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Middle East Committee and Eastern Committee [19v] (38/42)
The record is made up of 1 file (21 folios). It was created in 18 Jan 1918-31 Dec 1918. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
The work of distribution of the Eastern Committee is also ex
traordinarily heavy. This is partly due, I think, to the fact
that every telegram affecting the Eastern Committee is ^egis e -
ed and circulated from this Office. Very early in the days ^
War Cabinet I found it impossible to register and circulate eve y
telegram and I made an arrangement by which the telegrams from
the various Departments were reproduced and either circulated
direct to those concerned, by the Department or else circulated
mv Office merely as a post office, without any registrati •
Mor^ver! I have always regarded it. and made the Departments un-
+- mA 44 - if Question arose for decisions on Q-uy tel
o-ram & it was part of their departmental responsibility to bring
ft before the P w!r Cabinet. So far as I am concerned I content
myself with putting the more important telegrams on a file,
* y. 4-y.p room for ready reference the moment a ^ues-
havmg them in Fox the War cabinet I have
tion ^ rough-and-ready method sufficed^ but, of
course "it^ be thal ft would not app^ to the Eastern Commit
tee and 1 do not venture an opinion on this point. ^ th
the*present method is to continue 1 thinx it
Eastern Committee should have a Superintending Clerk and a small
Distribution Department of its own.
The strain on this Office in connection with the Eastern Com-
tI ttee has been very much increased within the last few .veeKS by
?he fact that shorthand notes of the Meetings have been required.
TMsf eallv means a very great labour and inconvenience here.
This really me n the services of one of my best shorthand
writers at a moment when the pressure on the Office has been very
r»Toot and I have been put to all sorts of expedients, such
' borrowing shorthand writers from Versailles ® ls ® W f® r ^ s 1 teen"
der to carry on at all. Even so.the strain on my staff has been
very great.
q -5 q not the only respect in which the shorthand notes af-
Tent mv Office They are extremely voluminous, and after you have
rrr‘.S« L,. t. « -i
whi-h has been almost snowed under at times. Here, aga ,
? hP out of order if I mention one thing in connection
I shall not be out oi uraex - L - L the mass of documents
with the shorthand notes, namely, that with the mass 01 u u
we have to read it is very much more difficult for me, or for
a.
About this item
- Content
This file relates to two War Cabinet committees: the Middle East Committee (originally named the Mesopotamian Administration Committee), and the Eastern Committee, both chaired by George Curzon.
The first half of the file consists almost entirely of printed minutes of meetings of the Middle East Committee, dated 19 January, 26 January, 2 February, and 18 February 1918 respectively (ff 2-9). The main topics of discussion in these minutes are British policy in Palestine and future British policy in Mesopotamia.
The second half of the file contains correspondence received by Curzon regarding the workings of the Eastern Committee, which inherited the responsibilities of the Middle East Committee (ff 10-21). The correspondents are as follows: Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, War Cabinet; Edwin Samuel Montagu, Secretary of State for India; Robert Cecil, Foreign Office. The letters discuss the dissemination of the committee's minutes among military representatives, the frequency and attendees of committee meetings, and whether the committee should be severed from the War Cabinet and absorbed by the Foreign Office's recently created Middle East Department. One letter touches on Anglo-Persian relations.
Also included is a note by Curzon, dated 27 October 1918, regarding a memorandum from the advisory committee of the Foreign Office's Eastern Department (ff 17-18).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (21 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the final folio with 21; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Middle East Committee and Eastern Committee [19v] (38/42), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/273, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100071779101.0x000027> [accessed 6 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/273
- Title
- Middle East Committee and Eastern Committee
- Pages
- 1r:21v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence