"الملف 35/85 III A 10 مسألة الأعلام الفرنسية" [و‎‎٧‎٧] (٦١٠/١٦٤)

reclament aujourd'hui de la protection franyaise.
II semble que la consideration de ce sen! fait, d'ecliange de vues entre Paris
et Londres a ce sujet, devait suffire a arreter le Prenlier Ministre de 8a Hantesse
par interim dans I'application d'une mesure qu'il ne saurait encore justifier.
Ainsi que je I'ai fait remarquer ce jour m&ne au General Raikes, I'enquete
a laquelle il se livre vis-a-vis de ce Consulat, apres les assurances contenues dans
ma lettre da 7 courant, n'est point d'une correction absolue au point de vue des
j^gles de la courtoisie internationale.
Aucun Consulat etranger, a ce que je crois, ne saurait repondre a une
pareille exigence de la part des autorites locales en ce qui concerne une question
d'ordre int^rieur.
J'ai rappele egalement au General Haikes qu'en Aout 1897, lorsque le
u Majunga/' appartenant au meme proprietaire, fut arrete par Mr. Farler dans
les eaux de Pemba, Sir Lloyd Mathews avait partage a Tegard de la nationalite de
Selim-bin-Seif une opinion tout a fait contraire acelle qu'ii professe aujourd'hui.
J'ai signale au Premier Ministre par interim de Sa Hautesse le contradiction
qui existe actuellement entre son administration et celle du titulaire du poste
qu'il occupe maintenant.
Enfin, en dernier lieu, il y a la une grave atteinte portee au pavilion derridre
lequel s'est abrite jusqu'ici Selim-bin-Seif, contre laquelle je proteste; je reit^re
mes plus expresses reserves, au nom de mon Gouvernement, quant aux suites de
I'incident qu'a cm devoir soulever le General Kaikes.
Je profite, etc.,
(Signe) E. LAHONCE.
Enclosure 4 in No. 1.
Sir A. Hardinge to M. Laronce,
(Translation.)
Si rj Zanzibar, June 10, 1898.
i have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your note of yesterday's
date, and of the protest contained in it in the matter of Salim-bin-Seif.
I cannot admit that the request made to you by General Raikes was not a
proper one from the point of view of the rules of international courtesy.
A Pemba Arab, to all appearance a local subject, is arrested for an act of
Slave Trade. He admits having been, until quite recently, a Sultan's subject,
but states that he received some time ago, on his simple application and without
the authorization of the local Government, French protection and a French flag.
No Government can recognize the right of a foreign Consulate to withdraw one
of its subjects from its jurisdiction without even deigning to inform it of the
reason for which it claims to do so. If in France a British Consul were to
demand that a person who was to all appearance a French citizen, and was born
and domiciled in French territory, should be exempted from military service
because he was registered as a British subject on the Consular registers, the
French authorities would, I think, before granting this demand, require to be
informed of the circumstances on account of which he had been so registered,
and should the British Consul refuse so state them, would reject it. Such a
proceeding on their part would certainly appear to me a very natural one, and
could not be criticized as improper. The German Consulate, for example, with
which we have frequently had differences of this kind, has never, so far as I
am aware, made any difficulty about stating its grounds for recognizing a parti
cular person as a subject or protege of Germany.