File:The Persian problem; an examination of the rival positions of Russia and Great Britain in Persia, with some account of the Persian gulf and the Bagdad railway (1903) (14761415934).jpg

Identifier: persianprobleme00whig (find matches)
Title: The Persian problem; an examination of the rival positions of Russia and Great Britain in Persia, with some account of the Persian gulf and the Bagdad railway
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Whigham, Henry James, 1869-
Subjects: Baghdad Railway Eastern question (Central Asia)
Publisher: London Isbister
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

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ishwould have undertaken long ago. That theTurkish Government will attempt anything of thesort now is hardly to be hoped, but the railwaycompany should find no great difficulty in securingpermission to undertake such works as will benecessary for the conservation of the railway em-bankment. It is sometimes objected that the lack of cheaplabour will prove a serious stumbling-block. I couldfind no confirmation of this view in any quarter thatI visited. The experience of the German explorersis just the reverse. They can get all the labour theywant at 6d. a day, and they find the Arab not at allintractable. The fact is that the Arab, like mostEastern natives, thinks of almost nothing beyond foodand money, and the idea of getting regular pay atgood rates is one that should attract him greatly. Ofcourse, he is not a European labourer, but there is noreason to suppose that he will prove inferior tothe Indian coolie whom he certainly surpasses inphysique; nor will the building of a railway in
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BAGDAD 223 the desert be subject to such long spells of heat andrain as is customary in the experience of railwaybuilders in India. It is to be presumed that the railway companywill begin building in both directions from Bagdad.The line to the north, according to the latest informa-tion, runs between Mosul and Bagdad along theright bank of the Tigris vid Tekrit. This, in theview of the Bagdad merchants, is a mistake, becauseit would be more profitable to cross to the left bankand take in the grain-producing district of Kerkuk.However this may be, there seems to be no suchprospect of immediate success for the railway northof Bagdad such as there is to the southward, andit is curious that the railway scheme has alwaysbeen spoken of as the Bagdad Railway, as if theextension to the Gulf were an afterthought and oflittle importance. In reality this extension, from acommercial point of view, is, in fact, by far the morevaluable part of the whole scheme, and the partwhich promises immediate

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