"الملف 35/85 III A 10 مسألة الأعلام الفرنسية" [و‎‎١‎٠‎٢] (٦١٠/٢١٤)

00102
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
ABABIA.
(M uscat.)
CON EIDENTI AL.
No. 1.
Mr. Graham to the Marquess of Lansdowne.—{Received August 2 )
(No. 5.)
My Lord, The Hague, August 1, 1905.
I HAVE the honour to report that the second sitting of the Muscat Arbitration
Tribunal was held this morning at 10 o'clock.
The Secretary-General opened the proceedings by reading aloud my letter of the
y 29th ultimo, forwarding the reply of His Majesty's Government to the French
Supplementary Conclusions, and a letter from the Prench Agent, requesting leave to
attach to his delegation M. Eugene Ballero, Attache to the Erench Legation here, a
request to which the Court had acceded.
The President thanked me for the expedition with which His Majesty's Govern
ment had prepared and delivered their reply. The manner in which they had met the
wishes of the Court in this respect, and had thus facilitated its labours, had been much
appreciated.
The Erench Agent rose and stated that the Erench Government had, in principle, no
observations to offer on the British reply, but that there were certain points of a
general nature raised therein to which he desired to draw the attention of the Court,
and that, unless an opportunity of doing so occurred during the course of the
proceedings, he must request leave to make a brief statement.
The President replied that the Arbitrators were perfectly satisfied with the
written Cases, which had been drawn up in a thorough and masterly manner. They
did not desire to put any questions or to hear any oral arguments.
r _ Permission was then granted to M. Herbette to deliver his Statement, copy of
which is inclosed herewith. It attempts to deal seriatim with the points raised in the
British reply, and was read out sheet by sheet, copies of each sheet being at the same
time handed to the Arbitrators and to myself. I have numbered these sheets for
convenience of reference.
During the delivery of No. 6, regarding the alleged grant by the British East
Africa authorities to natives of Sur of licences to fly the Zanzibar flag, the President
intervened, and said that the Court was doubtful whether these documents had any
bearing on the question at issue.
M. Herbette urged that they were relevant, as the natives to whom they were
granted were Suris and subjects of the Sultan of Muscat. He was allowed to continue
his Statement, judgment being reserved as to whether or not the licences might
eventually be produced to the Court.
The Arbitrators appeared to listen with some impatience to the Erench Agent's
Statement. At its conclusion the President inquired whether I had any observations
^ to offer, in the evident desire that I should waive the right to answer. I did not,
however, feel justified in doing so until we had had an opportunity of examining the
French Statement more carefully, and I reserved the right to reply. M. Lammasch
said that my reply must be delivered at or before the next meeting of the Court,
which would be held at 10 a.m . the following morning. He was proceeding to adjourn
the Court until then, when. I rose and pointed out that no decision had yet been
reached regarding the Zanzibar licences. If they were to be admitted and produced
to th Court, time would no doubt be allowed for His Majesty's Government to
clear up the matter, and to furnish an explanation which the local authorities
concerned had been called upon to supply. The Arbitrators, after a brief conversa
tion, intimated that they had decided not to admit the production of the documents
in question, which were accordingly handed back to the Erench Agent. The Court
then adjourned until to-morrow.
1 have carefully examined, with Mr. Craies, the Erench Statement. Your
Lordship will, I think, agree that it deals principally, if not entirely, with points
which have been already thoroughly threshed out in the written Cases ; it adds little,
> if anything, to the controversy, and affords no material for an effective reply. The
suggestion in .No. 4, that His Majesty's Government should produce the Secret Treaty
[2119 &—2] B
[August 2.]
S ection 2.