'The Arms Traffic in the Persian Gulf' [‎31v] (5/62)

4
Declaration" with Holland Reimport of arms into his
except to countries where
Importation was prohibited.t Declaration o£ the 10th March
The position is further ^ net , ® „t s engaged " reciprocally
1862, by which the British ^^X^o Mnlkat and Zanzibar.
to respect the independence ot the aunaub
(Appendix III).
10. On the 30th April 1898 the ^aX ^
Bahrein Agreement, 1898. <k absolutely to prohibit the importation
(Appendix VII.) u arms into Bahrein territory or
Govevnme^ of inclms lette i- 0 i u exportatioll therefrom"; and to
^ L ' 711/98. enforce the prohibition, he issued on
ihe same day— • . A
(1.) A Notification declaring that the import and export of arms into and
from the Islands of Bahrein was absolutely forbidden and that m
future all arms and ammunition imported or exported wouh )e
seized and confiscated as property of the State.
(2.) A Proclamation conferring on British and Persian vessels ot wai
permission to search vessels carrying the British, 1 ersian, oi
Bahrein flag in Bahrein territorial waters, as well as Bahrein
vessels in Indian or Persian waters, and to confiscate all arms and
ammunition (weapons of war) intended for Indian or Persian poits,
or for the Islands of Bahrein.
11 It was owing to the i \2;reement with the Sultan of Muskat that I fer
' "Baluchistan"Case. ' Majesty's ship "Lapwing" was able,
"Times" Law Reports, 5tli July 1898 on the 24th January 189b, to seize the
and 9th July 1901. ' steamer " Baluchistan," near Muskat,
and capture the cargo of arms she was carrying. An action was brought by
Messrs. Fracis, Times, & Co., who had shipped a consignment of arms by
the " Baluchistan," against the Sea Insurance Company, Limited, to recover
a loss under a policy of marine insurance on the consignment. This loss the
Company had refused to pay on two grounds : (1) That the plaintills had,
when effecting the insurance, concealed a fact material to the estimation of
the risk, viz., that the importation of arms was forbidden by Persian law ;
and (2) that the adventure was illegal, as being in contravention to the law
of nations. Mr. Justice Bigham, in giving judgment for the plaintiffs, held
that " the import of arms was not illegal according to the law of Persia, as
that law was administered in practice and enjoined," or, in other words, that
no real prohibition existed on the importation of arms into Persian ports.
* The " Commercial Declaration " of 1877 merely provided for reciprocal " most-favoured
nation " treatment between Holland and Muskat. It seems doubtful whether the terms of
this instniment could be held to preclude the Sultan from placing a general embargo on the
importation of arms into his territory. {See despatch from Her Majesty's Minister at the
Hague, dated 3rd November 1897, 2323/97.)
The French and American treaties, on the other hand, provide expressly for unrestricted
importation of all kinds of merchandise. The American treaty makes [special mention of
munitions of war ("muskets, powder, and ball ") which are to be "freely sold without any
restriction whatever at all the Sultan 's ports outside the Island of Zanzibar. (See
/ } iQ^n\ Ce i / and 1 V commerc i a l Treaty of 1891 (which superseded an earlier Treaty
ot 1839) between the Sultan and Great Britain also contains a clause providing for the
unrestricted import of all kinds of merchandise into Muskat territory.
he British, h rench, and United States treaties all provide for the levy of a duty not
exceeding 5 per cent, on all imports into Muskat ^
that 0n 1 1 7th 0ct0ber 1903 the Sultan o£ Muskat is ™« i a Notification
I bitmg the export of arms and ammunition from Oman to the portions of the African
W " idl aro Under British
Bliti.h an^lSri f whlch are nnder the ItaHan Protectorate, and granW
Mnskat vessels on the high scaf an,, i*
it Ic 8 into his P revi ? usl y. en initiative, forbidden the import of
>s, 4c., into his territory by a Notification issned in January 1896. (See Appendix VII. (3) )
arms