ملف رقم ١٤٢١ لسنة ١٩٠٨، جزء ٣، "بلاد فارس: النفط؛ مفاوضات بين شيخ المحمرة وشركة النفط الأنجلو-فارسية" [ظ‎‎٢‎٨‎٠] (٣٣٨/١٢٦)

made our arrangements with the Shaikh locally in an amicable manner, and not
threatened him with the wrath of the Central Government at Tehran, to which
he is less inclined to defer than formerly, in view of the present state of affairs
there.
9. I think that it is possible that an arrangement may be come to whereby
the Shaikh should receive from the Company an annual icntal per acre for the
ground taken up for the purposes of boring and exploitation. This rental would
no doubt be in excess of the value of the land for agricultural purposes, but in
this way the question of mineral rights might be avoided.
Whether it will be possible to induce the Shaikh to forego his rents during
the period of prospecting remains to be seen. I will do my best in the matter.
10. I have, I trust, shown that the claims of the Shaikh are in no way fic
titious, but worthy of careful consideration, in view of his exceptional position in
Arabist an, and that it is in the interests of your Company to approach the ques
tion in a conciliatory spirit, recognising that the question has two sides, and that,
whatever we may think of the conduct of the Persian Government in granting
exclusive rights to one party subsequent to having parted with certain rights to
another party, we cannot blame the Shaikh for seeking to get what his farman
entitles him to, and for which he has paid a heavy price.
11. lam quite prepared to enter on negotiations and to do my utmost to
arrange a satisfactory settlement, but I think that a more liberal anangement
than that adumbrated by the Directors may be necessary, in view of all the
facts.
I hope to deal in a separate letter with the position of the Persian Govern
ment, vis-df'vis the Company in regard to the apparently somewhat illusory
rights granted to the Company by articles 3 and 4 of Mr. D Arcy s concession.