'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [‎226v] (460/540)

10. Any dues or charges levied by the Commission shall be levied impartially
and equitably in respect of all vessels, whatever be the places from or to which
they arrive or depart, or the nations or persons to which the vessels or their cargoes
belong. Similarly there shall be no differentiation in the matter of facilities bet
ween vessels or goods of different nations or persons, or between vessels arriving
from or departing to different places.
11. Any sums which it may become necessary for the Commission to borrow
for the purpose of carrying out the duties imposed upon it shall be advanced by
the high contracting parties at a rate of interest not exceeding 5 per cent, per
annum, in such proportions and upon such terms as to repayment as they may
arrange.
12. The control of all funds raised and expended by the Commission shall be
vested exclusively in the Commission.
13. The Commission shall publish annually complete and accurate accounts,
showing the amounts received and expended by it.
14. If the receipts of the Commission are insufficient to cover its ordinary
expenditure the deficit shall be made good by the Imperial Ottoman Government.
15. In the event of the members of the Commission being unable to agree as
to whether any particular works are or are not necessary for the improvement of
the Shatt-el-Arab, or as to the way in which particular works should be carried
out, the question shall be referred by them to an engineer of repute, to be agreed
upon by the commissioners, or, failing agreement, to be nominated by the presi
dent of the Institute of Civil Engineers in London, and the decision of such engineer
shall be adopted by the Commission.
16. The Commission shall correspond upon all matters connected with the
duties entrusted to it with the Sublime Porte direct, and not through the local
authorities.
17. The local authorities shall not interfere in any way with the houses, build
ings, land, or other property of the Commission, or with its funds, or with the dis
charge of their duties by the officers of the police, pilotage, or other services main
tained by the Commission, or with wharves, jetties, docks, or quays in or on the
banks of the river belonging to private persons.
18. The transfer to the Commission of any buoys or lights in the approaches
to the Shatt-el-Arab shall not be deemed to affect the territorial jurisdiction in the
waters where such buoys or lights are placed, or be made a ground on the part of
the Imperial Ottoman Government for claiming that such waters are within its
territorial jurisdiction, nor shall anything in this Convention be deemed to ffive
the Commission power to exercise jurisdiction or to carry out duties or to hold land
outside the limits of the Ottoman Empire without the consent of the territorial
Power, or to affect the operation or the interpretation of the provisions of anv
treaty or arrangement prescribing or defining the limits of the said Empire.
19. This agreement shall be binding during twenty-one years from the dav of
its signature. In case neither of the contracting parties shall have given notice
to the other, twelve months before the expiration of the said period of twentv-
one years, of the intention to terminate the agreement, it shall remain in force until
the expiration of one year from the day on which either of the contracting parties
shall have denounced it. . ° ^
(Received on the 5th August 1912, with Political Secretary's letter No. 29 dated the
19th July 1912.)
I ndia O ffice,
W hitehall,
P 2676 L ondon , S. W. ,
12th July 1912.
In reply to your letter No. 27623 of the 6th instant on the subject ofthe Bash-
dad Railway negotiations I am directed by the Secretary of State for India to