Palestine]
Ottoman Bank, on which for the years 1907-1911 slightly under 3 per cent. per annum was paid; and 15,000,000 frs. in ordinary shares, which received in the same period only a little over 1 per cent. per annum. Only the Rayak-Aleppo line has a kilometric guarantee, finally fixed at 13,600 frs., which in 1911 cost the Government over 1,800,000 frs. In 1905 the company received £T150,000 in State bonds as compensation for loss entailed by the competition of the Hejaz Railway, whose line from Damascus to Deraa runs parallel with the French line to Mzerib.
The traffic returns show that while the Beirut— Damascus—Mzerib line is the most lucrative, the Rayak—Aleppo line has progressed more steadily.
(i) Beirut—Damascus—Mzerib line.
| Year. | Gross receipts in frs. | Receipts per km. in frs. |
| 1907 | 16,891 | 4,171,991 |
| 1908 | 19,048 | 4,704,744 |
| 1909 | 18,701 | 4,619,333 |
| 1910 | 18,585 | 4,578,055 |
| 1911 | 17,458 | 4,350,436 |
(ii) Rayak—Aleppo line.
| Year. | Gross receipts in frs. | Receipts per km. in frs. |
| 1907 | 1,804,648 | 5,436 |
| 1908 | 2,110,000 | 6,355 |
| 1909 | 2,284,610 | 6,881 |
| 1910 | 2,627,234 | 7,913 |
| 1911 | 2,678,625 | 8,063 |
(iii) Tripoli—Homs line. For the seven months of 1911 during which the line was working the gross receipts were 627,757 frs.; at this rate the receipts for the whole year would be 10,550 frs. pr km. Bo 2. (b) Chemin de fer de la Palestine (Jaffa—Jerusalem). The capital of the company consists of 286,000 frs. in old debentures redeemable without interest by 1949; 9,512,000 frs. in new 5 per cent.
