File 869/1904 Pt 2 'Arms Traffic: - Red Sea, Africa and Aden' [‎33r] (74/540)

may be deemed more politic to secure the necessary co-operation of the tribes concerned by
the various methods which have been suggested, such as enhancement of stipend and
ourselves supplying the reasonable requirements of their own regular armed forces.
a j rev ^ se ^ Regulation, the same general remarks may be held to apply.
And it is furthermore to be again observed that for this to be really effective, it is essential
that all the powers concerned should follow a similar procedure to that which the
Government of India eventually decide to themselves adopt.
21. If this co-operation can be secured, the provision for security bonds to be
furnished before the grant of Port Clearances might with advantage be retained. But
there should be the same procedure at all the ports which are prescribed, and the production
of a recognised and valid bond should be requisite to the grant of a Port Clearance at every
one of them. J
22. Similarly the absence of a proper Port Clearance or the unlawful carrying of
arms should be an offence on the arrival at or departure from any other prescribed port as
well as the Port of Aden. ^
23. Many vessels leave Aden for places on the Eastern Coast of the Protectorate and
thence proceed with a fair wind to the Eastern Coast of Africa. And it is by such vessels
that it is probable that arms are chiefly conveyed to the Somali Coast. Similarly many
vessels proceed from the vicinity of Obokh to places on the Western Coast of the Protec
torate and thence elsewhere without perhaps ever coming into Aden at all.
24. Assuming the requisite co-operation of all concerned to render the reo-ulation
effective, the revised draft may be further considered : —
(i) In the first place it would seem desirable to apply the Regulation to vessels pro
ceeding elsewhere than the Gulf of Aden. France, Italy and Great Britain have agreed
to take action to prevent disorder in Africa and on the shores of the Red Sea and the
Indian Ocean as well as the Gulf of Aden, and further to check the illicit export of arms
etc., to places beyond the zone of the Brussels Convention. The scope of the Regulation
may be considered accordingly. And it would seem more convenient to apply it to a
certain class of vessel than to vessels proceeding to certain places. “ Coasting Vessels ”
would seem a convenient term subject to such further definition as Government may deem
desirable. And incidentally further consideration might now be paid to the proposal to
apply Act XIX of 1838 to Aden which was vetoed in Government Besolution in the Marine
Department, No. 565 of the 1st October 1881. At any rate this Act might be applied to
vessels owned by British subjects. There is a Somaliland Registration of Vessels Regula
tion of 1904 in force on the Somali Coast. And I attach a copy of that and of a demi-
official letter dated the 26th March 1907 which I have received from Captain Cordeaux on
the subject.
(ii) The term u Coasting Vessels ” might be substituted for <f native vessels ” in Rule
12 of the draft Regulation. And this might be so worded as to give registered vessels only
the privilege of carrying arms for self-defence. In Rule 8 there is reference to a pass
which may be granted elsewhere by a public official. And as both France and Italy appear
from the latest agreement to contemplate the registration of vessels, they might at the
same time co-operate in licensing registered vessels only to carry arms for self-defence.
(iii) The Regulation might include a general clause empowering the Resident to make
rules for carrying its objects and purposes into effect. Certain rules of this sort were
issued in 1902. And I attach copies of my levision of these of 1905 and of the letters I
received on the subject from the Senior Naval Officer, His Majesty , s Commissioner of the
Somaliland Protectorate, and the Consul-General for Italy. These have not been actually
issued pending the revision of the Regulation itself. But some rules of the sort seem
desirable.
(iv) It is also a question whether some further rules would not be useful in regard to
“ coasting vessels only under the Sea Customs Act on the lines of the rules which for
merly existed at Aden and are embodied in annexure 1 to the accompaniments to Govern
ment Resolution in the Revenue Department No. 2617, dated the 25th April 1902. I
hesitate to again raise the question of the “ Aden Port Clearance and Trade Registration
Bill ” : but I would take the opportunity to mention two facts which have recently come to
notice:—
(a) A certain number of native craft smuggle both tobacco and specie from Aden into
Turkish Ports under a false clearance for other ports, mostly Massowah ; and
(5) the incorrectness of manifests issued to coasting steamers at Aden has recently
given rise to complaints by the Somaliland Authorities.
(v) As to Rules 3 and 4 of the Regulation, I have already remarked upon the desira
bility of including other places than Aden amongst those where a vessel should upon arrival
be required to produce a Port Clearance from the last prescribed port visited, and amongst
those from which a vessel should not depart without such clearance. Aud the same remarks
apply to Rules 7 and 9.