period during which railway construction in the Far East and in Central Asia would necessarily absorb their energies and their resources. Afterwards, Persia might be safely released from this eccentric engagement, on condition, of course, that she placed the construction of her railways in Russian hands. Now, Persia is, on the whole, a poor country; there are few railways that can be profitably built on a purely commercial basis, and those only the lines that would open up communication between North-Western and Central Persia and the Persian Gulf. It is in Southern and Central Persia, on the other hand, that our material interests are chiefly concentrated. We have opened up not only the navigation of the Karun, but an important trade-route from the head of its navigable waters to Isfahan. We have a practical monopoly of the carrying trade by sea to and from all the ports of the Gulf. The Imperial Bank of Persia—the principal institution of credit in the country—is a British bank created under a royal charter. One of the chief lines of telegraphic communication between India and Europe crosses the whole of Persia from the head of the Gulf, and the Indian Government, which constructed that line, is now building a second line direct from Beluchistan, which will connect with the first one at Kashan. These—and I have named only a few of the more important—are not inconsiderable interests, and if adequately supported, they are capable of great development. If Russia really wants commercial railways in Persia, there should therefore be no difficulty in arranging for British cooperation on a business basis. But if she wants to monopolize railway construction throughout Persia for purposes of conquest by railway, she can have but one goal in view, and that goal we cannot allow her to reach if we have any regard for the future safety of India. To tell the truth, she has not been at much pains to disguise her aims. For whilst she has been seeking to project her influence into Khorasan and Seistan with a view to a flanking movement round the Western
