§ LORD LAMINGTON rose to ask His Majesty's Government what is the present position of the negotiations for the railway from Mohammeral to Khoramabad and other railways in Southern Persia giving access to the Gulf which the Persian Government are desirous of having built as expeditiously as possible, both on account of their remunerative possibilities and as a necessary step towards the better administration which the Government are endeavouring to establish.
149§ The noble Lord said: My Lords, I do not propose to elaborate the Question that stands in my name. The matter was referred to in a debate initiated by Lord Curzon when the subject under discussion was the Trans-Persian Railway. It was then pointed out that this system of railways, as indicated in my Question, would be of real value to the development of Persia, and particularly would aid in bringing peace and order into that much perturbed country; and I should be glad to hear whether the Government can say that negotiations have advanced at all towards a concession being obtained for the construction of these or any such lines.
§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (VISCOUNT MORLEY)I think my noble friend must be aware that His Majesty's Government regard with the greatest interest all movements for promoting railway construction in Persia, especially in the southern part, which concerns this country; but he will also understand that the only case in respect of which negotiations are actually pending is the case of the first railway mentioned in the Question, the railway from Mohammeral to Khoramabad. All I can say is that negotiations of an active kind are pending and the satisfactory solution of them depends on one or two considerations which are not yet ripe, and my noble friend will understand that it would not be at all to the public interest that we should enter further into the details of the question as it stands at the moment. As to the probabilities of a financial return, cost, and so forth, those are points that we cannot discuss now, and perhaps it will not be our business to discuss them. The Persian Government will certainly have the main business in weighing all these chances and possibilities. I can only repeat that the general promotion of railways, so far as that promotion can take place gradually and without damage to other interests, has the lively interest of His Majesty's Government and will continue to have it.