Evening star. [volume], December 11, 1955, Page A-23, Image 23

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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British, Saudis Clash
On Control of Remote
Oasis Near Oil Fields
By EARL H. VOSS
As If the free world hasn’t enough worries In the oil-rich Middle
East, what with the bitter Arab-Israel dispute and the recent Soviet
penetration of the area, another long-smouldering crisis is now rising
to white heat on the desert sands of Arabia. This one involves Great j
Britain and Saudi Arabia. •
At issue is control of a small but strategically located oasis called |
Buraimi, from which the fringes of
the arid Arabian peninsula's vast
oil reservoir are being explored.
An international arbitration tri
bunal met last September to de
cide who was the true sovereign
In the nine villages of the oasis.
But on September 16 the British
suddenly withdrew. They charged
the Saudis with bribing some of the
principals concerned, including one
member of the neutral court. In
October, British-led Arab troops
took forcible possession of the
Buraimi oasis area. They claimed
to have found new evidence of
bribery of local chieftains.
The Foreign Office in London re
fers to the military adventure as
"re-establishing control," but the
Saudis are screaming “military
coup” and “aggression.”
The Arab League is lining up be
hind the Saudis. King Saud has
complained to the United Nations
Security Council about British Lan
caster bombers violating Saudi air
to buzz Arabian-American Oil Com
pany (Aramco) parties. The Imam
(religious leader) of Oman has Just
accused Great Britain of invading
his territory.
How did all this come to pass in
this land of nomad shepherds, Ara
bian warriors and, more recently,
oil-seeking Caucasians?
Shifting Sands
Britain’s interest in the eastern
end of the Arabian peninsula dates
back to the late 18th cen
tury, when her ships engaged in
trade with India were being
harassed by pirates based on the
Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
To put a stop to this, the British
arranged a truce with the seven
Oman (East Arabian) sheikdoms on
the Persian Gulf. The sheiks agreed
to end their pirate raids and to turn
over their foreign affairs to Her
Majesty’s (Queen Victoria’s) gov
ernment. In return the sheikdoms
became British protectorates, as was
the imperialist fashion of the day
Britain also made a less formal
deal with the Sultan of Muscat,
around the corner from the Trucial
states. The Sultan’s foreign affairs
are conducted by the British only
on his request.
Oil Changes Picture
Britain claims always to have
had an Interest in Buraimi and
other interior areas said to have
been historically under their friends’
Jurisdiction. But until oil was dis
covered oa the Arabian peninsula
in 1982, exact delimitation of desert
borders had not become a burning
issue.
Under the stimulus of the 1932
oil strike and King Xbn Saud's 1933
decision to give American instead
of British oil companies the con
cession to prospect in his terri
tories, Great Britain made an effort
in 1935 to reach an agreement with
the Saudi king on the legal limits
of his domains. Both sides made
claims, as shown in the two 1935
lines in the accompanyihg maps.
But the negotiations were unsuc
cessful.
Ip 1937 the British made slight
concessions, but the Saudis were
unimpressed. Finally, in 1939, the
whole problem was shelved for the
duration of World War n.
1949 Line
By 1949 things had quieted down
enough for King Ibn Saud to ad
vance a new claim, this one much
farther eastward than his 1935
offer (see map), and terminating
at Buraimi.
The British countered this with
charges of expansionism, and claims
that the “legal” boundary of Saudi
Arabia lies well to the west, fixed
back in 1914 by an Anglo-Turkish
treaty, when King Ibn Saud was
a sub-ruler under the Turks.
There i» no doubt, of course, that
the Saudis’ 1949 claims to Buraimi
and other territories in southwest
ern Arabia are seriously weakened
by their 1935 offer to settle for
much less territory. \
Britain retaliated in 1952 by re
vising its line Inward from the
north, expanding the trucial sheik
dom of Abu Dhabi in defiance, nat
urally. of the new Saudi claims.
Also in 1952, Saudi agents arrived
in Buraimi to compete for the loyal
ty of the local village sheiks. The
“Trucial Oman Levies” (conscript
Arab soldiers under British officers)
tried to blockade the Saudis, but
they continued to thrive and dis
1952
OPPOSING CLAIMS hav« roomed map of Arabian peninsula since 1913.
pensed patronage, or bribes, depend- ‘
ing on the point of view.
