'Précis on slave trade in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, 1873-1905 (With a Retrospect into previous history from 1852) By J A Saldanha BA, LL B' [‎83] (91/126)

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tn n /f 4 ( [n A add , r r SS i ng the Secretary of State the Government of India referred
he D n 1c e e: a^LTrh 0 't 8 t ,dat f ed -questedThat
necessary steps might be taken for the recovery of the amount from the
Imperial Treasury (despatch No. 149, dated 4th December 188j). What action
was taken on this request, it is not clear.
185. In 1885 expenditure was incurred by the Resident at Aden to the
^rch^.«"xori No ' M - f" 0 ""' 0 ' Rs - ",884-8-6 on account of
WaS tse'Tl^P^r B T A bay Gove ] , r " me " t 10 ^Imperial Gove'rnmm'London" 11
186. The Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Maskat spent Rs. 102 for return passages of
External A., June 1885, Nos. 136-140. es 9 0rt ^ wo Constables Sent from
1 r ,1 t , , Ade . n in charge of certain slave dealers
a c.ew of the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. captured by the Philomel in the last mentioned case. The
Goyemmentof India admitted the charge, but invited the Resident's attention
to this letter No. 2731-G., dated 16th November 188^ (above quoted) and
inormed him that the Comptroller, India Treasuries, had been told that the
charges should be dehted to Her Majesty's Imperial Government (letter No.
775-G., dated 21st May 1885).
187. In March 1888 the Government of India received a despatch from the
e ' S a :: K S Not.6^°: SeC u re ^J ? f H St t e . rec l u , iri "g information
. , , . , on He 1 " Majesty s Ireasury as to
the circumstances under which certain slaves were received and dieted at the
Maskat Consulate, for the maintenance of whom the Comptroller of India Trea
suries had held Her Majesty's Government liable in the lists of such charo-es which
he submitted direct to the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. . &
188. The information was given in a letter from the Officiating Political
Agent at Maskat, No. I47» dated the 19th May 1888, which accompanied
despatch No, 104, dated the Qoth June 1888. It was explained in that letter that
the slaves in question were fugitive slaves from the province of Oman, who
either sought protection at the Consulate from the cruel treatment of their masters,
or claimed their liberty under the stipulations of the Treaty of 1873 with the Maskat
Government 5 that during the investigation of their cases, etc., they were protected
and dieted at the Consulate ; that this practice had been followed since 1874; and
that the expenditure on that account, although an Imperial charge, had before
been debited to the contingent account of the Maskat Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. .
189. Since then certain further charges of a similar nature were incurred and
the Comptroller-General likewise showed them in his lists of charges against the
Imperial Government. The total amount involved up to May last was ^13-10-11.
190. Her Majesty's Treasury declined to admit the liability of the Imperial
revenues for the charge in question for the following reasons:—
(1) that it was a complete novelty, and involved the change of practice of
14 years' standing:
(2) that the charge had no direct connection with the suppression of the
slave trade, the slaves not being " captured negroes/' but domes
tic slaves who had sought protection at the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. from cruelty,
or who had claimed their liberty under the Treaty of 1873 with
the Maskat Government.
191. The Government of India replied as follows to the Secretary of State's
External A., May ,88 5 , No,. .62-69. despatch referred to above
2, In reply, we have the honour to enclosef a letter from the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the
t No. 353, dated the 4th December 18S8, and Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and to submit that, for the reasons
enclosure. which we are about to state, the charges are not
such as the Indian tax-payer can fairly be compelled to pay. The Lords Commissioners
of Her Majesty's Treasury considered that the expenditure is properly classed as contingent
expenditure of the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , and for this reason, and because it has hitherto been debited to
India, they consider that it ought not in future to be borne by Imperial funds. As regards
the argument based on past procedure, we desire to explain that the procedure hitherto
followed has been allowed to continue so long undisturbed because the fact of the charges
being debited to Indian revenues was not brought to our notice, and it has only been
brought to our notice now through the action of our Comptroller of India Treasuries, taken
in consequence of certain orders issued by us in 1884 in connection with the suppression
of the slave trade. Your Lordship will observe from the enclosure to this despatch that
the charges in question are entirely the outcome of the Treaty of the 14th April 1873
(