Page 254 - Gulf Precis (VI)_Neat

228 Part III.
divided by Messrs. Remington & Co. into tho two following heads .- 1st—Rent
of tho premises at Marghcil from tlio 1st November 1839 to the 1st May 1814,
being 54. months at Rs. 200 per mensom Rs. 10,S00. 2nd—Ront for a house
and garden at Baghdad from tho 1st May 1810 to the 1st August 1813, beiug
39 months at Rs. 100 per monsem Rs. 3,900 : total Rs. 14,700.
238. From the obovo review of tho former proceedings of Government on
this subject, it is shown that no sanction was given for tho occupation of the
premises at Margheil for tho use of Government until May 18 M, tho previous
applications of Captain Lynch on this subject having beon negatived. It was
clear, howovor, from the certificates which accompanied this letter that theso
premises have been used as a dep6t for the stores of the Euphrates Flotilla
from the 1st November 1839. The Bombay Government therefore recommend­
ed to the Government of India to permit Colonel Taylor to bo reimbursed for
tho use of those premises from thatdato, at
Not*.—'Thi« would for tho period cnlculoted
b» limn. Remington amount to tho lum of Ri. the rate at tlio time paid for them, under
6,'400. the sanction of tho Government of India,
namely, Rs. 100 por mensem. This allowance was to include tho house and
garden at Baghdad, for tho occupation of which no authority had at any time
been given by Government.
239. Tho proposal of tho Bombay Government was approved by tho Gov­
ernment of (vide their letter No. 450, dated 29th May 1817).
240. The lease of Margheil was renewed from time to time since 1847. In
1858 tho Government of India authorised tlio payment of Messrs. Lynch & Co.
of a sum of Rs. 2,000 ns compensation for damage done to their Quays in the
course of the Persian war, when large number of horses and mules and quantity
of stores were collected on their property and conveyed thence for tho use of tho
expedition (Government of India letter No. 1676, dated 30th April 1858, to
the Bombay Government).
241. In 1869, there was a proposal for the reduction of expenditure in the
Agency of Turkish Arabia. On tho 20th of January 1878, tho Political Agent
in Turkish Arabia stated that tho only reduction or saving which could be
effected iu his Agency would he by tho
Finance A., Jane 1870, Noi. 4-8.
removal of the coal store and depdt of Her
Majesty’s steam vessel Comet from Magliil to the immediate neighbourhood
of Basrah. Maghil being a place about three miles above tho town of Basrah,
its isolated position necessitated tho maintenance of a guard, at an annual cost
of Rs. 751*12.0, together with an outlay for lighter hire.
242. Colonel Herbert recommended that a site should bo purchased at
Basrah for which, and for tho erection of tho buildings, it was estimated that
a sum of R9.10,000 would be required. The total annual cost of the depdt as
then kept up was Rs. 2,192. If the establishment were removed to Basrah it
was estimated that its annual cost would be Rs. 588 together with Rs. 500 as
interest on the sum originally required to provide the site and buildings =
Rs. 1,088 per annum. The annual saving would, therefore, be Rs. 1,088 as
compared with Rs. 2,192, or Rs. 1,104 annually. This saving would repay the
original outlay in nine years, after which the annual cost of tho depot would
be Rs.. 688, making an eventual saving of 11s. 1,604 a year, while the ground
and building would be the property of Government. It was added that sooner
or luter a change would become necessary, as the river was gradually encroach­
ing on their dopdt.
243. The question merged for a time into the large one of the expediency
of keeping up a Government vessel at all on the Euphrates, but at length,
after consultation with the Milttary .De­
Pclitic*] An March 1872, No. 78.
partment, Colonel Herbert was told in
March 1872 that it was left to his discretion to make the change, provided he
could assure Government that it would result in a reasonable saving of
expease.
244. In January 1873 Messrs. Lynch & Co., who or one of whose members
own the property, in a letter to the India
Politic*! A, March 1873, Hot. 18M49.
. . Office remonstrated against Government
giving up, for only a saving of Rs. 100 per mensem, a hold upon a land, which
for oyer a century had been regarded as an English ground and for long associat­
ed with the British name and prestige and which the Turkish authorities had