British Reject Plebiscite
At about the same time, the Saudi i
Arabians proposed to the British
that an internationally supervised
plebiscite be arranged to decide sov- 1
ereignty in the Buraimi region. But ;
the British backed away; they said
it would not be "appropriate.” j
The British still make much of the 1
fact—which the Saudis do not dis
pute—that the Saudi official in
Buraimi traveled through territory
belonging to the ruler of Abu Dhabi
to set up shop. This signified, to the
British, that Buraimi, far from be
ing an old outpost of the Saudis,
was actually inaccessible to them.
Saudis make no such admission.
They concede that the way through
Abu Dhabi is less arduous, but i
claim that overland access is a
reality. There are no four-lane
highways, of course, by either the
Abu Dhabi route or through the
interior.
The Saudis also poke fun at the
Abu Dhabi sheik for allowing Turki ;
to travel unmolested through his (
territory. They take the incident I
as an indication of the weakness j
of Abu Dhabi control, even in areas
which the Saudis do not dispute.
Arbitration
Although the British were deeply
concerned about what they re
ferred to as Saudi bribery activities
in Buraimi. the Foreign Office pro- I
posed arbitration in 1952, to counter
the Arabs' call for a plebiscite.
The British kept repeating their :
proposal, and rejecting Baudi pleas ;
for a plebiscite, until the Saudis 1
finally consented to arbitration in j
1954. The two sides agreed on
a five-man tribunal, three neutrals
from Belgium, Cuba and Pakistan,
and one member from each side.
All were distinguished men of
international reputation. The chair
man was the eminent Belgian !
jurist, Dr. Charles De Visscher. The j
Cuban was Judge Ernesto Dihigo, ;
ex-Foreign Minister of Cuba and
professor of Roman Law at the Uni
versity of Havana. The Pakistani I
judge was Dr. Mahmud Hassan, I
vice chancellor of Dacca University, j-
Sir Reader Bullard, longtime
British diplomatic official in the
Middle East, represented Great
Britain on the tribunal. The Saudi
Arabians sent their deputy foreign
minister. Yusuf Yasin.
At the tribunal's organization
meeting in Nice last January, the
Saudis warned the tribunal that
they were apprehensive about the
arbitration’* effect on conditions in
Buraimi. They suggested that a
neutral supervisory committee,, be
set up, under the court, to reside ;
in Buraimi during the arbitration
period.
Sir Reader Bullard opposed the !
idea. The tribunal decided to put !
off the issue, to wait and see if the ■
feared unrest developed.
Bribery Charge
The tribunal was to get down to
business last September when it met
in Geneva. Both sides had by that
time prepared printed “memorials"
presenting their cases to the Judges.
But the British were still worried
about foul play at the oasis.
Before the court ever took up the
substantive problem of sovereignty
in Buraimi. the British accused the
Saudi Arabians of gross misconduct.
The bookkeeper for the Saudis in
Buraimi. it was alleged, had tried
to bribe the brother of the Sheik
of Abu Dhabi, offering him 400
million rupees in one payment of
gold 'approximately SBO million, or
in Arab reckoning, 1,000 camel
loads). The British added that the
Saudis had also violated the pre
arbitration “temporary standstill”
agreement by augmenting the 15-
man police force they had been
allowed.
The British put the full weight
of their prestige behind the bribery
charge. Saudis laughed it all off
as fantastic. Who—they wanted to
know—would seriously expect a
lowly bookkeeper to negotiate such
a tremendous deal? And how
could anyone take seriously a one
shot delivery of that much gold?
Even King Saud would have a hard
time rounding up that many camels,
they quipped.
Great Britain produced the man
who claimed he had received the
bribery offer. He was put on the
witness stand and produced a
(Continued on Page A-27)
EDITORIALS—FEATURES
REVjEW OF TljE WEEK
Labor s Big 2 End 20-Year Split
Big business and big labor met in New York City last week
—but not with each other.
The National Association of Manufacturers held its 60th
annual convention at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The American
Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations held
its first annual meeting at a National Guard armory.
