File 600/1905 Pt 2 'Aden Hinterland: Future Policy' [‎361r] (209/226)

Confidential.
No. 1805.
Political Department.
Bow,bay Castle, 5th March 1906.
Prom
The Hon’ble Sir STEYNiNG W. EDGERLEY, K.G.Y.O., CJ.E.,
Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. ;
To
The SECRETARY to the GOVERNMENT oe INDIA,
Eoreign Department.
Sir,
I am directed to advert to my letter No. 6694, dated the 19th October 1905,
on the subject of the arms
No. G630, dated the 29th October 1905, with enclosures, traffic in the Gulf of Aden,
No. 26o, dated the 14th January 1906, with enclosures. an{ j ^ gy'bjjjit the marginally
noted further correspondence
from the Resident at Aden dealing with this subject.
1. I am to submit these reports in full because they are referred to in the
report, which the Resident has sent to the Secretary of State, in response to
direct orders, of which report a copy was sent to you with my No. 1423, dated
the 20th February 1906, and because these letters are referred to in other
reports from the Resident. It appears to be, therefore, desirable that the
Government of India should have them on their records. But the letters of
October and January last to some extent cover the same ground and for
purposes of a general consideration of the subject might have been a good deal
condensed.
2. I am to offer the following remarks on the question after consultation
in Bombay between His Excellency the Governor and the Resident at Aden.
3. The present position in the Hinterland is described in paragraphs 8 and
9 of the Resident’s letter of October last, and in discussion the Resident has
laid great stress upon the fact that practically every adult inhabitant of the
Hinterland is already armed with firearms of some kind or other and, as he
reports, generally with a French rifle which has come by some route or other
from Jibouti or Obokh. The Protectorate is, therefore, in his opinion, full of
arms already, and it is clear from the papers, which have from time to time
been forwarded, that arms can be purchased in the French possessions without
let or hindrance. Furthermore, it is obvious from the Resident’s letter No. 265,
dated the 14th January 1906, that, in the absence of very clear orders from
Paris, it is futile to expect any assistance from the French authorities at Jibouti
and Obokh to stop the traffic. It is rumoured that their recent experience in
Yemen has led the Turks to be much more strict in this matter than they
previously used to be, but of this there is no certain information. It appears
from the interview with Gommandatore Pestalozza, of which a note has been
submitted with the Resident’s letter No. 265, dated the 14th January 1906, that
the local Italian officers are somewhat lukewarm in adopting the measures which
the Resident at Aden and His Majesty’s Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief
of the Somaliland Protectorate are prepared to adopt, and which they consider
cannot succeed without full co-operation by the other signatories of the Brussels’
Convention.
4. So far as the recommendations contained in the first twenty paragraphs
of the Resident’s letter No. 265 of the 14th January 1906 are concerned, these
are for the consideration of the authorities in London. Any assistance by the
con 2014