Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs [‎144r] (287/290)

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expenditure in Arabia ; and that a lump sum should be provided
annually for subsidies on this principle, the actual allocation being
decided between 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. on the one hand and the Depart
ment of His Majesty’s Government responsible for the Middle East
on the other.
Mr. Montagu said that, so far as he could see from the papers
before the Conference, the only cases in which it was desirable to
take an immediate decision were those of Tbn Sand and King
Hussein. Ibn Sand’s present subsidy was £<)(),()()() a year. He
considered that this should be found from somewhere. The
Government of India were also responsible for approximately
£10,000 a year for Muscat, Shehr and Mokalla and the Aden tribes.
11 Mr. Chamberlain would agree to contribute one-half of £70,000
from Imperial revenues, he would be prepared to recommend to
the Government of India that they should continue to contribute the
other half.
Mr. Chamberlain accepted the Chairman’s proposal in so far as
it provided a satisfactory agreement between His Majesty’s Govern
ment and the Indian Government. At the same time it was not
entirely acceptable from the Treasury point of view. He considered
that Ibn Sand’s subsidy should be reduced at once. It was, in his
opinion, hopelessly disproportionate to sinnlar expenditure in other
parts of the world. He pointed out that the pre-war subsidy to the
Amir of Afghanistan, whom he regarded as a personage of much
greater consequence to His Majesty’s Government, amounted to only
£120,000 a year.
Mr. Montagu reminded the Conference that the subsidy to Ibn
Sand was paid not for servic es rendered, but as an insurance against
hostile action on his part. If Ibn Saud were to march against the
lledjaz or Mesopotamia a very serious military position would arise.
Mr. Chamberlain remarked that the same argument applied to
Afghanistan.
Major Young, replying to a question by the Chairman said that
he had made a rough estimate of the total yearly amount that he
thought would ^be sufficient to maintain peace in Arabia on the
assumption that all the rulers mentioned in paragraph 1L of the
Foreign Office Memorandum (with the exception of the Anazeh,
whose control was a matter for Mesopotamia! were eventually
subsidised. The figure he suggested was £100,001), which should
be allocated amongst the various rulers in a proportion to be decided
in consultation with the authorities concerned, but on the general
principle that they should be graded according to their importance,
and that the treaty obligations of the Government of India should
be maintained. He adhered to the view that he had expressed at
the Inter-Departmental Meeting held at the Foreign Office on the
Hth April, to the effect that in the case of the Hedjaz other
Powers interested in the pilgrimage should be invited to take the
same action as His Majesty’s Government. The result of this would
be that, 'while His Majesty’s Government could, if they thought it
desirable, refrain from paying the Hedjaz more than other Arabian
rulers who regarded themselves as the equals of King Hussein, the
Hedjaz would nevertheless be in a better position in consequence of
foreign contributions.
The Chairman asked whether it would be possible to proceed
on the following lines : To take £100,000 a year as a tentative figure
and to ask the Government of India to accept half of it. Enquiries
should be made at the same time of His Majesty’s Representatives con
cerned, who should be presented with a reasoned statement of policy
to be drawn up by the f oreign Office and 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. in consulta
tion. it was impossible, until the Government of India and the
other authorities had reported, for the total of £100,000 to be