'P. 3 733/1904. Muscat :- Commercial Treaties.' [‎243r] (71/286)

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justify further proceedings, be handed over by
their British employers, or by order of the British
Consul for trial and punishment, a ccording to lex
taiionis. And, likewise, British subjects, when
they shall be in the true service of His Highness
the Sultan, shall enjoy the same protection which
the subjects of His Highness the Sultan enjoy {'£) .
Notes . The alteration is a poor one for the
simple and salutary provis o of the draft Treat y.
Th e use of the Arabic word , instead of the
more usual and milder wordj^f^r^puni^hmen^lo^h^
to me ominou s and we m ight f ind a useful British
s ervant, caught in a petty thoft, having his hand
c ut off, or mutilated, or subjected_to^ome^oth er
barbarous form of torture .
(•2) Unless we want to have Maskat made an
Alsatia for fugitives from_j3ritishjus^
an d the rather shady characters who already sni>
roun d the Sultan grow bold in wickedness, imagin
ing that they are protected by the Sultan against
the sanc tions of British criminal jurisdiction, we
mo st oppose this provision. It is a matter of com-
mon knowledge wh y it is necessary to protect Britis h
domestic servants against the local authorities in
O riental countries, but a similar reproach has
neve r been laid to the charge of British officials .
Article XV.
Should a British subject, residing in the do
minions of His Highness, be adjudicated bankrupt,
the British Consul shall take possession of,
recover, and realise all available property ^ and
assets of such bankrupt to be dealt with and distri
buted according to the provisions of the customary
(1) Bankruptcy Laws.
Note (1). A very poor substitute. I do not
ima gine that any one knows what the customary
B ankruptcy laws ^of^Maskat are ; it is, ho wever,
notorious that Maskat bankrupt subjects are
famous for their ingenious devices for successfully
^^mgThejusTcIai^^^j^reditois^^^^^^^^^,
Article XVI.
Should a subject of His Highness the
Sultan resist or evade payment of the just
and rio-htful claims of a British subject, the
authorities of His Highness shall afford to the
British creditor every aid and facility in recover '
ing the amount due to him. Except that, should
it be verified that he is in indigent circumstances
and unable to pay the dues, then he sh all, in that
case, be decreed in indigent circumstances (1) and
his r elatives shall not be respon sible for hnn (2).
In like manner, the British Consul shall afford
every aid and facility to subjects of His Highness,
in recovering debts, justly due to them from a
British subject.
Notes ( 11 and (2). The invariable replies given
alread y to the .just demands ot British subjects.
The office files are full ot such lying pretensions
a nd 1 have two cases pending now be lore me, in
one of which a man, possessing a date-garden,
pleads inability to pay a~tnfl in g ^ebt not on e^enth
d; its value and is consistently supported by His