Colonial Office Informs Parliament of Dead Sea Grant to Novomejsky and Tulloch

The House of Commons was officially informed of the details and the arrangements made by the Colonial Office for the granting of the concession to exploit the minerals of the Dead Sea in Palestine to Engineer Moses Novomejsky and Major Tulloch, who were found the most suitable tenderers for the project.

In a White Paper submitted by the Colonial Office the plan is described and the names of those who will financially back the project are given. Novomejsky and Tulloch will operate the concession through a special Dead Sea company which has the support of four private London companies, the Palestine Economic Corporation of New York and the Jewish Colonial Trust of London. The Russo-Asiatic Consolidated Company, Ltd., is one of the four London companies cooperating. The Earl of Lytton will be the chairman of the company which will operate the concession.

It is further understood that it is the intention of Engineer Novomejsky and Major Tulloch, in agreement with their financial supporters, that the new company’s articles of association contain a provision to the effect that the chairman of the board of directors must always be a British subject and that British subjects or British subjects and Palestinian subjects should always form the majority in the board of directors of the company.

Speaking today in the House of Commons during the discussion on the Palestine-Transjordania estimates, Colonial Secretary Amery, referring to the White Paper on the Dead Sea, stated that the Dead Sea region contains vast quantities of minerals. Whether these minerals could be extracted to yield commercial profit is uncertain, but the governments of Palestine and Transjordania have carried on negotiations which resulted in a practical conclusion satisfactory to both sides.