Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia [‎185v] (370/442)

311
The Trans-
312
[ LORDS ] Persian Hail way.
considering the railway only as it would j
reach the coast at Bandar Abbas, I
have been told that Russia is now willing
to construct the line through Teheran to
Yezd, which is on the very southernmost
point of her sphere of influence. The re
maining section to Bandar Abbas lies wholly
in the neutral zone. If that northern
section were created and the southern
section were not, it does seem as if all the
trade of Persia would be drawn away to
the North, and that our great interests in
the Gulf itself would be prejudiced. From
the point of view of British interests and
responsibilities the conclusion seems to be
inevitable that if that northern section is
begun the southern section should begin
also and not long afterwards, and should
be kept under British control and
administration. And in any case it seems
most desirable, in the interests of the
pacification of Persia, that those three
branch railways from the coast to which
I have referred should be begun with as
little delay as possible.
Then with regard to the oil enter
prises. Large oil developments are taking
place in the Karun Valley, and the action
of the Government in assuming a con
trolling interest in the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company will create a new situation
involving a direct stake within the neutral j
zone. In these circumstances if any
information could be given to us by the
Government without in any way prejudic
ing negotiations which may now be taking
place, it would be warmly welcomed by
those who are watching the course of
events in Persia with increasing anxiety.
Sooner or later, perhaps sooner rather than
later, events may force our hands in Persia,
and if that time arrives and finds us with
out any policy, then the results may be
disastrous to Persia and to ourselves.
♦ The Marquess of CREWE : My Lords,
one certainly cannot complain of the noble
Lord opposite tor having asked a Question
on this subject. I note the observation
with which he began his speech—namely,
that he would defer for a time any general
discussion upon the whole situation in
Persia, but that he hoped that later on in
the session some opportunity might be
found for that purpose. The last time on
which we mentioned in this House the
subject of the Trans-Persian railway was
J'Ord Sydenham.
in July of 1912, and at that time Lord
Curzon spoke of the extraordinary and
almost unsuspected rapidity with which
this question was moving. Well, nobody
could bring that charge against this
particular question now, two years later,
because it cannot be said to have moved
very materially since the time when we
last discussed it here.
Lord LAMINGTON : I hope they will
drop it altogether.
The Marquess of CREWE : At that
time my noble friend Lord Morley made
the first reply to the speech in which Lord
Curzon raised the question, and he showed,
I think, conclusively that, whatever might
be anybody’s opinion about the desirability
or otherwise of the Trans-Persian line, it
would not have been politic for us to meet
the suggestion merely by a blank refusal
without any possibility of discussing it.
The noble Lord opposite has mentioned
the Societe d'Etudes, a preliminary company
composed of Russian, French, and British
representatives, that has been the working
body in this matter. It has not, as the
noble Lord knows, been able to proceed
very far. And on the particular question
which he asked as to what was meant by
our consent or leave, whether it was leave
to survey or leave to construct, so far as
we are in a position to give leave it is only
leave to survey. But the noble Lord wall,
of course, bear in mind that so far as the
other spheres are concerned outside our
own limit, for instance in the Russian
sphere, no leave from us to construct a
line, say to Ispahan or Yezd, is necessary ;
and if Persia and Russia agree to build it,
it can be built wherever the people can be
found——
Lord LAMINGTON : It is the neutral
sphere about w T hich I am most anxious.
The Marquess of CREWE : I quite
understand. But the noble Lord will
recognise, because I have no doubt he
carries the Persian map pretty accurately
in his mind, that a considerable part of a
so-called Trans-Persian railway could be
started within the limits of the Russian
sphere itself.
Lord LAMINGTON: Yes.