Miscellaneous Correspondence, Notes, and Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Persia [‎55v] (114/255)

elsewhere was to open the road to the trade of the world
hut we had interests of a high & important order y both
political & commercial , to protect^ we were hound to se
that the Sheikh should not he attacked or molested & we
v/e were prepared at the same time to undertake that he
does not give the Ottoman Government any just cause of
complaint. I went on to say that I thought the Gd. Vizr.
would he well advised in doing all in his power to
remove the grounds of complaint on the part of H.M.G.
in insisting upon the status quo not being disturbed in
any way as had unfortuneately been the case by the
advance of Turkish troops to places where the sheikh
* ♦
appears to have exercised authority or where the Ottoman
Government certainly exercised none whatever .
H.H. listened with attention & said that in the main
% * *
he agreed with my remarks & considered that the agreemej u
with H.M.G. should he faithfully observed . There was an
idea that' v/e intended to block all access t'o the Gulf
for the Bagdad Railway hut if this were nou so & they
could as I had told the M.P.A. count upon our support ,
under certain conditions, in extending the railway even
to Koweit , he was distinctly of opinion that the interest
of the Turkish Govt, was to abide by the agreement
cease all efforts to' disturb the existing order of things
He would consult with some of his colleagues on the
matter before submitting a report to H.I.M. &he hoped to
he able to speak to me again on the subject within a few
days. In discussing the question I was Obliged to avoid
any reference to the question of the possible equal
participation of British capital in the construction of
the Bagdad line & consequently to avoid using the ai^umt
arguments arising from such participation.
The sultan has as far as I know no knowledge
of the negotiations for making the railway an Internationl
concern & he has always shown great sensibility on the