situation as affecting the Middle East as a
whole is sufficiently well known. It is to be noted in connection with the War Office
proposal that the Civil Commissioner himself has not complained of the limitation
imposed by His Majesty’s Government, and has given us no reason to believe that
he considers it impracticable to secure the services of officers on a one-vear contract.
It is for consideration, however, whether the discretion allowed to the Civil Com
missioner in the matter might not be somewhat extended. The orders of the 24th
January laid it down that the period of contracts should not exceed one year unless
absolutely necessary. It might perhaps be intimated to Colonel Wilson that tins
qualification may be interpreted with a certain amount of latitude, subject in all
cases to an extreme limit of three years.
7. War Office suggestion No. (iii) seems to be open to objections of a similar
character to those mentioned in the preceding paragraph. It is scarcely possible
under present conditions, to give “definite indications” as to the future policy of
particular Departments. . . . ,
8 . The question arises whether, with a view to facilitating the eventual
transition from militarv to civil administration, a further transfer of “quasi-civil ’
Departments to civil control might not now be authorised. As already stated,
the transfer of the Departments of Irrigation and Agriculture was sanctioned bv
His Majesty’s Government on the 10th February. It was decided at the same time
that the Department of Local Resources, the main function of which is to obtain
supplies locally for the armv of occonation, should remain under militarv control.
This decision will presumably he allowed to sta^d Of thy other “mmsi-civil
Departments, those of Inland WMer Transport, l abour. Railways and Telegraphs
can hardly be removed from the direct control of the military authoriti^ so long as
the Mesopotamian Field Force remains on its present war footing. The question
of the Medical Department presents special difficulties, which are under active
discussion with the War Office, the Civil Commissioner and the Government of
India They need not be gone into here. On the whole, no further transfer of
Departments seems necessary or practicable in the immediate future. It may be
* There is also a small civil medical department.
Si