File 1508/1905 Pt 3 'Bahrain: postal arrangements; mails; post office' [‎97v] (42/180)

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12. That the said company shall not nor shall any of the masters of any of the
vessels employed or to be employed under this contract receive or permit to be
received on board any of the vessels employed under this contract anv letters for
conveyance other than those required to be conveyed under or by virtue of the
9th clause of this contract and such letters or other articles as are or may be pro- ^
vided for in the Indian Post Office Act of 1898, section 4, or other the Indian Post
Office Act for the time being and in case of any and every breach of this clause
the said company will forfeit and pay to the said Secretary of State for India in
Council his successors and assigns the sum of Rs. 10 for every letter so improperly
received on board any such vessel provided always that the said company shall be
allowed to carry all such letters as relate exclusively to the service of the said
company.
Copy of a communication No. 3321, dated the 12th July 1910, from the Agents, Bri
tish India Steam Navigation Company, Bombay, to the address of the Post
master-General, Bombay.
We have the honour to inform you that the Vali of Basrah is arranging for a
regular post between Basrah and Ojair and has approached the company with
regard to carriage of same from Basrah and Bahrain via Bushire. The Vali’s
idea is to despatch a man from Basra with mails for Ojair once a fortnight via
Bushire and Bahrain and vice versa, and we shall be glad to know if the Post Office
have any objection to such an arrangement being made by this company with the
Turkish authorities.
His Majesty s Consul, Basrah, to His Majesty’s Ambassador, Constantinople.
No. 52.
Sir,
August 27th, 1910.
I have the honour to transmit herewith copies of correspondence forwarded
to me by the British Resident at Baghdad, relative to the proposal to utilise the
British India steamers for the Turkish postal service to Ojair via Bahrain and to
enquire whether Your Excellency sees any objection to the proposed arrangement
This question was raised in 1905 and formed the subject of my despatches to
Mr. Crow, 36 , June is, 1906 . the Embassy as marginally noted. In Sir
6i, August io, 1906. Mackenzie s letter of September 13,1905,
60, September 16,1905. to the Foreign Office enclosed in the
7 7 2 ,' ^nua^lim 5 ' Embassy despatch to me of October 5, 1905,
_ . . . , . . it was thought practicable to send the
lurkish post bag with our own to Bahrain and for the British India Agents there to
receive the Ojair bag from and deliver it to the British Post Office at Bahrain,
provided the Turkish authorities agreed to bear the expense of dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. transport
between Bahrain and Ojair. 1
The British Resident at Bushire, as reported in my despatch No. 7 of January
26, 1906, to the Embassy, informed me that the Government of India approved
the proposal that the Turkish mails for Ojair should be sent with our own to Bahrain,
where they could be taken over by a Turkish official who would make his own
arrangements as regards Ojair.
The Postmaster-General at Bombay now enquires whether there is any objec
tion to the Indian Post Office allowing mails for and from Ojair being conveyed
between Basrah and Bahrain by the British India steamers.
I see no local objection and I think we can but gain by such an arrangement,
as it would secure fixed communication with Hasa and would obviate any incon
venience, which might arise from an attempt by the Turks to establish a direct ser
vice of their own and possibly the presence of Turkish vessels in Bahrain waters.
Before, however, expressing any opinion on the subject, I have the honour to