File 1711/1920 'Mesopotamia: General Circulars. - 1920' [‎69v] (143/591)

20
HOUSE OF LORDS.
Friday, 25 th June, 1920.
The House met at four of the clock, The Lord
Chancellor on the Woolsack.
MESOPOTAMIA.
Lord ISLINGTON rose to ask His Majesty’s
Government— . -7
If they can now state the form of Civil
Administration it is proposed to set
, up in Mesopotamia.
To state the' number of officers now en
gaged in the Civil Administration;
also the number of troops at present
stationed there, British and Indian.
To state the expenditure on the British
Exchequer entailed* by our present
occupation of the country.
/ To stateunder which Department of gov
ernment the country is how being
and will be administered.
The noble Lord said: 'My Lords, as you
are aware, the Questions appearing in my name
on the Paper, have stood there for some
months past, but owing to’various causes they
have, had to be postponed; and now within the
last few days—I may say almost within the last
few hours—some, and those the most import
ant, of the Questions'have been answered in the
other House. I hope, therefore; that your
Lordships, will regard the Questions I have put
down more in the nature of the basis of a
■ general debate on Mesopotamia, and a debate
which, I think, ranks, and should rank, in im
portance, with almost any of the many subjects
with which we are now confronted outside
these islands. ,
I think it is especially important that there
should be a debate in thia House on the subject
of the administration, both past and future, of
Mesopotamia, particularly in regard to the fact
that about;forty-eight hours ago in the other
House the Prime Minister reinforced the an
nouncement from Baghdad by a speech on the
whole matter. I greatly welcome the announce
ment that the, future Administration of Meso
potamia is to take the definite form of an Arab
Administration. I think that the announce
ment was in the end somewhat precipitate, not
to say unusual, after the long effort that has
been made to obtain information on this sub
ject. The announcement, as I understand it;
comes from Baghdad by means of a telegram
read by the Secretary of State for India in the
House, of Commons, and that announcement
was reinforced in the debate by a speech on the
matter from the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister informed the country
that the announcement in regard to the future
administration of Mesopotamia was made at
the earliest possible moment, that it was justi
fied'only by the recent decision come to by the
Associated Powers at San Remo, and he urged
that it could not possibly have been made before
that date. I would say with all respect that
this statement implies an extraordinary amount
of credulity on the part of the British public.
I myself venture to say that this somewhat
precipitate announcement; whilst it may have
been due in measure to the decision at San
Remo, was also undoubtedly due to the per
sistent pressure. that has been applied in this
connection by the public and by the Press for
some time past. And very properly so. Be
cause, after all, this subject of the administra-
tion of Mesopotamia is one which, almost more, I
than any other, intimately concerns the inter- 0
ests of the British Empire in the East, as, in. "
deed, it affects most seriously thetax-payers of
this country.' It has been a subject which Par.
liament for months past has. had a right , to
discuss; it is a subject which Parliament has
now a solemn duty to examine.
The subject for examination divides itself ;
under two heads: First, the administration ;
of Mesopotamia during the past two years, and,
second*, the methods to be employed to establish £
the new Arab system of Government in that
country. Each is necessarily interlocked with
the other. I would like to make a few obser-
vations now on the past and present adminis-
I tration. In the House of Commons the Prime.
Minister, with, I think, rather assumed inno-
cence - but accustomed ingenuity, asked the; J
House, Whatis the, grievance against the Gov
ernment in regard to Mesopotamia? He was y
puzzled to know what the case was; and he
added, Ought we to have cleared out altogether
from Mesopotamia? The answer to this ques- ;
tion is quite clear and simple. The case against .
the Government—one which I say no rhetoric
or ingenuity of debate cap overcome—is this,
that for two years they have established and
developed a system of. Government in Mesopo-
tamia absolutely 'at variance with the solemn
promises in the declaration of November, 1918/ ,
made by Sir Percy Cox to the people of Meso?,' :
potamia.
I will trouble your Lordships by quoting the..
words embodied in that declaration. They are
as follows— ;
“ Far from wishing to impose any particular .
institution on these lands, they ‘-[Franceand
Great Britain] “ have no. other care but to
assure, by thein support, effective aid to the v
normal working of The Governments and Ad-
ministrations which they shall have adopted
of their own "free\ will. ”
However deep you may delve into The re- i.
cesses of constitutional history based upon
undertakings, you will find it difficult to dis- '
coyer any more conspicuous instance of a system
of Government being established at greater '
variance from the principles underlying that;.
undertaking than has been instituted in Meso-
potamia during the past two years; and certain- A
ly never a system that has imposed heavier or
more unwarranted burdens on the taxpayers of
this country; - z ;
If I may, I will examine that position still
further. The Prime Minister contendsthatno
definite steps of, settled Government could
possibly be taken in Mesopotamia before the- >
decision was made by the Allied Powers at San
Remo. . 1 ask this question, What has been
done without that sanction during the past two
years? Something, I venture to say, far more
definite, something involving far more inter-
ference and implying far greater responsibility ; -
than anything entailed in the mandatory Sys ;
tem. To-day there exists in Mesopotamia what
I think may be rightly described as a complete
system off British Crown Colony Administra 1
tion. I think it is worth while examining it,
and I hope the noble Earl will deal with' it
both in regard to its principles and.its details, ,
because the Prime Minister in another place
avoided, or rather invaded, it.