'File 35/23 Continuation of rebellion by Shaikh Salih; measures adopted for compensating the sufferers' [‎44v] (90/174)

4
270 bags, Eattansi Parsliottam 180 bags and Veerjee Rattansee 75 bags)
sold by tbem to the rebel leaders Sheikh Salih bin AU and Muhasan bin Amir
during the rebellion, the claimants alleging as their reason for doing so, that
thev had not received receipts for the goods from the purchasers, though they
admitted that the sales were completed. The Committee having, alter due
consideration, come to the conclusion that these claims were beyond the scope
of their enquiry, rejected them altogether, leaving it to the claimants to
recover the price of' the goods in the usual way. The Committee thmk that
the two principal reasons for their action are obvious, namely, that whatever
mio-ht have been the motive of the claimants in selling the goods to the rebels,
the 5 responsibility of the sales must rest with themselves, and that as sales they
could not be held to be in the same category as losses.
One of the claimants when submitting his claim for examination, sub
mitted also a claim for compensation on behalf of one of his constituents, a
German firm in Zanzibar, but the Committee have not allowed it on the
"•round of their enquiry being strictly limited to the losses of British and British-
protected subjects and of such of their constituents as are British or British-
protected subjects.
The Committee had to reject three of the registered claims altogether. In
the case of Karamsee Jetha, the evidence produced by his representative
wag found to be totally insufficient to support the statement of any loss. In
the case of Nanjee Ramdas, the claimant having declared that he had counted
-just before the rebellion the money which he alleged to have been plundered,
was o-iven the choice of either making the statement on oath or producing
evidence in support of it, and was repeatedly asked by the Committee to adopt
one or the other course, but he failed to produce any evidence and flatly refused
to swear to the truth of his statement. The Committee had therefore to throw
out his claim altogether. In the case of Khoja Muhammad Abdullah Moosa,
neither the claimant nor any agent on his behalf appeared before the Com
mittee to prove his loss. It is, however, a well known fact to most of the mem
bers of the Committee that he neither possessed a shop nor traded in other
manner; it is impossible therefore for the Committee to believe that any piece
goods registered by him as belonging to him were plundered.
The Committee have now to report that in their opinion the total approxi
mate probable losses of all British and British-protected subjects in Muscat and
Matrah during the late rebellion, amounted to $60,362^- and Ks. 32,029 and to
submit herewith two statements. Appendix A and Appendix B, showing the
individual losses of the several sufferers. As, however, it is evident that all the
claims in rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. will be paid off in dollars, it would be necessary to convert
the rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. into dollars, and with that view the Committee have to suggest that
the mean rate between the rate of exchange which was current when the rebel
lion broke out (Rs. 177=$100) and the present rate (Rs. 189=:$100), namely,
that of Rs. 183 = $100, may be adopted for that purpose. The Committee think
that if this rate be adopted now, it would not only be fair to all the parties con
cerned, but considering the almost constant fluctuation in exchange, would
also remove any source of confusion likely to arise from that cause in the
accounts hereafter. lollowmg therefore their own suggestion, the Committee
have prepared also a separate list of all the rupee claims, which they submit
herewith as Appendix C.
The total losses at the suggested rate of exchange for conversion of rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
into dollars, expressed in dollars, would therefore amount to $77,894 and cents
68, out of which sum, losses amounting to $7,030 and cents 78 occurred on the
side of the town occupied by His Highness the Sultan's allies, and those
amounting to $70,863 and cents 90, on the side occupied by the rebels.
This distinction between the two sides is, however, more formal than a
real one, the Committee having had nothing to guide them in arriving at a
decision in this matter, besides the bare fact of the situation in which the
plundered and destroyed property was during the occupation of the town by
the rebels and His Highness the Sultan's allies. It is moreover a notorious fact
that a part of the heavier kind of goods, such as rice, wheat, sugar and coffee,
though situated in the rebel quarter, was plundered by the allies on the night
of the evacuation of the town by the rebels. Under such circumstances, the