Page:Turkey, the great powers, and the Bagdad Railway.djvu/198

 CHAPTER VIII

GREAT BRITAIN BLOCKS THE WAY

The idea of a trans-Mesopotamian railway was not new to informed Englishmen. As early as 1831 a young British army officer, Francis R. Chesney, who had seen service in the Near East, became impressed with the desirability of constructing a railway from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. From 1835 to 1837—while Moltke was in Turkey studying military topography—Chesney was engaged in exploring the Euphrates Valley and upon his return to England brought glowing tales of the latent wealth of ancient Babylonia. It was not until twenty years later, however, that his plan for a Mesopotamian railway was taken up as a practical business proposition. In 1856 Sir William Andrew incorporated the Euphrates Valley Railway Company, appointed General Chesney as chief consulting engineer, and opened offices at Constantinople to carry on negotiations for a concession from the Imperial Ottoman Government. The plans of the Company were supported enthusiastically by Lord Palmerston, by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, British ambassador at Constantinople, and by the Turkish ambassador in London. The following year the Sultan granted the Euphrates Valley Company a concession for a railway from the Gulf of Alexandretta to the city of Basra, with the understanding that the Ottoman Treasury would guarantee a return of six per cent upon the capital invested in the enterprise. The promoters, however, ex