مجموعة ٦/ ١٩ "الجزيرة العربية: (المملكة العربية السعودية) التقرير السنوي لمملكة الحجاز ونجد." [و‎‎٢‎٣‎٣] (٥٤٠/٤٦٦)

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year. No progress had been made with the recovery of the money due to the
Government of India for arms, &c., supplied to Ibn Saud in 1929, a matter of
some £31,500. Early in the year His Majesty’s Minister had, by very strenuous
representations, compelled a settlement of the Eastern Telegraph’s cable account
up to the end of December 1930, but, despite promises of reform, the account
was again in arrear at the end of 1931 to the extent of something like £2,000,
an amount not large in itself, but disquieting because of the perpetual difficulty
of keeping the Hejazi Government up to scratch and the danger of an inter
ruption of the cable service between Jedda and Port Sudan, should the company
lose patience. The Government had sought to deny liability for their share in
the cost of the MacDonnell investigation (see paragraph 26). The Legation had
in February given some support to Messrs. Gellatly, Hankey and Co. in connexion
with a claim in respect of a financial transaction. During the remainder of the
year that firm succeeded by its own careful management in keeping its various
undertakings (not including the amount claimed by them as agents for the
Egyptian Shell benzine, which is dealt with separately below) within what it
considers a reasonably safe figure. They are satisfied if the debit balance does
not exceed at any given moment £7,000 or £8,000. Sharqieh (Limited) were
understood to be owed large sums by the Government on their own account and/or
that of companies like Ford Motors and Standard Oil, but the Legation had
no precise information regarding the total amount due, as it is a fixed principle
with Mr. Philby not to seek British assistance in business matters. It was
known that the items included some £10,000 due to Ford’s for cars lying in
Jedda, but not yet delivered to the Government, and some £5,000 due in respect
of overdue instalments on the Marconi wireless contract. Finally, the Legation
was still endeavouring to secure payment of numerous sums, individually small,
but fairly important in the aggregate, due to British and British-protected
chauffeurs by the Government and transport companies working under their
auspices or those of the Director-General of Finance. It had concerned itself
during the year with various other money matters of a kind which do not call
for mention under this heading as they arose in the ordinary nature of business
contracted with pilgrims and other persons.
(7) British Chauffeurs.
212. An account has been given in paragraph 116 of the incident at Mecca
in March, when a number of chauffeurs were beaten and imprisoned in
consequence of a demonstration provoked by the non-payment of their wages.
The affair was of direct concern to the Legation in Jedda, as ten of the men were
British or British-protected Sudanese, Somalis, &c. His Majesty’s Minister,
who had already drawn Sheikh Yussuf Yasin's attention in February to the
grievance of the chauffeurs, took up the case of the beaten men with some energy,
though he refrained from taking strictly official action, owing to the difficulty of
obtaining precise evidence and the undesirability of aggravating the tension
caused by the Transjordan frontier question. He urged that, if the men
concerned had behaved foolishly, the original fault lay with the Government, and
suggested that, once order had been restored, they should be treated leniently
and be given satisfaction as regards their arrears of wages. The King was too
incensed to act on this advice. He ordered the men to be deported, and the
Governor of Jedda asked the Legation to provide the necessary travelling papers
and visas for the ten British chauffeurs involved. His Majesty’s Government, to
whom the matter was referred, felt that they could not resist this decision, though
Sir A. Ryan was instructed to do what he could in other directions to mitigate
its harshness. Fortunately, at this juncture, Fuad Bey Hamza came into the
picture, full of anxiety to relieve the strain which had been produced by
the Transjordan frontier question. It was agreed with him that the men should
appeal to one of the King’s sons to intercede for them. The Legation was not
apprised of the precise steps taken, but, in due course, the men were released and a
moderate sum of money was given to each. The scandal of the wholesale
deportation of British subjects, who, in the first instance, had been the victims
of the Government, was thus averted. The majority eventually left the Hejaz
of their own accord. The question of chauffeurs’ wages continued, however, to
need the attention of the Legation, and, as stated in the preceding paragraph,
there were many cases outstanding at the end of the year.