This training has resulted in the setting up of what may be termed native dispensaries, which are necessarily of a somewhat elementary nature but which are able to do very valuable work, and these dispensaries are supervised by the Political Officers.
Besides that, communication by wireless is being developed as far as possible. I now turn to the present position and the future position at Aden as discussed by my noble friend. As your Lordships know, His Majesty's Government have been responsible since for the defence of Aden and for political relations with the Protectorate.
There is, however, as your Lordships know, in the Government of India Bill at present before Parliament a clause providing that the Chief Commissioner's Province of Aden—that is, in effect, the Aden Settlement—shall be separated from India and that His Majesty may by Order in Council provide for the future administration of the Aden Settlement. If this clause becomes law, fie intention is that the Secretary of State for the Colonies should assume responsibility for the administration of the Aden Settlement.
His Majesty's Government would then be entirely responsible for the whole of the Aden area. They are already, as I have explained, responsible for the defence of Aden and relations with the Protectorate, and they would take over from the Government of India the administration of the Settlement. So far as it is possible to judge at present this should not affect in any way our position in the Protectorate which should continue much as heretofore.
The noble Lord made no reference to the Abyssinian crisis but I think lie would like some information about that. I gave notice of that to the noble Earl, although I forgot to mention it when I was speaking.
I noticed that the noble Lord did not mention that matter but I know he would like some information on the subject. I am afraid I am not in a position give very much. As far as we are able to judge the Abyssinian crisis has not reacted much upon the position in Aden. There was a question of recruitment which was raised. In the past there has been in operation a system, which has lasted for many years, whereby the Italians were permitted to recruit a certain number of natives from certain parts of the Aden Protectorate and also Yemenis through Aden for service with the Italian Forces in Eritrea and Italian Somaliland.
Some months ago the Italians made a request for permission to recruit in excess of the numbers formerly permitted, but in view of the position between Abyssinia and Italy it was decided that this request could not be acceded to. Beyond this, as I have said, as far as we are able to judge we do not think that the crisis in that part of the world has reacted in any way upon Aden affairs.
There is one other point which the noble Lord raised, and that was in connection with the proposed transfer of the Aden Settlement to His Majesty's Government, whether any move has been made to bring all the Arabic-speaking countries with which His Majesty's Government are concerned in the Middle East under one Department—namely, either the Foreign Office or the Colonial Office.
That is a matter which has been under discussion on a number of occasions previously in your Lordships' House and it has been discussed pretty thoroughly.
On those occasions explanation was given of the difficulties which obviously exist in the way of adopting any such arrangement.
But I should like to inform your Lordships that there has been in existence, for some years, machinery amongst the various Departments of His Majesty's Government with the purpose in view of co-ordinating policy in the Middle East.
This was an arrangement which was set up, I think, by the noble Lord, Lord Passfield, when he was Secretary of State for the Colonies in The Aden Troop was created in to police the territory which was technically only 80 square miles but had a vast hinterland of miles of desert and mountain known as the Aden Protectorate.
Its chiefs were nominally under the control of a political resident who was also the military commander. It later substituted its horses for camels and it was generally involved in patrolling against bandits. The troop was later used in Somaliland and existed until its disbandment in Aden also took on the administration of various islands that the admiralty wished to keep an eye on to help suppress piracy or to warn ships lest they run aground on their treacherous shorelines.
Kamaran Island and Perim Island in the Red Sea were two such islands, and the Kuria Muria chain which was received as a gift from the Sultan of Muscat in were also transferred to Aden for administration in That same year also saw the nearby island of Socotra enter into a Protectorate agreement to be adminstered from Aden also.
By the mid s the modern map of Arabia was taking shape and a fitful sort of peace was falling upon some of its ancient tribal squabbles.
In the Hadhramaut, a young political officer, Harold Ingrams, was able, only a year or two later, to settle 1, years of quarrels almost singlehandedly. But by no amount of pillow fighting could conceal the reality that the tribes were finding unity in opposition to the British. A guerrilla war started in and by the British were ready to leave. At which point the tribes — some traditional, some under the modern labels of communism and Arab nationalism — started fighting among themselves, killing far more than the British ever managed.
Then, as now, Indians were caught up in the middle and trying to escape. Air India was used until its flight engineers refused to fly because of the danger. The Indian government then used the S. Mozaffari , a ship of the state owned Mogul Lines, to evacuate Indians, many with only tenuous links to their homeland.
Many of the refugees were Gujarati and the Railways added extra bogies to trains to Saurashtra to help them reach what relatives they could fine there.
It was an indication of the deep ties the region had always had with Aden, something noted by the Times of India back in , in a report on the peoples of the colony. The generality of them are natives of Cutch and come to the Arabian coast in their childhood; thus they become in manhood able to traffic with the wily Arabs.
British control cemented these ties. Since the Bombay Presidency was the nearest large imperial base, Aden was attached to it, and would remain governed from Bombay till , when it was made a separate department within India. But Indians remained the backbone of its administration and trade, and Gujaratis continued to come over, many moving from there into interior Arabia or across the strait of Aden into Ethiopia and the rest of East Africa. Dhirubhai Ambani was one of them. He started building his fortunes in Aden and his eldest son, Mukesh, was born there.
But it was the man he worked for, Antonin Besse, who really exemplified the cosmopolitan mercantile spirit of Aden.
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