'Muscat Dhows Arbitration. In the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague. Grant of the French Flag to Muscat Dhows. The case on behalf of the Government of His Britannic Majesty.' [‎11v] (31/208)

18
Muscat addressed to M. Laronee, then French
Consul there, a protest against the assertion ot*
any claim by France <e to exercise jurisdiction in
Muscat territory and territorial waters over certain
horn and domiciled Omani subjects of His
Highness, to wnom French flags and titvcs de
navigcijtiou had been issued " by officials of the
French Government.
This protest was evoked by official communica
tions made by the French Consul on the 14th and
23rd January, 1902, in which he claimed to
exercise jurisdiction over certain Omanis on the
strength of their possessing French flags and
papers. Nog .
The text of the correspondence is given in the Febrnary 11 ,1902
Appendix. Febraary 14, 1902
In the final letter the French Consul wrote—
«Ni moini le Cotamandanfc Kiesel n'ayons I'mtentbn
de soumettre des sujets de rOman k la juridiction file, p. iblc.
TVanCaise : nous revendiqunos seulement le droit que
nous confere I'Acte de Bruxelles, c'est-a-dire un droit
de surveillance et de police sur les boutriers qui portent
notre pavilion."
Upon this statement it is necessary to observe
that the Consul places reliance, not upon the
Treaty of 1844, upon which his jurisdiction over
Omani subjects, so far as it exists, depends, but
upon t^Q Act of Brussels, as conferring aright of
surveillance and police in the waters and territo
ries of another Power which is not a party to that
Act. And it will be seen on reference to the
Brussels Act that Article XLII especially reserves
the national jurisdiction in the territorial
waters of every State.
As the result of the inquiries and investigations
made by the Agents of the French Government,
M. Cambon, the French Ambassador in London, Appendix, Nov
on the 14th August, 1901, presented a Memo
randum expressing the views of the French
Government on the question. This was sent to
the British Consul at Muscat for report, and the
substance of his Report was embodied in a
Memorandum handed by Lord Lansdowne to Appendix. No.
M. Cambon on the 16th April, 1902. At the fi 51
interview which then took place, it was agreed to File p 109
treat what had passed as personal as to changes
of view between the French Ambassador and the p. xoe.
British Foreign Minister, and M. Cambon stated
that there was no desire to interfere in any way
with the Sultan of Muscat, and that his only wish