Coll 29/42 'Diplomatic and consular expenditure: contribution (from Indian revenues) towards cost of a British Chaplain at Tehran; Christian cemeteries in Persia and the Persian Gulf' [‎339v] (677/704)

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in connexion with them have hitherto not exceeded 4L per annum, and have
been in respect of wages paid to the native caretakers of the graves of those
who fell in the engagements at Kambula, Inhlobana Mountain, and
Isandhlwana.
6. The Cemeteries in (II.) >Foreign Countries may be classified under three ^
heads, viz.:—
(a.) Civil.
(b.) Military.
(c.) Naval.
(a.) Civil Cemeteries.
7. Cemeteries under this head are by far the most numerous. In the
majority of cases their existence results from the action of Biitish
residents abroad, who, not being permitted to bury their dead in the
Cemeteries belonging to the general community, or desiring to possess
separate burial grounds for their own nationality or religion, have provided
burial places of their own. Such action has occasionally been taken in
conjunction with residents belonging to other nationalities. In other cases
Cemeteries which are now used for civil interments date their origin from the
time when our troops were employed in, or in occupation of, the country,
as at Scutari and the Ionian Islands.
8. As a general rule the Cemeteries treated of under this head were
established °and have been subsequently maintained without recourse to
pecuniary aid from Her Majesty’s Government; but exceptions to this rule
have frequently occurred, and such aid has been granted, either towards the
cost of purchase, or of maintenance, or of both, the principle of such
assistance having been recognised and defined by sections 10 and 11 of the
Consular Act of 1825 (6 Geo. IV. c. 87). In practice, however, it may be
remarked, the provisions of the enactment have not been treated as mandatory,
grants and the refusal of grants having been determined with reference rather
to the special circumstances of the case than to the Act.
9. Frem a general review it appears to us that the time has arrived when
all Government grants in aid of Cemeteries exclusively used for civil inter
ments should cease, with the exception of some two or three in regard to
which obligations have been entered into in common with other Governments,
and that sections 10 and 11 of the Consular Act of 1825, so far as they relate
to the question under consideration, should be repealed. In the case of
Cemeteries for which Her Majesty’s Government has accepted title-deeds
or pecuniary i esponsibility, we are of opinion that arrangements should be
made, w'hen the circumstances admit of it, for vesting the property in a
Committee representing the British community of the place, and that such
Committee should in future be entirely responsible for the care and main
tenance of the Cemetery, and should have power to levy burial fees or to
make such other charges as may be found expedient or practicable.
10. We append a list of grants now made annually, notice to terminate
which, at the end either of this or of the next financial year might, we
think, be given forthwith, viz.:—
£>
St. Domingo - - - * 20
Tripoli - - - - - 5
Tunis - - - - - 5
11. As already stated, where obligations have been entered into in
common with other Governments, it may not be possible to act upon the
above recommendations (par. 9) ; but the cases of this kind are very few.
So far as we have been able to ascertain, the following are the only Civil
Cemeteries to which an international character attaches :
Athens,
Barcelona,
Jeddah, and
Tangier.