'File 5/1 XI Kuwait Oil Company' [‎7r] (18/452)

P.Z.7314/34.
KUWAIT OIL COMPANY, LIMITED.
Britannic House,
Finsbury Circus,
London, E.C.2.
28th November, 1934.
Lear Laithwaite,
With reference to our telephone conversation
yesterday afternoon, I enclose 6 copies of "Alternative
Article 3" of the Kuwait Concession.
This article was drafted in anticipation of the
possibility of the Shaikh insisting upon royalty on a
"won and saved" basis. The negotiators, however, were
not empowered to produce it in negotiation without
reference to London. This accounts for the omission of
alternative Article 3 from the copies of Draft 5 which
were sent to 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 26th September. I ought
to have furnished you with copies of the article as soon
as the negotiators were authorised to use it, but I forgot
to do so - an emission for which I apologise.
With regard to the telegram from the Political
Resident to 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. which you mentioned, I imagine
that the "Draft ’A’" to which the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. refers
is to be explained as follows:
On 6th November, the Shaikh wrote to the negotiators
giving the Company the choice of two alternatives - "A"
(won and saved) and "B" (exports and sales). The financial
terms in "B" were considerably higher than those in "A".
The negotiators expressed their belief that the Shaikh
would/