'File 14/115 VII Annex (B 9) Abu Musa oxide: collected background material on the case' [‎65r] (140/1904)

9
simply contend that it was a piece of defensive tactics iustified by the circum
stances.
Issue (/).—They introduce the fresh and interesting contention that the Sheikh
of Shargah has no jurisdiction over the concessionaires inter se, as they reside in Lingah,
in the jurisdiction of the British consulate-general, and not in that of the resident in
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
Brief Comment on chief items of fresh Evidence in German Rejoinder.
It is impossible that the German rejoinder can be fully dealt with in detail,
except on the spot and with vernacular documents at hand for reference, but the
following preliminary general observations are offered in comment, pending examination
on the spot
As regards Issue (a).—Certain new items of evidence are adduced to prove Sahm's
private ownership of the island.
1. The exercise by Salim of the right to jetsam and flotsam.
These Arab sheikhs have no clear idea on such subjects, and the exercise of this
right by Salim is quite compatible with an arrangement or understanding between
uncle and nephew under which Sagar allows Salim to enjoy what income there may be
from the island. We have not stated anvthing to the contrary, and this position is
compatible with what is stated in my note on the history of Abu Musa. (Appendix 6
of our case.)
2. f The first and rejected draft, dated the 6th April, 1898, of the oxide concession,
in which Salim uses expressions suggesting formal ownership.
This may equally well have been rejected, because Salim found that he could not
make good such pretensions, and thought it better to modify them.
3. Receipt of revenue from mother-of-pearl and " canary-seed." ( u Canary-seed "
must, I think, be a mistranslation of some unfamiliar Arabic word, probably " zinni,"
the g^'ant oyster, as distinct from the ordinary pearl oyster.)
By the same analogy as that drawn in the case of jetsam and flotsam, as this
payment was an item of revenue from the island which the uncle Salim enjoyed under,
his understanding with his nephew the ruler, it was quite in order that Sheikh Sagar,
in his conmrereialr capacJEy asTa member of the mining concession, should share the
payment made by his partners to Salim on this or any other account which could be
regarded as income of the island. Thus Salim did not exercise the right to usufruct
adversely to the ruling sheikh as the German rejoinder claims, but adversely to Sagar,
qua member of the mining concession.
4. Lease by Salim of <s mica' 5 deposits on the 26th December, 1898, "Mica"
should, I think, read " gypsum." There is no marketable mica on the island, as far as
I know„ This is the most inconvenient piece of evidence which they have produced,
because it tends to show that Salim granted the concession as tenant, and not as
regent. The fact probably is that the ruling sheikh would probably give Salim a free
hand so long as the latter's management of the island did not prejudice his sovereign
rights or obligations to the British Government, and so long as the income derivable
from it did not increase to a figure in excess of Salim's just deserts or needs. It had
now done so.
The alternative German claim that, even if Salim's formal ownership be doubted,
his practical enjoyment of the usufruct is proved, will, I think, have to be conceded, in
fact has been conceded, but with the reservation that such enjoyment is with the
consent and permission of the ruling sheikh. The instance they quote as tending to
prove that Salim exercised the privilege adversely to the ruling sheikh is not in point,
as I have pointed out above.
The personal relation of the one sheikh to the other must be Temembered. Salim
must be thirty years older than his nephew Sheikh Sagar, and was himself ruling
sheikh for eighteen years. Then the swing of the tribal pendulum placed the young
nephew in the sheikhship. The present sheikh is naturally in a very delicate position
towards his aged relative and predecessor, and, as long as the latter remains loyal and
inoffensive, he is content to let him enjoy any income derivable from Abu Musa so long
as it remains inconsiderable, as it has hitherto. The moment the income becomes, in
his opinion, unreasonably great for Salim, or Salim becomes troublesome, the ruling
sheikh is in a position to alter the arrangement arbitrarily in any way he pleases short
of oppression, in which case we should give Salim our friendly offices in obtaining
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