'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [‎115r] (235/540)

of their interests in the trade on the Shatt-el-Arab, to improve the navigation of
that river and to diminish the risks to which commerce thereon is exposed, have
agreed as follows :—
1. The navigation of the Shatt-el-Arab shall be open to the ships of all nations.
2. The Imperial Ottoman Government will establish a Commission in which
shall be vested the control of the Shatt-el-Arab from Kurna to the sea.
3. The Commission shall consist of two members only, to be appointed by
the Imperial Ottoman Government. One of these two members shall be of Bri
tish nationality, and shall be selected from candidates suggested by the Govern
ment of His Britannic Majesty.
4. Each of the Commissioners shall receive annually a salary of £T. 2,000
free of all deductions. These salaries shall be paid out of the receipts* of the
Commission.
5. The Commission shall appoint such officers and employees as may be
necessary, but the Chief Engineer shall be of British nationality. The salaries
of such officers and employees shall be fixed and paid by the Commission.
6. The Commission shall be charged with the following duties
(a.) The execution of such works as may be necessary, and as the funds at
its disposal will allow, for the improvement of the channel of the river and of the
approaches thereto on the seaward side.
(b.) The provision of such wharfs, quays, docks, jetties, and other facilities
as may be required for the traffic of the river.
(c.) The control, so far as may be necessary, for carrying out the purposes
of this convention, and 'subject to the treaty rights of foreign Powers, of the wharfs,
quays, docks, and jetties, in or on the banks of the river belonging to private
persons.
{d.) The maintenance of the channel of the river free from obstructions of all
sorts, so as to keep it in the best possible state for navigation.
(e.) The preparation, issue, and enforcement of regulations for the naviga
tion of the river and for the policing of the river and the land and buildings held
by the Commission.
(/.) The control of pilotage.
{g.) The buoying and lighting of the channel, and the maintenance and
control of such lights and buoys in the approaches to the river as may be placed:
under the charge of the Commission.
7. The Imperial Ottoman Government undertakes to facilitate the acquisi
tion by the Commission of such land, as the Commission shall consider necessary,
to enable it to carry out effectually the duties assigned to it. The cost of such
land shall be paid by the Commission.
In cases where land to which fishing rights are attached is acquired by the
Commission, no unnecessary interference with such fishing rights shall take
place.
8. In order to cover the expenses of the works undertaken and the services
maintained by it, the Commission shall, subject to the principles laid down in
article 9, levy upon all ships such dues as may be prescribed by it from time to
time.
9. No dues or taxes shall be levied, either by the Porte or by the Commission,
on ships or goods on the Shatt-el-Arab based on the mere fact of navigation.
The dues levied by the Commission shall not exceed the amounts reasonably
required for the works undertaken and the services maintained by it. These
dues shall be levied impartially, and no differentiation shall be made between the
ships or goods of different nations or persons.