'File 14/115 VII Annex (B 9) Abu Musa oxide: collected background material on the case' [‎38r] (86/1904)

69
A nnex 40.
Statement of Mr.
Mr- Tigran Malcolm appears before me this day, 30th May 1911, and makes
the tollowing statement: — ^ ?
1 tie history of my entry into tue Abu Musa oxide concern was as follows ; —
I had oeen for some years connected with the trade in oxide from Hormnz in
association with ^Naknoda Ali Ahmed Saleh, in whose name the concession then
was. He, howe\er, lost the concession and then, in consultation with me, he set to
work to obtain a concession for extracting Abu Musa oxide, having first made a
trial shipment. 1 It was Nakhoda Ali who first started the Abu Musa mining •
Hasan Sameiyeh knew nothing about the oxide trade until Nakhoda Ali intro
duced him to it. The latter had at this time a very bad name 2 with the local autho-
rities and in commercial circles in the Gulf Ports, and so he found it convenient to
work through Hasan Sameiyeh,
, After securing the Abu Musa Concession; the parties thought it would be to
their advantage to bring me into it with a view to my arranging the shipments to
Europe and elsewhere, and so I came into it. Nakhoda Ali was the moving spirit
in the acquiring of the Concession, Hasan Sameiyeh was only used as a screen,
l he former was in charge of the mining work and always complained greatly of
the obstructiveness of Abdullah Sameiyeh and his father Hasan, and their
ignorance of matters connected with the oxide trade. Owing, however, to his own
state of bankruptcy, Nakhoda Ali could not take a prominent part in the concern,
and so Abdullah and Hasan gradually began to dominate it; Nakhoda Ali managed
the work on the Island, I was expected to manage the sales and shipment to
Europe, and Hasan acted as corresponding member of the Company.
No particular basis of authority existed, so far as I know, on which Hasan
was entitled to act, and to the best of my belief (and I have an excellent me
mory) I have never heard of or seen the" so-called Memorandum of Association
which you have now shown me. Much less did I ever sign it or receive a copy of
it.
Nor was I consulted at all or informed regarding the sale of a share in the
concern by Shf .ikh Sagar to Yusuf bin Abdullah or by Yusuf to Hasan or Hasan
to Brown. It is all new to me.
In any case Hasan Sameiyeh never acted according to the rules now shown
to me. He has never rendered any accounts at all. In fact the mismanagement
of the Sameiyeh and the extravagance of Abdullah have always been a great cause
of complaint both to me and Nakhoda Ali.
Bushire ; ) (Sd). T. J. MALCOLM.
„ „ _ [ Before me.
30th May 1911.1 (Sd.) P. Z. COX,
[N ote on the above for the ikfobmation of G ovebnment,]
1 L It will be seen that Mr. Malcolm states that it was Nakhoda Ali and not Hasan who first started the
mining work at Abu Musa. A point might be made of this statement when dealing with the German Argu
ment (page 9 of Foreign Office print) that according to religious Law, Hasan Sameiyeh, as discoverer of
the mine, has an indefeasible right to work them.
2 2. Nakhoda Ali was defaulter and owed large sums .of monej in Bushire and had evaded his obligations
by gping bankrupt.
P. z< COX
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