"التحكيم في قضية مراكب الداو الشراعية في مسقط. محكمة التحكيم الدائمة في لاهاي. السماح برفع الأعلام الفرنسية على مراكب الداو الشراعية في مسقط. القضية بالنيابة عن الحكومة البريطانية". [ظ‎‎٣‎٨] (٢٠٨/٨٥)

38
des services pour L'extensioa des relations commerciales,
dont le Traits de 1844 a voulu faciliter le d^veloppe-
ment."
The contention is obviously wrong. The phrase
" au service " clearly implies engagement in the
capacity of a clerk or domestic or some sub
ordinate capacity; and it cannot include all
persons with whom Frenchmen happen to have
contracts of a commercial nature.
In order to ascertain whether any one of the
" boutriers originaires de Mascate " is entitled to
French protection in Muscat, the following pre
liminary questions must be asked :—
1. Has he been naturalized in a French posses
sion Under the Decree printed at p. 76 of the
French " Memoire " ? or
2. Was he born in a French possession of a
father permanently established there at the date
of the birth ? or
3. Is h.Q bond fide in the service of a French
citizen ?
It would be very difficult- for S iri sailors to
satisfy the conditions of three years' unbroken
residence in a French Colony required by the
Deqree above cited. But even if the answer to
questions 1 or 2 were "Yes," it would not con
clude the matter, for, as has already been pointed
out, naturalization abroad is not binding on the
State of origin, unless by the laws or the tacit
assent of that State the right to alter allegiance is
admitted, nor is birth in French territory of
foreign parents conclusive of French nationality,
and return to and settlement in the country of
the father's origin would be a sufficient election
not to rely on the accident of birth.
France has not supplied, and says that she is
not bound to supply, any information whatever
as to any of her alleged proteges which would
enable the Tribunal to answer any of the above
questions. But if the information cannot be
supplied her claim to protect fails, and her past
interference with the Sultan's authority over such
persons stands confessed as an unwarranted
interference with his territorial jurisdiction.