Mr. Bowles (Conservative member from King’s Lynn, 1892–1906, and Liberal from the same constituency, 1910–1916) was a frank defender of the interests of the stockholders of the Smyrna-Aidin Railway. He believed that investors were entitled to governmental protection of their investments, whether at home or abroad. He left no doubt, however, that he took his stand on high grounds of patriotism as well. He informed the House that “he did not object to the railway, because all railways were good feeders of ships. But this was not a railway; it was a financial fraud and a political conspiracy—a fraud whereby English trade would suffer and a conspiracy whereby the political interests of England would be threatened. It amounted to a military and commercial occupation by Germany of the whole of Asia Minor.”[14] Comparable to the interests of the Smyrna-Aidin Railway were those of the Euphrates and Tigris Navigation Company, Ltd. Under this name the Lynch Brothers had been operating steamers on the Tigris and the Shatt-el-Arab since the middle of the nineteenth century. In the trade between Bagdad and Basra they enjoyed a practical monopoly. In the absence of competition they were able to render indifferent service at exorbitant rates, and there was nothing to disturb their tranquillity except an occasional complaint from a British merchant. But the old order was about to change. The Bagdad Railway concession of 1903 (articles 9 and 23) destroyed the monopoly of the Lynch Brothers by granting to the Railway Company limited rights of navigation on the Tigris. Construction of the Mesopotamian sections of the Railway, furthermore, would be almost certain to kill, by competition, profitable navigation between Bagdad and Basra. The course of the Tigris is shallow and winding, subject to heavy rises and falls, and constantly changing with the formation and disappearance of sand shoals. The river journey from Bagdad to Basra is about five hundred miles and takes from four to five days by steamer, under favorable conditions. The distance by land is about three hundred miles and could be traversed by railway in a single day’s journey, regardless of weather conditions. For passengers and most classes of freight the Bagdad Railway promised more economical transportation. The Lynch Brothers were determined, however, to resist such rude encroachment on their profitable preserves. In defence of their interests they wrapped themselves in the Union Jack and called upon their home government for protection; they were patriotic to the last degree and were determined “that the custody of a privilege highly important to British commerce would never pass to Germany except over the dead bodies of the principal partners.”[15] Overcharge their countrymen they might; surrender this prerogative to a German railway they would not!