On the other hand, however, there was a considerable and a powerful group in France which urged the French Government, if not to support the project of the Bagdad Railway, at least to put no obstacles in its way. The members of this group were French financiers with investments in Turkey. They believed that the construction of the Railway would usher in a new era of prosperity in the Ottoman Empire which would materially increase the value of the Turkish securities which they owned. If the interests of these financiers were not supported by historical traditions and nationalist sentiment, they were tangible and supported by imposing facts. It was estimated, in 1903, that French investors controlled three-fifths, amounting to a billion and a half of francs, of the public obligations of the Imperial Ottoman Treasury. French promoters owned about 366 million francs in the securities of Turkish railroads and over 162 millions in various industrial and commercial enterprises in Asia Minor. French banks had approximately 176 million francs invested in their branches in the Near East. The total of all French investments in Turkey was more than two and a half billion francs.[11] The French-controlled Imperial Ottoman Bank, the French-owned Smyrna-Cassaba Railway, and the French-administered Ottoman Public Debt Council all favored the promotion of the Bagdad Railway idea. For a time, the French Government decided to follow the lead of the financial interests. French bankers, in 1899, had entered into an agreement with the _Deutsche Bank_ to operate the Anatolian and Smyrna-Cassaba systems under a joint rate agreement, to coöperate in the construction of the Bagdad Railway, and to attempt to secure diplomatic support for their respective enterprises.[12] At the request of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, M. Constans, the French Ambassador at Constantinople, adopted a policy of “benevolent neutrality” toward the negotiations of the _Deutsche Bank_ with the Ottoman Ministry of Public Works. This course was approved by M. Delcassé, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who considered the Bagdad Railway harmless because French capitalists were to participate in its construction and operation. Just how much this diplomatic non-interference assisted the _Deutsche Bank_ in obtaining the concessions of 1899 and 1903 is an open question. It is extremely doubtful if French objections could have blocked the award of the concessions, although M. Chéradame subsequently maintained that the consummation of the plans of the _Deutsche Bank_ would have been impossible without the tacit coöperation of the French embassy at Constantinople.[13]