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File 3004/1910 'Tehran Sanitary Council' [‎101r] (206/516)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (256 folios). It was created in 1909-1911. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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No. 1579 (Confidential), dated Bushire, the 18 th (received 26 th) June igir.
From-LIEUTENANT-COLONEL P. Z. Cox, C.S.I., C.I.E., Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ,
To— The Hon’ble Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry McMahon, K.C.I.E.,
C.S I., Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Depart
ment, Simla. r
f-
The proceedings of the 90th Seance of the Tehran Sanitary Council, dated
1st May, being of special interest, I have the honour to address the following
observations to the Government of India in connection therewith.
2. (Paragraph 3 {a) of the Proceedings)*
One of the delegates drew attention to the fact that the outbreaks of
plague in the Gulf Ports during the last few years have always occurred in the
spring, and suggests for the origin of them an explanation purporting to be his
own, but really only the resuscitation of a theory advanced by Dr. Bussiere in
1904. I shall return to this later.
As a layman I have always connected the outbreaks with the annual arrival
at this season, from Bombay and Calcutta, of the special steamers which bring
large cargoes of rice to the Gulf Ports, the presumption being, in my mind, that
plague-infected rats find their way ashore with the rice bags.
It is true that outbreaks have occurred with such chronological regularity of
late years that one cannot but suspect that the disease must have become
endemic in some of the Gulf Ports, but that is a question which I must leave to
responsible and expert professional opinion. What I am primarily concerned to
communicate to Government now is the suspicions generated in my mind by a
consideration of the identity of the delegate above referred to and of the possi
ble motive of his present revival of Dr. Bussiere’s fanciful theory as to the pro
bable origin of plague in the Gulf.
The functionary in question, Dr. Feistmantel, is Austro-Hungarian and
Turkish representative on the Sanitary Council, and from the first has been
pointedly hostile to the Gulf Quarantine Service under British management, vide,
for example, Legation Despatch No 14 Commercial, dated 16th May 1910, to
Received with Foreign Department endorse- HlS Majesty^ Foreign Office. This fact
ment No. mqi-e.a., dated j 4 th July 1910. makes it difficult to disassociate from his
proceedings the suspicion that they emanate from an ulterior motive connected
with Turco-German policy.
3. In connection with the proceedings of Dr. Bussiere ; the use made of him
by the German Consul at Bushire ; and the attitude of the Austro-Hungarian
Delegate on the Sanitary Council, I would invite reference to the papers mar-
• Charge d'Alfaires, Teh,an, t. Fordgn Offic, fj nal 'y C .' t / ed * The views expressed by
No. 1 6-Commerciai, dated 4th May 190S, for- L)r. Dussiere, on which Dr. Feistmantel
SteL?i^r<!ft“ed D 2 XS«ne"‘9S b Resid '" cy now levies , unacknowledge contribution,
were recorded in a note which figures as
the last enclosure of Dr. Faivre’s Report of 1906.! Dr. Bussiere himself is suffi-
t Foreign Department endorsement No. 43 -E.B., ciently sketchy in his geography when he
dated 8 th January 1907- S p ea ks of “ Le Nejd (El Riad) SUr la COte
Arab d’El Hasa, au voisinage de Bahrein,” but Dr. Feistmantel goes further and
exaggerates the convenient inaccuracy by leaving out all mention of El Hasa.
Both doctors ignore the fact that the country between Nejd and the coast,
nearly 300 miles distant, is practically desert and the tribes nomadic. Dr.
Faivre himself when referring to the question of communication between the
interior and the coast, on the Arab side, wrote—
“ Toutes ces routes presentent au point devue de la dissemination de cholera
et de la peste un interSt en rapport avec leur importance : la plupart ne traversent
au voisinage du Golfe, surtout sur la cote Arabique, que des regions desertes
peu favourables & la propagation des epidemics. La grande voie fluviale du
Chatel Arabe reste la plus dangereuse et c’est elle qu’il importe surtout de
surveiller et de proteger.”
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Content

Correspondence discussing membership of the Tehran Sanitary Council, including concerns over German subjects in the nominal service of foreign governments (Norway, the Netherlands) and their tendency to promote German policy. The correspondence details the approaches to the Greek and Belgian governments to suggest that they be represented by the British on the Persian Sanitary Board. Also discussed are ideas about the causes of the outbreak of plague and cholera in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ports. The file also contains copies of the proceedings of the meetings of the Persian Sanitary Council (Conseil Sanitaire de l'Empire de Perse).

Correspondents include Sir Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Sir George Barclay; Percy Zachariah Cox, Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; Sir Henry McMahon; and the Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department.

Extent and format
1 volume (256 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation - the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 256; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 3004/1910 'Tehran Sanitary Council' [‎101r] (206/516), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/184, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100032581990.0x000007> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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