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'P. 1 733/1904. Muscat Arbitration. (1904-08).' [275r] (556/778)
The record is made up of 1 volume (385 folios). It was created in 1903-1906. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Appendix, No.
May 19. 1903,
file, p. 155.
The qualified exterritoriality granted by the
Treaty is a concession to the difference between
Western and Eastern conceptions of law and
justice, and is not in any way intended to enable
Trance to interfere between the Sultan and his
own subjects in any case not specifically provided
for in the Treaty.
And the text of the Treaty has not been
supplemented, varied, or enlarged in this respect
by any recognized or established usage, permitting
Trance to exercise either concurrent or exclusive
jurisdiction over the Sultans subjects in his terri
tories or in his territorial waters.
On the 19th May, 1903, the French Ambassador
in London stated “that the Treaty of 1844 was
not designed to meet the case of those owners of
dhows whose rights, he said, were in many cases
anterior to the date of the Treaty ; that the
French flagholders were altogether outside the
Treaty, and that protection was claimed for them
not under the Treaty, but because they had been
given French papers and were entitled to fly the
French fiag.”
It is difficult to comprehend the principle upon
which such a claim could be based. It involves
an assertion of the right of France spontaneously
to create as many proteges as it chooses in Muscat
by grant of French papers and flags to any
foreigner who applies for them, and as it
admittedly does not rest on any specific Treaty
with Muscat, the claim is equally applicable to
the subjects of any European Power in the
territories of their natural Sovereign—a contention
which no civilised State would for a single moment
admit.
In truth the contention seems to be based on a
confusion of ideas and a mistaken notion that
Christian Powers are entitled in Oriental States
to create classes of protected Orientals without
reference to any Treaty or capitulation, and to
force on the Rulers of those States, with respect
to their own subjects, the municipal laws of France.
It is not admissible in the case of Muscat to
base any claim to French protection on the fact
that the protege has acquired a domicile on French
territory, which is not the equivalent of nation
ality, or that, either in good or bad faith, he has
acquired immeubles in a T rench Colony or
Protectorate.
The maritime laws of France appear not to con
template the grant of French papers to vessels
i
j 4:
1
About this item
- Content
The volume discusses a dispute between the British and French Government’s over the use of French flags on Muscat dhows and individuals dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. owners from Muscat claiming to be protégés of France owing to their vessels being registered as French.
The two governments agreed in October 1904 for the dispute to be taken to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, and the award, which was approved by the British Government in September 1905, was concluded primarily in favour of the British Government’s position. The complete award in English and French can be found at folios 135-141.The papers include reports and discussions on other matters linked to the arbitration case including the limits of Oman territory; the question of ownership of Gwadar; and the legal status and nationality of the Khoja peoples residing within Muscat and Oman. The principal correspondents in the volume include the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne); the Secretary of State for India (William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Middleton); the Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department (Louis William Dane); the Viceroy of India (George Nathaniel Curxon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston); the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. and Consul at Muscat (William George Grey); the French Consul at Muscat (Lucien-Ernest-Roger Laronce); the French Ambassador to the United Kingdom (Paul Cambon); and representatives of the Foreign Office and the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. .
The volume is part 1 of 3. Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, year the subject file was opened, subject heading, and list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (385 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 733 (Muscat Arbitration) consists of 3 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/25-27. The volumes are divided into 6 parts with parts 1 and 2 comprising one volume each, and parts 4, 5, and 6, comprising the third volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 386; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Condition: The spine has become detached from the volume and has been placed in a polyester sleeve at the back of the volume as folio 395. The sleeve may result in some loss of sharpness in the digitised image.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/25
- Title
- 'P. 1 733/1904. Muscat Arbitration. (1904-08).'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:9v, 10br:10bv, 10r:13v, 15r:28v, 30r:32r, 34r:41v, 42v:106v, 115r:121v, 135r:135v, 142r:163v, 165r:167r, 168r:170v, 172r:172v, 173v, 175r:194r, 195r:206v, 207v:218v, 220v:232r, 233r:240v, 243r:247v, 249r:298v, 301r:310r, 311r:312v, 314r:323v, 324v, 326r:327v, 333r:349v, 352r:359v, 367r:368v, 375r:376v, 383r:385v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence