[6] A letter from Mr. E. Rechnitzer to the Sultan, dated August 16, 1899, accuses M. Constans of having publicly referred to the “accord” between French and German interests in Turkish railways. Dr. Karl Helfferich states that the agreement between the two railway companies was supplemented by a gentlemen’s agreement between the two ambassadors. _Die Vorgeschichte des Weltkrieges_ (Berlin, 1919), p. 127. This would seem to be confirmed by André Chéradame, _op. cit._, pp. 48 _et seq._ [7] The proposals previously made called for an absolute guarantee of several thousands of francs income per kilometre per annum. Mr. Rechnitzer’s plan called for “an annual guarantee of 15,000 francs in gross receipts per kilometre, the said guarantee to be paid exclusively out of the excess of the tithes of the _vilayets_ through which the railway is to pass; it being understood that in the event that the excess of such tithes be not sufficient to defray the kilometric guarantee, the concessionaire shall have no redress against the Imperial Government on account of the insufficiency.” Memorandum of May 14, 1899, from Mr. Rechnitzer’s files. Although this plan had the great advantage of requiring no immediate payments from the Ottoman Treasury, it probably would have cost Turkey more in the long run, for the guarantee specified was excessively high. Compare with provisions of the Bagdad Railway concession of March, 1903, _infra_. Mr. Rechnitzer also asked for extensive port privileges in Alexandretta and in the port to be determined on the Persian Gulf. The chief features of the plan were outlined in a pamphlet published in London, July 29, 1899, entitled _The Euphrates Valley Railway_. [8] Mr. Rechnitzer now has in his possession a beautiful watch—inlaid with a map of the Ottoman Empire, in precious stones, showing the route of the proposed Euphrates Valley Railway—which he presented to Abdul Hamid in 1899. He repurchased it at a public auction held in Paris after the Young Turk revolution of 1909.