'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [‎166r] (336/386)

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In December 1899, a despatch* was received from the Secretary of State in
, , « t. which certain suggestions were made as to
• Ko 47 (Secret), date tie t ovem er , . the steps which might be taken to neutral
ise the effect of the grant of the French flag. The suggestions were :—
( 1 ) That the Sultan should make an ordinance compellinsr every subject
of Maskat who owns a ship to register it as a Maskat ship, and
sail it under the Maskat flag.
(2) That the Sultan should declare that he would not in his territory,
after a date to be fixed, recognise any protection or naturalisation
thereafter conferred on his subjects otherwise than with his
sanction or under the provisions of his treaties.
(3) That the use of the British flag should be extended so as to outbid
the French Consul.
At the same time it was requested that, with a view to the possibility of
comm" to an arrangement with the French Government, a more precise
account should be furnished of the modus operandi of the French, and of the
evidence forthcoming to prove a connivance on their part in the slave trade, or
the exact details in respect of which they could be held to fail in their obli
gations under the Brussels Act, Articles 25 and 30.
The despatch was sent to the Eesident at Bushire for report.
In the interval before the report was furnished,t the situation was further
„ t developed by the Sultan’s offering to sign
" a letter definitely requesting the British
Government to intervene \iitii the French
Government on his behalf in order to
“effect the removal of the flags now in
use and the discontinuance of the practice”
of granting the French flag to his subjects.
This request, as Captain Cox pointed out, seemed to supply the locus standi
required by Lord Salisbury in the Foreign Office lefer of December 20th, 1898,
1 and Her Majesty’s Government were,
JTclperam to Secretary of State, dated the 22nd ^| iere f orPj askedj whether they Were
* jay 1 '° 0, prepared to act.
While this reference was being considered in London, the Sultan took
matters into his own hands and visited the French proteges at Sur. His visit
resulted in the presentation to him of a solemn declaration by the two tribes at
Sur, including all the holders of the French flag, in which they declared their
wish and intention to return all French papers and flags and return to their
allegiance to the Sultan Three of the flag-holders who had received their
papers from the French Consul actually handed them over to the Sultan for
return to M. Ottavi. The Sultan thereupon issued an edict to the effect that
he would not recognise in his territories (in the hands of his subjects) French
flags and papers, and would “ not forgive ” any one who took them without
his permission and in accordance with the terms of his treaties. This edict,
it was pointed out, was in accordance with the suggestion made in the Secret
despatch from the Secretary of State, No. 47, dated the 24th November 1899,
and was also a tardy compliance with the orders contained in the ultimatum of
January 1899, wTiich were based on instructions from the Foreign Uthce.
Her Majesty’s Government did not, however, see their way to supporting
the Sultan in the position which he had assumed, and in a telegram, dated the
iOth July 1900, they directed that the “ Sultan should be advised to make it
clear that the edict affected only the issue of tings and papers to his subjects
after the date of its communication to the French Consul ; while in regard to
those issued before that da‘e, any doubtful or disputed case would be the subject
of examination between himself and the French Government .
M. Camhon having intimated that in future no papers of protection would
be given, and that the existing papers should be carefully examined, so as to
exclude those for the grant ot which no just cause existed, a French man-of-war
of State with .-eeret despatch No. 102 (External),
dated the 26th July 1£00. It coi.tait.ed a full
account of the r odus operand* of the French,
giving ample evidente to show that the French
flag-holder* had encaged in the slave trade w th
the connivance of M. Ottavi, and that the provi
sions rf A rtichs 25 to 30 of the Brussels Act had
been systematically disregarded.