[50] If he knew of it, there can never have been so serious a diplomatic blunder.
[51] One of two things should have been done: either Mosul should only have been given up against the promise of a large share of its production, or Upper Mesopotamia should have been retained, because, even if its deposits had been exploited by British companies, the presence of France would have forced them to reckon with her.
[52] This phrase does not appear in the official English text of the San Remo Agreement.—Translator's Note.
GREAT BRITAIN AND THE OIL-FIELDS OF THE FRENCH COLONIAL EMPIRE
As early as July 10, 1914, M. Clémentel had appealed to the French Government to prevent foreign Powers from laying their hands upon the oil deposits of Northern Africa. "At a time when Britain is pursuing in Persia a policy which is well known to you, and when oil concessions are, at bottom, the chief cause of the troubles in Mexico," he exclaimed, "the French Government cannot permit its representatives in Algeria, or in Morocco, to give deposits of oil to all comers."
The Government paid no attention to this, for, two years later, Lord Cowdray (Pearson) had obtained a concession of 730,000 hectares for prospecting, and 101,000 for immediate exploitation. These extensive territories were bounded on the east by the railway from Ténès to Orléansville, on the south by the railway from Orléansville to Relizane and thence to Saint-Lucien, on the west by the lines from Saint-Lucien to Saint-Barbe and from Trelat to Oran, and on the north by the sea between Oran and Ténès. And when, on November 9, 1916, M. Ernest Outrey submitted to the Chamber documents demonstrating how the French Government had proceeded to hand over the oil riches of Algeria without consulting Parliament, M. Marcel Sembat, the Minister for Public Works, deemed the following reply a complete justification:
"If you are dealing with lands where the presence of oil is doubtful and where, according to technical experts, you would have to spend many millions upon prospecting, and if a company says to you 'Here are our guarantees; we have competent technicians, and we are prepared, under Government control, to spend four million francs upon prospecting,' what are you to do?"