File 1855/1904 Pt 7 'Koweit Flag.' [‎233v] (130/154)

, T am afra ; d however, that these constant complaints prove a deliberate
3 . I am atraw, ow > Governmell t, 0 t which the object is to destroy
policy °^ h0 P'tnuence witl the Arabs of the western shore of the Gulf.
Xe Mtiatkin Of this policy was marked by the abortive attempt to occupy
Ahn Musa and Tamh and, since that failed, the pohey has been continued by
Abu Musa and la > 0 pp re s S ion on Arab dhows, especially those
Snffrom St " n^it has now'culminated, if I have been correctly
Wormed! S a wanton and unjustifiable insult to an independent Chief under
British protection. - ... .. .
4 One of the most oppressive and vexatious forms of this policy is the
invariable assumption by the Customs Department that the Arab Nakhoda is
S wr^r^d must prove his innocence. I will instance the case of an
unfortunate, named Mubarak-bin-Khalifa.
5 . This man was detained at Lingah for twenty-one days, having been
brought from Sheivah, where he had already been detained eight days for the
nurnose Twenty bags of grain were taken from him as security, and he was
told to wait and prove his innocence. There is fairly strong evidence that Ins
wheat cargo for which he was unable to account satislactoiily was legitimate,
and, having come under a pass from the Persian port of Mashur was, six
months latter, re-exported from Koweit, but this naturally took time to prove.
The case has my attention.
6 . Binding his other cargo rotting during his detention, ^Mubarak made
his escape, and put out to sea. The Belgians have detained him, and some of
his crew pending trial for a month, and have confiscated twenty bags of his
grain for an offence which, there is reason to believe, he never committed, and
has vet to he proved, a gainst him, but for this last heinous offence in disobeying
their order to wait and prove his innocence, he is to be persecuted m every
Persian port in which he dares to show his face. They have caught him once
already, and attached a small boat of his, but could not manage to detain the
man himself, who is now in Koweit.
7. It is perhaps unnecessary to call to your remembrance the case, on
yonr office records, of the Koweit boat which, it is alleged, was searched
unsuccessfully for arms in the open sea, and then towed into territorial waters
and heavily fined for a technical breach of the Customs Begulaiions.
8 . This extraordinary assumption that Arab Nakhodas are hound to prove
that they have not committed an offence against the Customs Department
can have only one result, where on the one side we have a well-regulated
department, armed with clerks, regulations, and engines of oppression of every
description, and on the other ignorant Nakhodas seldom able even to read and
write.
9 . The feeling in Koweit itself is very bitter against the Belgians, and
might at any time, lead to acts of retaliation on Persians, and thus the situa
tion would become acute and dangerous.
10. If the Customs Administration persist in this course of conduct, the
only remedy that appears to me at all likely to meet the situation is that one
of our gun-boats should attend the Muzafferi and Persepolis, wherever they
go, especially in the open sea, and whenever they overhaul a boat hailing from
the western shores of the Gulf, the Commander of the gun-boat should insist
on having a clear primd facie case against the boat being made out to his satis
faction or the immediate release of the vessel.
11 . The alleged interference with boats bound for Basrah will no doubt
form the subject of a protest from the Turkish local authorities, and I would
venture to suggest that His Britannic Majesty’s Consul at Basrah be addressed
on the subject.
12. In conclusion, I would crave indulgence for this hastily written prelim
minary report. The whole subject is under the close and anxious attention of
Sheikh Mubarak and myself, and I hope, at leisure, to submit more fully
matured proposals for the solution of the very important difficulties involved
therein.