مجموعة ٦/ ٩ "تقارير جدة يناير ١٩٣١ -" [ظ‎‎٢‎٧‎٨] (٨٠٢/٥٥٧)

2
begin in October-November 1933- and to be completed in September
1935, subject to a possible extension of time to a date not later than
the 23rd March, 1936, in case of delay due to force majeure. The
summary gives no particulars of the agreed apportionment of gross
receipts or the fares to be charged.
{c) There are now two sets of representatives negotiating for oil rights ir
Hasa, namely, Messrs. Twitched and Hamilton, representing Standard
Oil of California as before, and Messrs. Longrigg and Muderris, who
arrived in Jedda on the 12th March, on behalf of the Iraq Petroleum
Company. The Minister of Finance is said to have stood out for
£100,000 down and a substantial periodical payment afterwards.
Neither candidate has been prepared to accept his terms, but Standard
Oil of California are believed to be readier than the Iraq Petroleum
Company has so far shown itself to accept the principle of a
substantial payment for a pig in a poke rather than a moderate rental
in the first instance for prospecting rights only. Mr. Hamilton went
to Cairo at short notice on the 23rd March, presumably to consult
other parties, including, possibly, Major Holmes and another person
connected with the Eastern and General Syndicate, who were about
to fly from Ivoweit to Egypt about the same time. It was reported
from Koweit that Major Holmes had been invited by Ibn Saud to
come to Jedda, a surprising development, if true, as Major Holmes
is known to have been in the King’s black books for some years.
Messrs. Longrigg and Muderris are playing a patient game, but the
former went to Port Sudan for a few days on the 26th March to escape
boredom and “ to buy a topee.”
{d) The scheme hatched by Hyderabad notables to start a textile industry
in the Hejaz seems to have made progress at the Indian end. A
certain amount of money, variously put at from 5,000 to 15,000 rupees,
has been collected, and looms and spinning-wheels are said to have
been ordered in India.
(e) Nothing more has been heard of financial help for Saudi Arabia from the
Nizam of Hyderabad.
35. The financial and economic developments described above have generated
a new feeling of optimism in the Hejaz. Even the Saudi Government have been
showing greater readiness to pay out money in respect of minor obligations.
36. There has been no news of further internal commotion in Asir or
elsewhere. Notwithstanding this, Ibn Saud has presented an appearance of
nervousness, possibly owing to the situation vis-d-vis of the Yemen (see para
graph 42 below) and uncertainty as to the strength of his hold on the country as
a whole. He may be still suffering from the jolt given him by the Ibn Rifada
and Asir rebellions last year, despite his success in represssing them.
II.—Frontier Questions and Foreign Relations in Arabia.
37. Progress was made in March with the arrangements for mutual
recognition between Ibn Saud and the Amir of Transjordan. The Trans
jordanian and Saudi notes to the High Commissioner for Transjordan and His
Majesty’s Minister at Jedda respectively were duly written on the 21st March.
Though neither followed the exact wording proposed in February, they were
similar in substance and were satisfactory. Special arrangements were made
to forward certified copies speedily to the Legation and the High Commissioner
for transmission to the respective Governments of the other part. All was ready
by the 30th March, and it was proposed in Jedda to make the communications
necessary to consummate recognition on the 31st March. Although Wahhabis
have no objection to Friday diplomacy, that day of the week was considered
unsuitable in Jerusalem, and the communication was postponed at both ends
until the 1st April. A bsit omen.
38. The completion of the recognition procedure paves the way for treaty
negotiations. Ibn Saud demurred to the two-stage proposal mentioned in
paragraph 18 (5), but it was hoped at the end of March to get him to agree to a
second stage at Jerusalem, in the almost certain event of its being impossible to
reach agreement during the stay of the Transjordan delegates in Jedda, which
will necessarily be short.