§ 4. Mr. MORRELLasked whether there is now any prospect of the carrying out of the proposals for an adequate loan to the Persian Government to enable them to restore order in that country?
§ Sir E. GREYGood progress is being made with the arrangements for an advance to the Persian Government for immediate requirements, and there is every reason to hope that they will shortly be concluded. The question of obtaining a substantial loan to Persia from financiers will then be considered.
§ Sir JOHN LONSDALEIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that in existing conditions British trade is completely paralysed owing to the impossibility of protecting caravans?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member must give notice of that question.
§ 6. Colonel YATEasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, though the actual length of mileage may not be the best comparison available, still, failing something better, he will meanwhile see to it that the concession granted by the Persian Government to the British syndicate shall not be less in length of mileage than that granted to the Russian syndicate, and that the British syndicate be given a preferential right to further extension similar in extent to the number of miles by which the concession to the Russian syndicate in the North for the three lines of railway from Julfa to Tabriz, from Tabriz to Urumia, and from Tabriz to Kazvin exceeds in total length the concession granted to the British syndicate for the line from Mohammerah to Khorramabad in the South?
§ Sir E. GREYSo far as the mileage of the two railways can be compared in the absence of a survey—a calculation which is admittedly a mere speculation having regard to the mountainous character of the country between Mohammerah and Khorramabad I should be inclined to estimate that the line from Mohammerah, or a point adjacent thereto, to Khorramabad will only be a little shorter than the Russian projects if the preferential extensions are included; if they are not included, the Mohammerah railway will be considerably the longer of the two. I am not satisfied that comparison of mileage is any indication of the value or commercial advantages of the respective projects.
§ Sir J. D. REESDoes not the Russian concession include an option of extension of 250 miles, and does not that make it a far more valuable concession?
§ Sir E. GREYNo; I do not think it does. First of all, it is only a possibility of extension, and even when that is included the total mileage will only be a little more than the mileage from Mohammerah to Khorramabad.
§ Colonel YATECan the right hon. Gentleman say how many more miles?
§ Sir E. GREYIt is impossible to give more than a rough estimate until the survey is made, because it cannot be possible to go direct.
§ 7. Colonel YATEasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the two years' option granted by the Persian Government to the British syndicate for the construction of a railway line from 1156 Mohammerah to Khorramabad is a concession similar in every respect to that granted to the Russian syndicate, or whether it may be transformed into a mere contract; and, if so, why has this distinction been drawn; and will he take steps to insure absolute equality of treatment between the Russian and British syndicates?
§ Sir E. GREYThe hon. and gallant Member may rest fully assured that His Majesty's Government will afford the British syndicate all necessary support to secure their interests. As, however, I am not yet in possession of sufficiently precise information in regard to the Russian project, I am not in a position to draw comparisons between the conditions of the British and Russian projects. The option granted to the British syndicate is to build a line as a State railway for the Persian Government, or to build one under the terms of a concession; the choice of these alternatives is not to be made until the survey is completed, but it is the intention to settle details as to management, etc., before the survey is started, and the conditions attaching respectively to a concession or a contract will, I anticipate, differ in form rather than in substance.
§ Colonel YATEHave similar conditions been applied to the Russian as to the British syndicate?
§ Sir E. GREYI am not possessed of sufficiently precise information in regard to the Russian project to be able to give details of the concession.
§ Colonel YATEWill the right hon. Gentleman see that the British syndicate does not suffer in any way in comparison with the Russian?
§ Sir E. GREYCertainly. I do not think that the British syndicate with their option for two years run any risk of being placed at a disadvantage compared with the Russian.