'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.' [‎37r] (82/208)

35
FRENCH PRACTICE AS TO
" FR AN CIS A TI ON.''
In the French " Contre-Memoire " (p. 11) it is
said to be quite inaccurate to make, in general and
categorical terms, the allegation that French
Consuls give protection papers to dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. -owners.
His Majesty's Government are not concerned to
allege or prove that all French Consuls are
authorized so to act, and are content to indicate
the particular instances in which they have done
so. But it is a mistake to say that Great Britain
has only given a single instance as to one port
of the grant by French Consuls of French papers,
namely, at Aden. The first instance, it is true,
is that of the grant of French papers to Siiri
vessels by the French Consul at Aden. This
action is admitted by France to have been
irregular. His Majesty's Government were for
some years under the impression that M. Ribot's
admission of irregularity was meant to apply to
all cases of grant by French Consuls to Suri
vessels, and in the British Case reference was
made to M. Ribot's statement, not to impugn its
correctness or propriety, but to explain that upon
a misunderstanding as to its exact effect Great
Britain during some years refrained from protests,
which would certainly have been made had its
true meaning been understood.
It is also clear that the French Consul at Zanzi
bar has in many cases granted, and not merely
renewed or prolonged, litres de navigation. This
is admitted in the French Case (p. 14), and
in many of the annexed documents, particularly
in the report of M. Labosse of 22nd May, 1895.
It is difficult to understand w r here the vessels
at Siir can have obtained the French papers cf
which they are in. possession. The two lists
supplied give no indication. The documents
contained in the French Counter-Case (p. 107)
appear to show—
(a .) That at Mayotte no Hire has been issued
for six years, and that they are issued there only
to Frenchmen or French subjects.
(b .) That in French Somaliland it is quite the
exception to grant to a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. the right to fly the