'P. 3 733/1904. Muscat :- Commercial Treaties.' [‎242v] (70/286)

12
The proceedings and final decision i:
for the British Consul or his su
at the hearing and final decision.
— Notes. (1) an obvious blunder, but on ly re-
guires to ^c ^pointed^out^to^be^cor rected.
_J2) I am inc lined to think that this shoul d not
be entered m the treaty. Such a case musTl^
extremely rare and action by the local authodS
could only be called for in some grave emergenc y,
when 1 have no doubt the local officials could trus^
ted to take im mediate steps. If thov roally nnnfinad
the_action proposed to friendly intervention in
quarrels for the best interests of all, when no
British authority could intervene, they might be
confident that the British Government or officials
would not complain of their conduct, and it wmi Td
do no harm that they sliould know that the ir con
duct was likely to be subject to careful scrutiny! —
(3) slip of the pen probably, but mu st be correc-
ted.
(4) bad Arabic drafting but meaning clear and
in accordance with Treaty requirements. Easily
corrected .
(5) unnecessary ; such cases are never taken u p
except at the instance ot His Highness, who"cou I3
keep himself well informed ot all tha t goes on in
our Courts, where proceedings and final Tir'ders are
public. Objectionable only m so far as it meapl
an increase in office work, which could hardlyTe
dealt with by present vernacular staff, consisting
of one roan whose time is fully occupied.
Interpolation must be due entirely to “ am our
propre * and, if the concession were granted, it is
extremely doubtful, if advantage would be ake n
o f it. In Bahrain, where a similar privile ge of
j oint se ssion and attendance is permitted, my ex
perience led me to the conclusion that attendan ce
was regarded as a wearisome corvee. Such officials
as His Highness could produce would understand
little of ourjprocedure and~know perfectly well tha t
justice is impartial and that, in ninety-nine case s
out of a hundred, there is nothing to complain ofT
( 6 ) The omission is important and must be
opposed. I understand that Consul seld om objects
but think he should have the power to do s o in the
case of a notoriously corrupt or incompetent judge
Subjects of His Highness the Sultan, or of any
non-Christian Power, not represented by a Consul
at Maskat, who are in the regular service of
British subjects within the dominions of His
Highness the Sultan, shall enjoy the same privi
leges as British subjects themselves. Should they
be charged with having committed a crime or
serious offence, i n which the lex talioois, according
t o the traditions of of S hara ; law is necessary ( 1 )^
they shall, on sufficient evidence being shown to
Article XIV.