§ Mr. BRIANTasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the area of the site of the residence of the 2384W High Commissioner of Iraq for which £60,000 was paid and from whom was it purchased?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GORE:According to the plans furnished by the High Commissioner, the site covers an area of rather more than 7 acres. I am informed that it was purchased from the heirs of one Kazim Pasha, a Turk exiled by Abdul Hamid, who settled in Bagdad. The sum paid for it was Rs. 6,20,000. At the then Tate of exchange, this amount corresponded roughly to £60,000. At the normal rate of exchange, it amounts to little over £40,000.
Lieut.-Colonel MURRAYasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will publish a balance sheet showing the annual expenditure and revenue for each year since 1918 of the railway from Basra to Hillah?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GORE:I doubt whether separate figures for each year will be available for the Basra-Hillah section, which is a part only of the Basra-Bagdad line; but the High Commissioner will be asked to report, and I will communicate with the hon. Member as soon as I have received his reply.
Lieut.-Colonel MURRAYasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies how many trains a day are run on the average between Basra and Hillah and Hillah and Basra?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GORE:The printed time-table provides for one passenger train daily in each direction. I have no information as to goods trains or any extra trains; but I will inquire.
Lieut.-Colonel MURRAYasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, whether as the mandatory Power, His Majesty's Government have maintained a monopoly for navigation on the River Tigris since 1918; and, if so, whether the monopoly agreement concluded with the Turkish Government in 1914 was ever formally ratified; and, if not ratified, what is the existing position with regard to river navigation rights?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GORE:The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. When permission was given to a British steamship company in 1918 to resume business in Iraq, it was made a clear condition, which was accepted 2385W by the company, that nothing in the nature of monopoly of navigational or other rights could be granted to them, either then or thereafter. That is the position as it stands at the present time. I regret that language used by me in the Debate of the 1st March should have given rise to misapprehension on this point.