TURKEY: Chester Dissension

Colonel K. E. Clayton-Kennedy, one-fifth owner of the Chester Concession for the interior development of Turkey, recently arrived in Paris from Anatolia, main Turkish province in Asia Minor. He denied rumors that the Turkish Government had offered the Concession to the German Stinnes over the heads of the Ottoman-American Development Co., the concern which holds the Chester Concession. He stated, as proof to the contrary, that materials were in the course of shipment to Turkey; that engineers on the spot ” were working under extra pressure to make up for the regrettable delays arising from the internal controversies which have now ended; ” that “full activities” are impossible owing to the approach of Winter.

In Manhattan dissension arose in the ranks of the Company’s directors. Major General George Washington Goethals (Panama Canal constructor), Frederick S. Blackall, F. B. Potter, H. C. Sheridan, A. S. Robert severed their connection with the Chester Concession. Commander Arthur Chester, son of Admiral Chester who obtained the concession which bears his name from the Turkish Government, repudiated the management of the concern and said that the ” false and misleading statements made by Colonel Clayton-Kennedy and his associates” were bringing ruin upon the project. The dispute arose because the directors could not agree as to the best methods of financing the Concession.

The real owners of the Concession are now: Henry Woodhouse (original name Mario Terenzio Enrico Casalegno), W. E. D. Stokes (TIME, Nov. 12), Charles A. Barnard, Colonel Clayton-Kennedy, Admiral Colby M. Chester.

In a letter to the shareholders Mr. Woodhouse proposed later to in-crease the board of directors from seven to 16 and invite ” representa-tives of 12 large American industries, which are expected to benefit most from the development of the Concession,” to fill the vacancies.

The Chester Concession, in conformity to its agreement with the

Turkish Government, has “to construct and operate 2,700 miles of railroad, to exploit all mines and minerals found in a 25-mile zone along the right of way of this road, which, according to estimates made upon various surveys, cover:

“1) the famous Mosul and other oil fields, aggregating from 4,000,000,000 to 8,000,000,000 barrels potentially, or between one-sixth and one-tenth of the world’s total oil resources.

“2) Copper deposits comprising over 400,000,000 tons of rich ore.

“3) About 500 gold, platinum, silver, manganese, iron, tin, zinc, salt, coal and other mines and deposits.”