مجموعة ٢١/٦(١) "الحجاز-نجد: العلاقات مع الحكومة البريطانية: مفوضية الحجاز في لندن والوزير البريطاني في جدة". [ظ‎‎١‎٤‎٤] (٩١٤/٢٩٩)

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duty and the general discussion pursued at leisure. This could, if necessary, be
pursued with Mr. Calvert, but I should prefer to leave it until Fuad Bey and I
could deal with the matter on our reurn to Jedda. Fuad Bey noted my proposal.
6. I used various arguments, which need not be recorded in detail, to impress
on Fuad Bey the importance of this question, urging inter alia that the Saudi
Government should take account of the great services rendered by the dispensaries.
They supplied wants which the Saudi Government were not as yet in a position
to satisfy, and the Saudi Government should not make their position impossible
by attempting to exercise excessive control or by adding customs duty to the
expenditure entailed, the amount of which was already worrying the Government
of India.
7. I told Fuad Bey that this was the most important of the small number
of questions which I had suggested adding to the list of those already discussed
with Mr. Rendel and myself. I need only advert to two others, viz., the pecuniary
claims of His Majesty’s Government against the Saudi Government, and the
position as regards British nationality in Saudi Arabia. The latter question
seemed to be progressing on satisfactory lines and I would not pursue it. I did
not wish at this moment to pursue definitely the question of the two debts of the
Saudi Government to His Majesty’s Government, but I reminded Fuad Bey that
we were very anxious to dispose of the matter, which was one on which we were
faced with strong insistence on the part of the Treasury. I recalled our proposal
that the trivial MacDonnell debt should be settled out of hand, and the liquidation
of the larger debt placed on a business basis. I added that I had induced His
Majesty’s Government to postpone the matter pending a clearing up of the
situation between Saudi Arabia and the Yemen. That situation had now been
liquidated, and I had again reminded Sheikh Yussuf Yasin of the debts shortly
before leaving Jedda. J
8. Fuad Bey threw out a personal suggestion that perhaps His Majesty’s
Government might now see their way to promote the flotation of a small loan in
this country, sufficient to enable the floating debt of his Government to be paid off
He outlined m very general terms a scheme for the issue of bonds. I received
this suggestion very guardedly, but promised to report it. I explained that the
matter was outside my sphere and that I could not judge of the possibilities,
rough 1 had no reason to think that the prospect of raising money for Saudi
Arabia would be any better now than it had been in 1932.
Ju- C0I l c l us i 0I b I Fuad Bey, with reference to what had passed at
the third meeting about the Jedda-Port Sudan cable, that there was no hope of
bringing any adequately equipped representative of the Sudan Government into
a discussion of the matter before he left London. I had, however, just seen a
!>?Im e T 7 Ilt ^ tl iI e ° f S?: b 6 an ^ Wirel f ss (Limited), and had suggested that he should
meet huad Bey^ This gentleman had agreed, subject to the reservation that any
proposals which might emerge would have to be submitted to the board of the
company. The question of Saudi telegraphic communications had arisen in three
aspects, viz., cable rates, the position in regard to the present working agreement
HeT/A th6 C u b n thB Govei ”t of the Sudanand the
mS? I f t!r ? as * er “ Telegraph Company, and the wish of the Saudi Govern-
ment to establish wireless communication between Hasa and the outer world. I
lought that an entirely non-committal discussion would serve to put those
concerned m possession of each other’s views and desiderata.
/t • a g ree d to meet a representative of Cable and Wireless
Foreign Office 1^“^ Sh ° Uld to - m ™ ^ the
September 24, 1934.
A. RYAN.