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File 788/1919 Pt 4 ‘MESOPOTAMIA DISPOSAL OF RIVERCRAFT’ [108v] (214/240)
The record is made up of 1 item (119 folios). It was created in 26 Apr 1920-3 Feb 1921. 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
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Telegram—(Code.)
Prom—Civil Commissioner, Baghdad.
To—India Office, London.
PTo. 3045.
Dated 7th March, 1920.
Your telegram of March 5th.
List in question was compiled I understand by Colonel Maxwell on
behalf of Ministry of Munitions and Lord Inchcape as representing Ministry
is responsible for its publication an-d circulation.
I understand that it consists of a catalogue of the fleet minus ships re
quired by Military and Civil Administration for 'post-bellum purposes.
I have assumed as also apparently has Lord Inchcape that remainder
are available for sale even though not at once available.
Otherwise Inchcape’s commission to sell fleet and his proceeding at
Bombay would be rendered abortive.
Extract from Police Abstract of Intelligence No. 16, dated 6th March, 1920.
Para. 130. Considerable indignation was shown in the bazaar at the
rumour that all surplus Government River Craft was to be disposed of private
ly to Lynch Bros. Anti-British Agitators immediately seized upon it as an
indication that it was the British Policy to keep the native poor and helpless.
British Chamber of Commerce.
Baghdad, the 8th March, 1920.
To —
The Acting Civil Commissioner, Baghdad.
Sir,
At a Meeting of the Committee of the British Chamber of Commerce
held this day, I was requested to communicate to you the following
resolution: —
“ After consideration of the new conditions of sale of River Craft as
published in the Baghdad Times of this date, the Members
assembled decided to lodge a strong protest with the Civil Com
missioner, for transmission to His Majesty’s Government,
against the fresh arrangements made for the sale. The Chair
man was requested to communicate this to the Civil Commis
sioner and at the same time to state the grounds of the Cham
ber’s objections.”
The grounds of the Chamber’s objections are as follows: —
When the original advertisement of the sale of the River Craft appeared
in the Baghdad Times on the 2nd February, the position was obscure. The
Manager of the River Steamship Company, which is controlled bv Lord
Inchcape, when invited to give his views to the Chamber stated that he be
lieved : —
(1) that Lord Inchcape was selling his own property.
(2) that Lord Inchcape had refused to be bound by any conditions as
to the sale of this, Ms own property.
The Chamber then appealed to His Majesty’s Government: —
(1) To delay the sale.
(2) To transfer the sale to Basrah.
(3) To publish lists with full particulars of the craft to be sold.
(4) To give intending purchasers the opportunity to inspect the crafts
that are to be sold.
The position since then has become clearer, it appears : —
(1) that Lord Inchcape is not selling his own property but that he is
selling the property of the Nation.
(2) that Lord Inchcape did make certain conditions as to this sale,
that m fact he gave an undertaking to His Majesty’s Govern
ment that neither he personally nor any of the Companies in
which he is interested should derive any financial advantage
from the sale.
What has been the result of the Chamber’s appeal?
The result has been : —
(1) that the sale has been postponed,
About this item
- Content
This part concerns the disposal of river craft in Mesopotamia and contains material relating to:
- The arrangements made by Lord Inchcape [James Lyle MacKay], of the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company Limited, with the Ministry of Munitions towards the purchase of the Government’s surplus river craft in Mesopotamia
- The vessels purchased by the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company from the Government through financial arrangements in Bombay [Mumbai], from March to August 1920
- The transfer of the Inland Water Transport Department in Mesopotamia from military to civilian authorities, and the amount of military transportation vessels to be maintained
- The suggestion of the Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, to the Secretary of State for War, Winston Churchill, that they convince the civilian and military authorities respectively to agree to the sale of the river fleet in Mesopotamia
- The wishes of General James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane to retain a portion of the river craft until the railway from Basrah [Basra] to Baghdad has proved its reliability, and consideration that he can carry his supplies by water more cheaply than could be done by possible purchasers
- The criticism of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, of British Army control over the oil fleet as being ‘uneconomical’, for charging three times that of civilian organisations and railway transportation
- The financial statement of the Ministry of Munitions to Parliament on the ‘Disposal of Surplus Government Property’, together with a ‘Memorandum on Disposals’ (ff 40-47)
- The schedules of the Inland Water Transport Headquarters, Basrah, for fitting out and delivering the vessels to Keti Bandar, Calcutta [Kolkata] and Rangoon [Yangon] (ff 34-37)
- The shortage of personnel in the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force to make the arrangements for the delivery of vessels to the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company
- The observation by the War Office that it would entail an actual loss to make the vessels (all but nine) seaworthy and deliver them to Lord Inchcape under the stipulations
- The responsibility for policing inland waterways in Mesopotamia and the possible takeover, by civil authorities, of four armed gunboats on loan from the Admiralty
- The ‘non-delivery’ of river craft to the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company due to the change in the military’s position
- The reluctance of British military authorities in Mesopotamia to place river transport solely under private control, in case of a possible emergency in Government transportation.
- Extent and format
- 1 item (119 folios)
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Title
- File 788/1919 Pt 4 ‘MESOPOTAMIA DISPOSAL OF RIVERCRAFT’
- Pages
- 3r:4v, 6v:7v, 8v:10v, 11v, 16v:56v, 57ar, 57r:75v, 76v:105v, 106ar, 106r:106v, 107v, 107r, 108r:121v
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- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
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