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'Memorandum respecting the Claim of the Euphrates and Tigris Steam-ship Company to use Barges on those Rivers as a matter of "right"' [‎102v] (13/18)

The record is made up of 1 volume (8 folios). It was created in 5 May 1881. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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12
raised until March, when, in obedience to orders from
here, the rate of freight on grain was temporarily
reduced to a minimum, with the view of alleviating
the distress at Bagdad arising from scarcity of food.
It was then that their employment was arbitrarily
prohibited by the local Turkish authorities, a step
which can only be accounted for on the presumption #
that they view the reduction of freight as detri
mental to the pecuniary interests of the Turkish
steamers.
" I trust your Lordship will consider that this
despotic policy, to interfere with the right to
transmit English and Indian merchandize, now
arriving at Busreh, on through bills of lading for
Bagdad, by boat or barge manned by natives of the
country, cannot be defended, whether tracked or
towed by steamers, for steam-vessels are introduced
4 to facilitate commerce;' to prevent them from Firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). ,
utilizing their power in towing barges with mer
chandize when required, is manifestly a step in the
opposite direction."
On the 24th May the Euphrates and Tigris Com- Euphrates and Tigris Company,
pany wrote again to say that their barges were Way 24, 1880.
still detained, when it was discovered that the Sir H. Layard, No. 64;
telegram had been stopped by the Turkish Prime Ta y ^ l880 *
Minister, in order to bring about a misunderstanding
between his colleagues and Sir H. Layard.
But Sir H. Layard stated that he had himself
telegraphed to Her Majesty's Consul-General at
Bagdad to inform him that orders had been sent
to the Turkish authorities at Bagdad and^Bussorah
to permit the steamers of the Euphrates and Tigris
Company to tow the Company's barges upon the
rivers.
But a few days later the Company wrote to say Euphrates and Tigris Company,
that the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. had, at last, permitted the employ- May 26 ' 1880 '
ment of the barges, but only temporarily, and they
requested that Lord Granville would immediately
protest and repudiate the implied authority of the
Turkish Government to impose any limitation on
their right to employ boats and barges in the naviga
tion of the rivers of Mesopotamia, a right which, it
was asserted, had been enjoyed by all nationalities
from time immemorial, and which prohibition it was
argued could not be enforced on the ground that
steel was used in the construction of the boats
instead of iron, and that the more expeditious

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Content

This file is a Foreign Office memorandum regarding the right of the Euphrates and Tigris Steam-ship Company to sail their barges on those rivers, written by Foreign Office Librarian, Edward Hertslet.

The file contains a summary of negotiations between the British and Ottoman Governments and as such, also contains extracts from Ottoman Government documents in French.

Extent and format
1 volume (8 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at f 97, and terminates at f 104, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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'Memorandum respecting the Claim of the Euphrates and Tigris Steam-ship Company to use Barges on those Rivers as a matter of "right"' [‎102v] (13/18), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B76, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023576055.0x00000f> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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