890g.6363 T 84/152
The Associate General Counsel of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (Guy Wellman) to the Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs, Department of State (Dulles)
[Received March 11.]
Dear Mr. Dulles: A letter under date of the 29th ultimo received today from our representative, Mr. Piesse, in London, states that he had just had a long interview with Mr. Nichols; that Mr. Nichols impressed him with the idea that Article 34 in the Iraq Convention will ultimately be agreed to by the Iraq Government in some form or other acceptable to the American Group. Mr. Nichols admits that there has been considerable delay, but says that this has been caused largely by the change of Government in England, for the permanent officials were not prepared to do anything, or discuss the question with him, until the new Government had decided whether or not it [Page 229] would follow the policy of its predecessors in regard to Mesopotamia generally, and in particular the oil question. Mr. Nichols now says that the Government has indicated that it proposes to follow its predecessors in this respect, and that he had a meeting only on the previous Monday with representatives of the Foreign and Colonial Offices at which he was informed unofficially that the Government would be prepared to instruct the British High Commissioner at Bagdad to support Mr. Keeling in his negotiations with the Iraq Government, and in particular he was to inform the Iraq Government that the British Government was in accord with, and recommended, the Open Door Formula, a complete copy of which has been handed to the British Government, although Mr. Nichols says the Iraq Government has not yet had a copy of it but has been informed of its nature.
Mr. Nichols stated also that the French have practically accepted the general scheme for the American participation, including the plan for the Working Agreement;59 that he was to go to Paris the following week to meet the Directors of the new French company which has been formed for the purpose of taking over the French interest under this plan; and that, within the next few weeks, he hopes to have the Working Agreement signed by the French interests.
The foregoing is for the information of the Department.
Sincerely yours,
- See telegram dated Dec. 12, 1922, from the London representative of the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey to the president of the company, Foreign Relations, 1922, vol. ii, p. 348.↩