The two meeting places were about a mile apart, geograph-
ically, and a million miles apart
philosophically. The conventioneers
didn’t have much chance to rub
elbows but each group was think
ing of the other. The NAM was
worried that the new union federa
tion would have too much economic
and political power, and Hhe AFL
CIO was hopeful that it could nego
tiate a non-aggression pact with
the NAM from labor’s new position
of strength.
A labor spokesman went to the
Waldorf to trade criticisms with a
business spokesman—and they part
ed unconvinced.
When the week ended the groups
remained the same distance apart.
LABOR
AFL and CIO Merge;
Politicians Court and
Condemn Leaders
When George Meany and Walter
P. Reuther jointly grasped a huge
gavel and banged it down last week,
the first convention of the Ameri
can Federation of Labor-Congress
of Industrial Organizations was
called to order, welding 15 million
workers into the largest labor or
ganization of the free world.
As the delegates to the New
York convention sat back to listen
to an address by the President of
the United States, many an ob
server thought to himself. “Or
ganized labor has come a long
way.”
Just how far could be under
stood by looking at the early years
of American unionism.
Until an 1837 court decision, most
organized labor activities were Il
legal. But with the decision that
routine union activities were law
ful, the unions started to grow—
FOREIGN REVIEW
U. S. Maps New Strategy
For 'Second Cold War'
Effects of President Elsenhower’s return to fundamental decision
making, after the heart-attack layoff, could be observed in several key
developments last week.
In Chicago Thursday evening, Secretary of State John Foster
Dulles laid down the new general line along which the administration
proposes to counter the Soviet Union's “second cold war” offensive.
Briefly, he said the United States Intends to keep its military guard up,
and match or best the Soviet Union
in its new verbo-economic offensive
among underdeveloped countries.
First steps toward carrying .out
these policies were already being
made. The military budget. Sec
retary of Defense Charles E. Wilson
said last week, would remain at the
same level as last year—s34.s bil
lion—or, some reports indicated,
spending might go up SSOO million.
But within this huge appropria
tion, emphasis was switching and
the pressure on the Soviet Union
was mounting apace. The Defense
Department let it be known Fri
day that all three services would
be concentrating much more heav
ily—and spending perhaps twice as
much money—on the whole spec
trum of guided missiles, particu
larly the long-range and medium
range ballistic missiles which could
reach the Soviet Union from a
variety of launching sites.
The Air Force is concentrating
on the long-range “IBM” inter
continental ballistic missile, which
could be launched from the conti
nental United States. The Army
and Navy are to pool their resources
and work on a medium-range mis
sile, which could travel 600 to
800 miles, and be launched either
from bases now surrounding the
Soviet land mass, or from the
mobile launching sites of the United
States Navy.
The National Security Council
was also reported to have taken a
significant decision on foreign aid
—to ask Congress for some S2OO
million to help Egypt build her
ambitious Aswan dam across the
Nile River. The World Bank, also
heavily endowed by the United
States, is now said to be ready to
lend Egypt S2OO million. This is a
project tailor-made for the com
bined economic-political objectives
of American foreign policy.
Economically, the dam will trans
form the Egyptian economy, en
riching its agriculture by some
thing like a third and providing
enough electricity to urbanize vast
tracts of pastoral Egypt.
Politically, the project is spec
tacular enough to dramatize the
American part in making it possible.
And the fact that the Soviet Union’s
highly publicized offer to help
could be spurned would mean an
important victory over the Com
munists in the world psychological
struggle.
A Bottle Decided
The President's decision on the
Aswan dam was indication that the
liberal, nonfiscal wing of the cabi
net had won an important battle
Inside the administration, although,
of course, one could not jump to
the conclusion that this group had
won the "war.”
This one-shot performance em
phatically did not mean that
Treasury Secretary George Hum
phrey and the less-free spenders
had surrendered. It was, perhaps,
significant that Mr. Humphrey told
t Jiuittoj gfef
WASHINGTON, D. C., DECEMBER 11, 1955
slowly. Employers still held the
heavy weapons, however, and the
19 th Century was one of business
expansion, not union growth.
In the 1880 s the first big labor
federation was formed, the Knights
of Labor. It lasted as a real force
for less than a decade. It fell after
losing some big strikes and after
a cigarmaker named Samuel Gom
pers organized a federation of craft
unions, the American Federation of
Labor, to preserve craft privileges.
