A.—6

30

ratification of peaoe between Great Britain and Turkey. It was further stipulated that nothing should prevent a fresh agreement being concluded with a. view to regulating the subsequent relations between the high contracting parties, and that negotiations for that object should be entered into between them before the expiration of the above period. The present position is that the elections for the, Constituent Assembly in Iraq, wherse approval is necessary before the treaty and protocol are ratified, commenced em the 12th July. Thes electoral procedure is a cumbrous ernes, with an elaborate machinery of primary and secondary elections based upon the Turkish system. It is not expected that the Assembly will be in session much before the esuil of the, year. It is hoped that before its first meeting the various subsidiary agreements now under negotiation with the Iraq Government will have been provisionally concluded. Future of Mosul Vilayet. There is one important point with regard to which the future; of Iraq is still unsettled. Yeru may remember that, during the; first Lausanne, Conference, an acute controversy arose over the future of the Mosul Vilayet. The Vilayet has been aelministered as part of Iraq since the end of the war. On economic and racial grounds the case for its inclusion in the Iraq State is exceedingly strong. Nevertheless, the Turks, though their arguments were entirely refuted by Lord Curzon, held tenaesierusly to their claim that the Vilayet should be restored to Turkey. If was finally agreed that a decision on the boundary question should be held over for the moment; that a period of nine months should be fixed (as from the date of the ratification erf the Treaty of Peace with Turkey) during which the frontier between Turkey and Iraq was to be laiel down by " friendly arrangement " between the British and Turkish Governments ; and that, failing such agreement within the period specified, the matter should be referred to the Council erf the League of Nations. This arrangement was embodied in Articles 3of tire; treaty as eventually sighed at Lausanne on the 24th July last. We hopes to start negotiations with the Turks at a very early elate. General Situation. Although this question is still enitstanding, it may, I think, be claimed that the policy initiated by the late Government, and adopted, with the modifications explained above, by the, present Government, has, on the whole, succeeded beyond expectation. Relations between the British representative at Baghdad and the Arab Government are good. Our hope is that, within the maximum perierd of four years, we shall have, discharged in full our obligations to thes Iraq State. We also hope that we shall have; established such strong ties of friendship with the Government and people erf the, country that they will be glad to make fresh arrangements with us, at the termination erf the mandatory period, in which our special position, as the Power mainly instrumental in achieving Arab liberation, will be freely recognized. That is our confident hope. If it is realized, Iraq may yet constitute a stable factor in- the East. I. do not wish, however, to take too sanguine a view of the present situation. There are many difficulties still before us. The Iraq Constituent Assembly has still ter bes electee!. It is impossible to preelict with any certainty what will be, its general attitude, and complexion. Its first task will be to ratify the, treaty concluded by King Feisal, and the subsidiary agreements which I have already mentioned : also to emact the organic law which the Mandatory is required under the terms of the draft mandate to frame for submission to the Council erf the League of Nations. Until these stages have passed it is difficult to speak will full confidence. Tribute to Sir Percy Cox. I should not like ter close, this part, of my statement without paying a tribute to Sir Percy Cerxwho recently retired fremr the lligh-Commissionership for Iraq. He possessed a knowledge; and experience of Middle Eastern affairs that can only be described as unique. They were built up on a, quarter of a century's arduous anei successful work in the Persian Gulf region, where ho acquired an influence that can never have been surpassed. We have been very fortunate in having been able ter count on the assistance of this distinguished public servant in dealing with our Middle; Eastern difficulties. He was succeeded last month by Sir Henry Dobbs, an Indian Civil servant with a distinguished record, who had served previously in Iraq. Palestine. With regard to Palestine, there is'one direction in which the situation has greatly improved since Mr. Churchill spoke, in June, 1921. The garrison has been largely reduced and the cost correspondingly diminished. The actual charge to the British Exchequer in respect of Palestine, was £2,024,000 in .1922-23. The estimate, for 1923-24 is £1,500,000, while we have undertaken to redueie the figure to £1,000,000 in 1924-25. The figure; of £1,500,000 is, of esourse, included in the; amount which I mentioned above as the total estimated esxpenditure in Iraq anel Palestine for this year. Beyond 1924-25 wo have not given any explicit undertaking, but we hope that the progressive reduction of expenditure will go steadily on until the figure has been reduced ter very small dimensions indeed. But our success in this direction must depend on the economic development of the Country, whiesh in its turn depends upon political stability. I wish 1 could report ter you that there has been a substantial improvement in the local political situation during the last two years. In one senses it would be true. Since the Jaffa outbreak in the early part of 1921, which Mr. Churchill mentioned in his speech, there has been no serious disturbance of the public peace, We have, now got a very efficient gendarmerie in Palestine whiesh could be trustee! to deal promptly with any emergency that might arise. But political unrest is by no means a thing of the past. A solution of the Jew-Arab controversy has still to be found. Perhaps 1 may be allowed very briefly to sketch the events of the last two years.