The Admiralty Memorandum recalls the fact that the present First
Lord stated in Parliament last July that a necessary part of the ultimate policy of the Admiralty must be that the Government "should become the owners, or at any rate the controllers, at the source of at least a propor- tion of the natural oil which we require." The political and strategical aspects of the agreement are discussed in a critical spirit by the Times of Wednesday, where it is pointed out that nearly all the oil-bearing areas proved or reported by the company lie in the neutral zone of Persia, a notoriously turbulent district, where Great Britain has no preferential control or interest. What is more, the duty of protecting the Admiralty property would inevitably devolve on the Indian Army, thus creating precisely the responsibility which the Foreign Office has hitherto explicitly renounced. It is clear that, while Government control of part of the oil supply is desirable, our position is seriously impaired if we are largely dependent on sources lying in an indefensible area.
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