Growth and Strife
The AFL in 1886 had about 150.-
000 members. It grew slowly until
the first Roosevelt gave it White
House support. Membership Jumped
to 2 million. The pre-World War I
years of labor-management strife
slowed down growth, however, and
radical activities of the Industrial
Workers of the World caused strife
within the house of labor.
The AFL grew again during the
war, only to shrink in *the ’2os,
when prosperity seemed to leave no
part for unionism to play. It was
the Great Depression and the New
Deal which brought labor its organ
izational growth which has never
stopped.
In 1935 organized labor split, how
ever. over the issue of craft vs. in
dustrial unionizatiort. John L.
Lewis set up the rival CIO (first
called the Committee for Industrial
Organization, then the Congress
of Industrial Organizations).
After Mr. Lewis bet his leadership
on the candidacy of Wendell Will
kie—and lost—Philip Murray be
came president of the group. There
were attempts to bring Mr. Mur
ray and the, AFL president, William
Green, together, but there were too
many personal and professional
animosities to make reunion pos
sible.
But three years ago both Mr.
Green and Mr. Murray died, and
reporters just before a Camp David
Security Council meeting last week
that he hoped the budget would be
balanced this year, but stubbornly
. avoided repeating his previously
voiced hopes about a tax cut.
Neither wing of the administra
tion views the Aswan decision as
a panicky reaction to recent Soviet
overtures in Egypt and other parts
of South Asia. It will take months
to Judge how much of the present
Soviet economic offensive is words
and how much is deeds (see Her
bert Bratter’s article. Page A-25.)
But Congress will not take final
action on the foreign aid budget
before the middle of next year. We
may have a deeper insight into the
Russians’ new game by then.
Tales of another victory for the
freer spenders floated over Wash
ington last week. The govern
ment’s principal propaganda arm.
the United States Information
Agency, was reported to have gained
Administration approval for asking
a 50 per cent Increase in its budget,
to $125 million for Fiscal Year 1957,
beginning next July 1.
Secretary of States Dulles gave
the broad outline of the Adminis
tration’s reaction to the Soviet
Union’s post-summit offensive in
his talk to the Illinois Manufac
turers’ Association in Chicago
Thursday evening.
Dullesf Outline
When President Eisenhower and
his Secretary of State went to the
summit meeting in Geneva last
July they presented the Com
munists with an either-or proposal.
Either the Soviet Union could
agree to change its society funda
mentally, submit to a genuine dis
armament system, turn inward to
its internal problems and open the
way to a real relaxation of world
tension—
Or the Kremlin could go on with
the increasingly expensive project
of matching the United States in
the arms race four rubles and
more to the dollar.
Moscow chose the “or.”
It looks like a real horse race.
America has the larger economy but
Russia has much better discipline.
The cocky Reds are even expanding
the scope of the race to challenge
the United States in the new mid
20th century brand of foreign eco
nomic warfare, introduced in the
Truman era.
Here is what Mr. Dulles indicated
the USSR choice would mean to
the United States:
• On the military side, a reliance
on limited atomic war to deter, or
win, if necessary, any war the
Soviet bloc might start. He called
it "selective massive retaliation.”
He spoke with new authority, since
the Army, Air Force and Navy had
lust completed their first big test
of new atomic-age concepts in a
12-State maneuver in the South
(Contlnued on Page A-27)
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SOLIDARITY FOREVER—AFL President Meany and CIO Chief Reuther seal the merger of their two big unions.
Mr. Meany and Mr. Reuther took
over the AFL and CIO. respectively.
They found that much of the old
hard feeling had disappeared, and
that large majorities in both groups
wanted federation.
That federation was sealed last
week, and 15 million workers (out
of 17 million who are union mem
bers) were for the first time in his
tory united in one labor movement.
What to Do?
8o there they were, 15 million
strong; what were they going to
do with themselves?
First on the agenda, for all prac
tical purposes, was the Job of
achieving true unity. Though all
votes at the convention were unan
imous. there was plenty of strife
behind the scenes. Veteran labor
observers guessed it would take
several years to reduce all the prob
lems to manageable size.
