![File 788/1919 Pt 3 ‘MESOPOTAMIA Disposal of River Craft’ [‎237v] (234/929)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0002bb/IOR_L_PS_10_805_0491.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "File 788/1919 Pt 3 ‘MESOPOTAMIA Disposal of River Craft’ [‎237v] (234/929)")
File 788/1919 Pt 3 ‘MESOPOTAMIA Disposal of River Craft’ [237v] (234/929)
The record is made up of 1 item (482 folios). It was created in 27 Dec 1919-24 Nov 1920. 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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Captain Self, Petroleum Executive.
Mr. A. P. Waterfield, Treasury.
Captain Hougli, Department of Overseas Trade.
Mr. E. Weakley, Foreign Office.
• ]VIr. J. E. Shuckburgli,
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.
.
Mr.'Nicols, Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
9 Colonel Wilson dealt with the question of the retail sale of oil to the
civil population in Mesopotamia. He explained the existing arrangements
under which the local interests of the Anglo-Persian Company and the dis
tribution of their oil are entrusted to managing agents (Messrs^trick, Scott
and Co.) who are also merchants and carry on a variety of activities, by no
means confined to the marketing of oil, in India, Mesopotamia, and The
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
. He regarded this arrangement as faulty m principle; and he
further criticised the methods followed by Messrs. Strick, Scott and Co. as
tending to make the price of oil to the consumer unduly high. In the interests
of the civil population, he could not allow the cost of an essential commodity
to remain unrestricted ; and he proposed, unless an arrangement for the control
of prices could be reached, to vest the retail distribution in the Civil Admin
istration. As an alternative he suggested (1) that Messrs. Strick, Scott and
Coy. should be eliminated, and that representatives of the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company, dealing exclusively with oil, and acting in direct subordination to
the Directors in London, should be appointed in their place; (2) that the
Anglo-Persian Oil Company should agree to sell oil to the population at a
limited price to be fixed by the Civil Administration, plus a minimum
percentage.
3. Mr. Nicols replied on behalf of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company to
Colonel Wilson’s criticisms. He did not think that the immediate elimina
tion of Messrs. Strick, Scott and Coy. would be practicable; but he assured
the Conference that it had never been the poT’cy of his Company to “exploit”
Mesopotamia, and that they were quite willing to accept civil control over
the price of oil. Eventually, after considerable discussion, Colonel Wilson
submitted the following proposal as a basis of an agreement between the Civil
Administration of Mesopotamia and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company: —
(i) That the Company’s agent at Baghdad shall be authorised to
deal direct with the Civil Commissioner in all matters relating
to the sale and distribution of oil in Mesopotamia, and to make
all arrangements on the Company’s behalf.
(H) That the price at which oil is sold wholesale by the Company to
Messrs. Strick, Scott and Coy. shall not be in excess of the
average rate at which it is sold wholesale by the Company to
; Government.
(Hi) That the Commission payable to Messrs. Strick, Scott and Coy.
shall be fixed by arrangement with the Civil Commissioner.
The Civil Commissioner would then be in a position to fix the retail
price of oil.
m , T l ie Confei ;ence recommended that the Anglo-Persian Oil Company
shoula bq formally invited to a.ccept an arrangement on the above lines. 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.
representatives undertook to take the necessary action. The re
presentative of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (Mr. Nicol) then left the
meeting-. 7
v 0
Ho. P.
SlE,
4269.
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.
, Whitehall, London, S.W.I.,
8 th August, 1919.
_ With reference to the Conference at this Office on 8 th April last at
wind, you were present, to discuss the question of oil policy in Mesopotamia,
To Anglo-Persian Oil Company, dated 9th, May 1919. ani directed by the Secre-
” » 2 6 tfi June „ tary of State for India to
From r0 „ CUm xe ^ uive ' ” 24th ^ Uly ” ^? rwar d f° r your informa-
To Anglo Foreign Oil Company 8th August ", j^ 011 a C0 Py of the correspon-
” deuce noted in the margin.
It will be observed that the Petroleum Executive are taking up with the
manaffemenfnPiK'h 11 ^ *’ e 9 ue . s , tlon Company’s undertaking the direct
Sarketinl tS b,ISmeSS 111 Mes °Potamia, both as regards production and
Mr. Montagu will be glad to receive your observations on the latter from
the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, dated 26th June.
die Civil Commissioner, Baghdad.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Sd.) J. E. SHTJCKBURGH.
