"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. مجلد I" [و‎‎٣‎١] (٤٥٤/٦٦)

BRITISH PRE-WAR POLICY
41
to consolidate its power, to keep in check the unruly
tribes on the bank, to guarantee the safety of the water
ways, and to develop the immense potential resources of
the delta, is an object that ought to be one not merely of
anxious solicitude, but of paramount necessity to a British
Government. I can imagine nothing that is more essential
to ourselves than a strong Turkish Government in these
regions, and I am sure that this House would commend
any steps taken to fortify the authority of the Turkish
Government in that quarter, and that whether we
enter into negotiations with Germany or with Turkey,
there is nothing in our present position that is likely to
be detrimental to the successful issue of any such
negotiations.
“ My Lords, quite frankly, if I were to speak this after
noon as an Englishman alone, I do not think that I should
be anxious to see the Baghdad railway carried down to
the Gulf ... I have never convinced myself that it is
desirable to continue the building of the railway beyond
Baghdad, and certainly not beyond Basra, up to which
I believe, even if a railway be there constructed, the trade
will still go in boats .... But if the Turkish
Government is resolved on the building of the railway in
so far as it lies within its own territory, and if the railway
can be built without serious financial risk, then I think
His Majesty’s Government are entirely entitled and are
bound to enter into a discussion with them in a reason
able spirit, with a view, it may be, to arriving at some
conclusion . . . .”
In replying to this speech Viscount Morley spoke with
emphasis of the past services and present position of Great
Britain in the Persian Gulf, agreed with much that Lord
Curzon had presented, and went on to say :—
“ His Majesty’s Government cannot legitimately object
to the construction of any railways in Turkish teiritory,
but they cannot directly or indirectly facilitate the con
struction of those railways if their completion is to alter
the existing position in Mesopotamia to the detriment of
British interests and to the exclusion of British participa
tion on reasonable terms. It is undeniable that His
Majesty’s Government are in principle favourable to the
construction of railways in Turkey ; they appreciate how
important this construction is, among other purposes, for
the consolidation of the new regime, and the new regime in