They had to stamp out crime
and corruption in some member
unions, decide questions of racial
Integration in others and work out
problems of overlapping jurisdic
tions in many.
Meanwhile, the convention de
cided, recruitment should be the
big job insofar as the public was
concerned The convention set a
five-year goal of 15 million new
members.
While those were the major items
of business, the talk revolved
around another subject: Unions in
politics.
President Eisenhower himself
brought up the subject in his con
vention - opening address. But he
was by no means the first to take
note of big labor’s new power. Po
litical orators for months have
been arguing the propriety of labor
exercising its strength in politics.
Senator Barry Goldwater, Repub
lican of Arizona, had said that the
new labor federation would have
no moral right to indorse presi
dential candidates; Senator H.
Alexander Smith, Republican of
New Jersey, extended that doctrine
to congressional candidates; Harold ,
E. Stassen. special assistant to the
President and frequent presidential
candidate, said labor’s increased
political activity was a menace to
the Nation's welfare.
Eisenhower's Blessing
President Eisenhower, however,
did not view with alarm. He recog
nized the interest of the new fed
eration in public matters outside
the realm of wages and hours, and
urged only that in speaking out
on these issues the AFL-CIO re
spect the rights of the minorities
within the union.
Secretary of Labor James P.
Mitchell went even farther. He
urged the group to speak with a
“loud and clear voice” in politics.
He wished the federation well in
its goal for new members, particu
larly in its drive for strength in
the South.
Mr. Mitchell’s friendliness was
hardly overshadowed by that of
Democratic speakers at the con
vention.
The two leading candidates for
the Democratic • presidential nomi
nation, Adlai E. Stevenson and
Averell Harriman, praised the un
ion men and defended them vig
orously against their Republican
critics. Mr. Stevenson, who got the
biggest hand of all the speakers,
claimed leading Republicans were
trying to foment class dissension
by criticizing labor.
“No election, no office, is worth
such a price,” Mr. Stevenson said,
“and I suggest that we put an end
to it—and quick.”
There was little doubt that the
union officials will be of more help
to Democrats than Republicans in
the coming elections. Mr. Meany
and Mr. Reuther said the big union
would expand its political activi
ties, and the convention approved
a string of resolutions critical of
the Republican labor relations pol
icy.
There was considerable question,
however, as to the weight the AFL
CIO officials could swing. Mr.
Meany himself said that neither
he nor anyone else could tell a
union member how to vote. Re-
sults in elections In recent years
have borne out that statement.
Still, 15 million members are sure
to make the AFL-CIO a potent
pressure group, one to be listened
to by prudent politicians.
N.A.M.
Industrialists Rebuff
Meany's Peace Plan,
Score 'Socialism'
Members of the National Asso
ciation of Manufacturers, meeting
2,000 strong at the Waldorf, had
these things on their minds last
week: The AFL-CIO, politics, taxes,
the expanding economy and creep
ing socialism.
Speakers made it clear they
thought the merged AFL and CIO
would form a threat to “Individual
freedom and individual responsi
bility.” Outgoing President Henry
G. Riter 3d criticized the big union
for its plan to mail the voting
records of Congressmen to all its
15 million members. He called this
a “union blacklist of Congressmen.”
Meanwhile AFL-CIO President
Meany offered to talk peace with
the NAM. His announced idea was
to find some area of agreement
which could cut down on future
labor-management strife. He didn't
say so, but doubtless he felt his
big new union was in a good po
sition to bargain.
The NAM was having none of
it. however. Incoming President
Cola G. Parker said he had no in
tention of working out any kind
of agreement with Mr. Meany. “I
think that is a matter for the in
dividual companies to take up with
the union,” he said.
Mr. Meany w r as invited to address
the NAM, however. His speech was
conciliatory, emphasizing the com
mon interests of labor and man
agement and claiming peaceful in
tentions for the new federation.
Charles Sligh, Jr.. NAM board chair
man, answered him with a sharp
criticism of union political action,
“lawless” strikes and economic
restraints imposed by labor.
In an even sharper retort, de
livered after the set speeches, Mr.
Meany defended union action, spe
cifically in politics. He said that
if unions could not gain a voice
through the two political parties,
they would organize a third party
of their own.
