File 37/1905 Pt 5 'Aden Delimitation' [‎5r] (14/606)

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ASIATIC TURKEY AND ARABIA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
....
[September 23.]
Section 1.
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[37307] No. 1.
Memorandum with reference to Sheikh Said, on the Coast of Arabia.
THE accompanying cutting from the “ Republique ” of the 30th instant, which
has just been received from Mr. Austin Lee, shows the reception accorded to M. Hugues
Le Roux by the Turkish military authorities at Sheikh Said.
The claims or designs of France with reference to this locality have given rise to
much correspondence in the past, and more than one memorandum has been written on
the subject.
The place was originally purchased from an Arab sheikh by two Frenchmen named
Maas (or Mass) and Poilex in January 1869, but the Porte denied the validity of the
sale, and the sheikh declared that it was void by reason of the purchase money not
having been paid.
His Majesty’s Government have always maintained that Sheikh Said belongs to
Turkey, and in 1893, when it was reported that the French authorities at Obokh were
negotiating for its transfer to France, urged that a strong Turkish force should at once
be sent there.
On the 2nd May, 1895, M. H. Maas, who had written to this Office on the subject,
was informed that the opinion already expressed to him that Sheikh Said was Turkish
territory was in no way altered.
The question of the occupation of Sheikh Said by France was again mooted in Paris
in 1897, and enquiries were made at His Majesty’s Embassy as to whether it was occupied
by British troops.
The 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. concurred in the proposed reply that there was no truth in the
rumoured British occupation, and that Plis Majesty’s Government considered it to be
Turkish territory.
In April 1897 a resolution for the “ reoccupation ” of Sheikh Said by France was
introduced into the French Chamber of Deputies, when M. Brisson’s proposal that it
should be printed and circulated, and, if unopposed, transmitted to the Colonial
Commission, was agreed to by the house.
The Turkish Ambassador at Paris was instructed to call M. Hanotaux’s attention
to the fact that Sheikh Said was part of the Ottoman dominions.
The last reference to this place in the correspondence now in the custody of the
librarian appears to be the announcement made by Sir E. Monson in June 1899 that
an offer had been made to the United States Ambassador at Paris on behalf of
Messrs. Bazin and Rabaud, who claimed Sheikh Said, to sell it to the United States for
400,000 dollars.
[2180 z-1]
Extract
from the
Rdpub-
lique ” of
January 30,
1901 (see
Mr. Her
bert, No. 37,
February 1,
1901).
Memoran
dum by Sir
E. Hertslet,
March 6,
1882(Confi
dential
4590).
Memoran
dum by Mr.
Barrington,
April 27,
1895.
Memoran
dum by
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. ,
April 9,
1897.
To Sir 0.
Ford, No.
44, May 8,
1893.
To Mr. H.
Maas, May
2, 1895.
Sir E. Mon
son, No.
186, March
12; No. 191,
March 14;
No. 196,
March 17,
1897.
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. ,
March 31,
1897.
Sir E. Mon
son, No.
269, April
11, 1897.
Memoran
dum by Mr.
Fairholme,
July 1,
1899.
Sir N.
O’Conor,
No. 314,
May 8,
1897.
Sir E. Mon
son, No.
318, June
30, 1899.