Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia [‎194r] (387/442)

455 The Trans-Persian Railway. [15 July 1912 ] The Trans-Per sum Railway. 456
own words—to the creation of this line
without having in any way received the
authority, the approbation, or the consent
of Parliament ?
A year ago nobody would have dreamt
that such a thing would be possible, and
the witness that I call is the noble Viscount
(Lord Morley) who sits opposite me, and
who, I believe, is to follow me this evening.
He will recall that we had a debate here in
March, 1911. upon the question of Persia,
the Baghdad Railway, and other cognate
subjects. In the course of that debate
I asked him whether the idea of a Trans-
Persian railway was seriously entertained
by the Government and whether it occupied
any place in the field of international
politics, and the noble Viscount replied to
me as follows—
“ Any ideas or designs on that subject are far
too immature for any sensible, or useful, or in
structive observations to be made upon them.”
The noble Viscount added that he himself
was inclined to share my doubts as to the
workableness of the particular design to
which I had referred. These observations
were, I think, calculated to lull any sus
picions that might have been entertained
by any of us as to this project. The same
effect was produced by the answers of the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in
the House of Commons up till quite a
recent date. As recently as May 14 he was
found saying in the House of Commons,
in reply to a Question, that matters with
regard to this railway were still in a very
inchoate state. I do not know the precise
degree of rapidity with which they have
advanced between May 14 and to-day,
but all I can say, if my information is
correct, is that they are not at all in an
inchoate condition now.
Let me state the facts as they are known
to me, and, of course, if I am wrong I am
liable to correction at the hands of the
noble Viscount opposite, who has access
to information much superior to that
which is at my disposal. I believe the
facts are as follow. There has been
founded, with the knowledge and approval
of His Majesty’s Government, a body
called the Societe d’Etudes. This is an
international body composed of financiers,
politicians, and engineers drawn from the
three nations—Great Britain, France, and
Russia—to which I referred. At the
head of this body is a council of adminis
tration consisting of twenty-four gentlemen,
eight drawn from each of the three nations,
the British representatives upon which
were appointed with the knowledge and
approval of His Majesty’s Government.
There is to be a committee of directors of
twelve chosen by the larger body. And this
society has, I think, already begun to meet
in Paris. Their functions are, broadly
speaking, these. Their business is to
conduct the surveys for the railway, to
obtain the requisite concession from the
Persian Government, and to submit to
the Governments concerned definite esti
mates and plans. I believe that to be a
correct account of what their functions
are. For the preliminary purposes that
I have described a sum of £90,000 has been
raised by these three financial groups, and
I think we may rest assured that this
money would not have been found unless
there w r as some substantial belief that the
Government were behind the undertaking.
Now r , my Lords, let me state in a few
words what the scheme, so far as I under
stand it, is. This great Trans-Persian
railway is to start from Baku, the Russian
port on the western shore of the Caspian
Sea ; or rather the railway, in so far as it is
a Persian line, will start from Astara, but
will be connected by rail with the Russian
port. From there it is to run via Resht
and Kazvin to the capital, Teheran, and
omvards to the old capital Isfahan. From
that point there would appear to be some
difference of opinion as to the alignment.
One idea has been to take the railway down
by the town of Yezd to Bundar Abbas on
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , but I believe that
that idea is not now favourably enter
tained. The other idea is to take the
railway more to the East, through Kerman
down either to the Persian port of Charbar
on the shores of the Gulf, or, more easterly
still, either to Gwattar or to Gw'adar, which
are ports in British Makran and therefore
in Indian territory. The total length of
this line is estimated by the promoters at
1,800 miles, but knowing the country
fairly well through which it w r ill go and
remembering that you start at the sea on
one side and end at the sea on the other,
and that in the interval you have to climb
at least 6,000 feet to cross the passes in
certain sections of the Persian plateau, I
venture to say the line will be nearer
2,500 miles in length than 2,000. The cost
has been estimated at from £15,000,000 to
£ 20 , 000,000 ; but I have no doubt that the
actual cost, if the railway is ever constructed,