'Selection from Correspondence Relative to the Traffic in Arms in the Persian Gulf, 1897-98. Part II' [‎43r] (31/52)

Enclosures in Foreign Office letter of 13th June 1898.
No. 1.
Messrs. Rowcliffe, Rawle, & Co., to Foreign Office.
1, Bedford Bow, London, W.C.,
Dear Sir, 4th June 1898.
“ Baluchistan.”
We are acting for underwriters who insured arms by the above vessel.
A number of actions are pending against them by the shippers of the arms
in question, and the attempt is being made to save the parties the expense
and delay of taking evidence in Persia on Commission. A summons dealing
with this matter was before Mr. Justice Kennedy in the Commercial Court
on Friday, 27th May, and that learned Judge directed us to communicate
with you on the following points.
You were good enough on 13th May to write a letter, a copy of which is
sent herewith, to Messrs. Walton, Johnson, Bubb, and Whatton who act for
other underwriters. It is hoped that, if further particulars of some of the
statements contained in that letter can be given, the parties may he saved
much expense.
For instance, can you give the Judge any further information as to the
date of the Order of 1891 mentioned in your letter, and have you the text of
the Order or of its communication to the British Minister or Consuls ? Can
you give any further particulars as to the date and place of the seizure of
arms in 1895, with the name of the consignee, or as to the appointment of
the Special Preventive Officer in 1896 ?
Have you in your possession in England the Persian text of the notification
of 1881?
If this information is not in your possession in England, would it he
possible to obtain it from Her Majesty’s Consul-General at Bushire by
telegram with the sanction of your Office ?
The Judge has adjourned the application before him until 11th June to
allow this communication being made to you, and we shall be much obliged
if you can give us the information desired in time to lay it before his
Lordship.
We remain, &c.,
Sir T. H. Sanderson, &c. Rowcliffe, Rawle, & Co.
Enclosure in above.
Foreign Office to Messrs. Walton & Co.
Foreign Office,
Gentlemen, 13th May 1898.
In reply to your letter of the 6th instant, relating to the case of the
steamer “ Baluchistan,” I am directed by the Marquess of Salisbury to
inform you that the text of the Order of the Persian Goverment prohibiting
the importation of arms, which was issued in 1881, is not in the possession of
this Department. The note from the Persian Government to Her Majesty’s
Minister at Tehran, announcing the issue of the Order, has been already
communicated to you in the letter from this Office of the 21st ultimo.
With regard to the further enquiries in your letter, I am to state that Her
Majesty’s Consul-General at Bushire reported that the archives of his Office
show that the traffic in arms was prohibited by the Persian Government in
1881 and that the Order was reiterated by the Shah in 1891, when it was
stated emphatically that the prohibition of the trade must be enforced.
A large consignment of arms was seized by the Persian Authorities in 1895,
on the ground that their coming to Bushire was illegal, and in 1896 a Special
Political
No. 2040/98.