§ Mr. SANDERSONasked whether under the Baghdad Railway Agreement of 1903, Article 35, the railway company was in a more advantageous position as regards net profits, when the gross receipts per kilometre were under £180, or when the gross receipts per kilometre were £440, or when they were above the last-named figure?
Mr. McKINNON WOODIn order to determine the net profits of a railway, it is essential to ascertain not merely the gross receipts, but also the working expenses. There are at present no railways in Mesopotamia and, in the absence of any data as to the amount of working expenses in those regions, it is impossible to give a precise answer to the hon. and learned Member, or even to furnish him with an approximate estimate. As regards the amount of gross profits accruing to the Company in each of the contingencies named, I can only refer to Article 35 of the Concession of 1903, which, as already announced, will be laid as soon as possible.
§ Mr. SANDERSONIs it not the fact that above the £180 gross receipts per kilometre the Government takes the whole of the receipts, and can the hon. Gentleman assure us that in any arrangement the Government may make they will not depart from that arrangement?
Mr. McKINNON WOODI do not think the hon. Member need fear that we shall make an arrangement similar to the existing arrangement.
§ Mr. SANDERSONasked what is the estimated cash yield of the annuity of 11,000 francs per kilometre, as provided under Article 35 of the Baghdad Railway Agreement of 1903, when that annuity is capitalised; what has been the price of Ottoman State bonds hitherto issued to meet the cost of construction; and what is the estimated length in kilometres of the Baghdad Railway as projected, as far as the town of Baghdad?
Mr. McKINNON WOODThe answer to the first question is approximately £8,500, though the exact amount may vary a little according to the precise price of issue of the respective loans brought out to meet the cost of construction of each successive section of 200 kilometres. The answer to 11 the second question is that the Baghdad Railway Loan, first series (1903), was taken up at 86.4. I have no information as to the price of issue of the further loans, but will furnish it to the hon. and learned Member as soon as I can obtain it. The answer to the third question is approximately 1,440 kilometres, so far as the main line is concerned, but this distance may be modified by the precise ultimate alignment of the railway.