Ike Supporters
NAM members shaped up as Ei
senhower supporters in convention
discussions, but President Parker
said Mr. Eisenhower should an
nounce his plans soon enough that
other candidates can enter the pri
maries. He said he himself was a
Knowland man.
(Senator William F. Know
land, Republican of California,
told friends, meanwhile, that he
would declare for the G. O. P.
nomination if President Eisen
hower did not reveal his plans
by February 1.)
Taxes must be the No. 1
target of the NAM in 1956, the
convention decided. The group
wants a ceiling of 35 per cent on
Federal income taxes.
There was no optimism that this
goal would be reached, but the
convention was confident that
some tax cuts would be made in
the coming year
The outlook for business in '56
is mighty good, the convention was
told. Administration spokesmen,
from Secretary of Commerce Sin
clair Weeks on down, said the
coming year should set new rec
ords. Capital expenditure on new
plants and equipment will run 12
per cent above the current year,
Mr. Weeks said. Mr. Weeks urged
the NAM to help hold down prices
and to watch lor dangerous in
creases in consumer debt and in
ventories.
But not all is rosy in the future,
President Parker warned. Ameri
can preoccupation with economic
security and Government aid is
leading to socialism, he said.
GENERAL NEWS
America even now, he said, is
“well on the way to the achieve
ment of a Communist state as
blueprinted by Marx.”
ECONOMY
Things Keep Booming;
Treasury Sees Hope
For Balanced Budget
The announcement by Secretary
of Commerce Weeks at the NAM
convention that plant expansion
would reach a new high In 1956
was just one of the indicators mad*
public last week which spelled
prosperity for the coming year.
Government economists reported:
Expenditures for plants and
equipment will run about $31.6
billion, up $1.5 billion over this
year.
Employment was at 64.8 million
jobs in November, 3 million higher
than the previous year, despite a
seasonal drop of 300,000 from Oc
tober.
Total personal income was run
ning at an annual rate of $309.5
billion in October, a new record
and a gain of $1.5 billion over Sep
tember.
At the same time, Budget and
Treasury Department officers were
optimistic that the Federal budget
for the current fiscal year wall be
balanced. Spending will be no
lower than anticipated, but Secre
tary of the Treasury George
Humphrey said revenue is running
ahead of estimates. The reason:
Prosperity.
TRANSIT
Tydings Group Given
Inside Track to Take
Over Local System
The Capital Transit Co. was
given one year to get out of town
last August after city fathers blew
their tops at Transit Chief Louis
E. Wolfson during the 52-day
strike. In the four months since
the revocation of the franchise was
ordered, the District has not been
able to find a new company.
Last week, however, the Public
Utilities Commission seemed to be
making some progress.
It announced that hearings would
be held this Thursday to see if the
new franchise should be given to a
Baltimore group headed by former
Democratic Senator Millard E.
Tydings. The Tydings application,
the P. U. C. said, was the only one
of five principal proposals which
contained a solid financing plan.
There was no assurance, of course,
that any applicant would - get the
franchise. There are tremendous
problems of private financing,
operation and financial concessions
by the city to be worked out.
A couple of samples of the hitches
which can arise:
Star Reporter Hector McLean
disclosed last week that the financial
backer of one applicant, the Met
ropolitan Transit Co-operative, has
been in an intricate tangle of
trouble recently with the Securities
Exchange Commission and with
Federal tax and fraud laws. The
P. U. C., which has no money with
which to make a detailed investiga
tion of franchise applicants, was
not fully informed on all the
questionable activities uncovered by
The Star reporter.
Broyhill's Proposal
And Representative Joel T. Broy
hill, Republican of Virginia, tried
last week to bring Mr. Wolfson back
into the Washington transit pic
ture. Mr. Broyhil! called Mr. Wolf
son to Washington to ask him if
he would keep the franchise, pro
vided Congress repealed the ouster
law. The Florida industrialist said
he might be interested—provided
the city made certain financial
concessions.
The P. U. C, retorted that it had
no intention of wooing Mr. Wolfson,
It was clear, however, that similar
concessions will have to be made
to any private operator of the tran
sit system.
A-23