About this item
- Content
This file concerns the disposal of river craft in Mesopotamia and contains material relating to:
- The opposition of the Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson, to the proposals of Lord Inchcape [James Lyle MacKay, 1st Earl of Inchcape] for the disposal of river craft in Mesopotamia, on the grounds that it involved ‘unnecessary and undesirable abrogation by [the British] Government of its proper functions in favour of a private individual [Lord Inchcape] ... who is thereby enabled to exercise autocratic power in Mesopotamia’
- The particulars and estimated costs of the Inland Water Transport Fleet to be delivered to Basrah [Basra] and put into commission, the valuation of the Dockyard, and estimated cost of Magil [Al-Ma‘qil] Yard and its associated structures
- The announcement by the Manager of the Mesopotamia-Persia Corporation that if the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company were not given a monopoly for the transportation of goods, they would ‘create one by carrying goods for nothing, until they had forced out of business any local firms who were attempting to compete’
- The petition of the merchants of Basrah to the Civil Commissioner in Baghdad to arrange for the sale of the river craft in Basrah instead of Bombay [Mumbai] to provide them with a fair opportunity to purchase some of the vessels
- The opposition of Sir Percy Cox to assurances given to Lynch Brothers, Lord Inchcape and others, rather than a ‘consideration by commission or other specially constituted authority’ for navigation rights on the Tigris and Euphrates
- The plan for the sale of surplus Mesopotamian river craft by Lord Inchcape on behalf of the British Government to take place in Bombay, and the issues relating to the inability of British and native firms from Baghdad to be present at such short notice, as well as the general absence of information about which specific vessels were being offered for sale
- The Inland Water Transport schedules for the barges necessary to carry petrol for post-bellum Army requirements, and the oil barges used for storage at depots (ff 435-439)
- The statement of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, to the Secretary of State for India on the vessels required for the civil administration of Mesopotamia, with an abstract of applications received from commercial firms for Inland Water Transport river craft (ff 423-431)
- The question of Lord Inchcape and his associates obtaining a legal or practical monopoly over river transportation in Mesopotamia and the position of the British Government
- The conditions set out by Civil Commissioner Baghdad that only ships designated by the Army as being surplus before 10 March 1920 be put up for sale, and the need to ensure equal opportunities for local purchasers with those from Bombay
- The Schedule for Craft required by the Civil Administration, from Brigadier-General Robert Herbert Wilfred Hughes, Director of Inland Water Transport, to the Civil Commissioner Baghdad (ff 316-319)
- The Sub-Committee on Mesopotamian Ports, Surveys and Inland Water Transport’s inter-departmental conference on Middle Eastern Affairs, 16 March 1920
- The information from the Inland Water Transport Office to the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, on pumping installations in connection with oil distribution at various stations (ff 261-269)
- The inter-departmental conference to discuss the disposal of surplus river craft in Mesopotamia, led by the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, and including representatives from the War Office, Inland Water Transport, Ministry of Supply, the Foreign Office, and 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. , 8 April 1919
- The invitation by the Commissioner, Ministry of Munitions Disposal Board, General Headquarters, at the request of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, on behalf of Lord Inchcape, of tenders for the purchase of all surplus Government river craft available in Mesopotamia
- The report by Lord Inchcape to Minister of Munitions, Lord Inverforth [Andrew Weir, 1st Baron Inverforth], on his disposal of surplus small craft belonging to the Mesopotamian fleet, 31 March 1920 (ff 159-192)
- The advertisement for the sale of the river craft in the Baghdad Times, the popular response to a rumour about a possible sale to the Lynch Brothers, and the views of the Manager of the River Steamship Company expressed to the British Chamber of Commerce.
- Extent and format
- 1 item (482 folios)
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
File 788/1919 Pt 3 ‘MESOPOTAMIA Disposal of River Craft’ [237v] (234/929), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/805/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100148183208.0x000054> [accessed 17 July 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100148183208.0x000054
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100148183208.0x000054">File 788/1919 Pt 3 ‘MESOPOTAMIA Disposal of River Craft’ [‎237v] (234/929)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100148183208.0x000054"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0002bb/IOR_L_PS_10_805_0491.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0002bb/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/805/1
- Title
- File 788/1919 Pt 3 ‘MESOPOTAMIA Disposal of River Craft’
- Pages
- 122r:123v, 124v:133v, 134ar:134av, 134r:158v, 192v:193v, 194v:278v, 279ar, 279r:303v, 304ar, 304r:312v, 313ar, 313r:399v, 400v:412v, 414v, 415v, 417v:564v, 565ar, 565r:570v, 571ar, 571r:582v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence