File 2764/1904 Pt 5 'Baghdad Railway: Anglo-Turkish negotiations; concessions proposed in respect of Kowait; negotations with Hakki Pasha in London; Anglo-Turkish agreement.' [‎107v] (225/536)

4. Each of the Commissioners shall receive annually a salary of £ T. 2,000 tree
of all deductions. These salaries shall be paid by the Commission.
5. The Commission shall appoint such officers and employes as may be necessary,
but the Chief Engineer and the Surveyor shall be of British nationality. The salaries
of such officers and employes shall be fixed and paid by the Commission.
6. The Commission shall be charged with the following duties :
(a.) The execution of such works as may be necessary for the improvement of the
channel of the river and of the approaches thereto on the seaward side.
(b.) The maintenance of the channel of the river free from obstructions of all sorts,
so as to keep it in the best possible state for navigation.
(c.) The preparation, issue, and enforcement of regulations for the navigation
of the river and for the policing of the river and the land and buildings held by the
Commission.
(d.) The control of pilotage.
(c.) The buoying and lighting of the channel, and the maintenance and control of
the lights and buoys in the approaches to the river specified in the Schedule to this
Convention.
(/.) The supervision, so far as may he necessary for carrying out the purposes of
this convention, and subject to the treaty rights of foreign Powers, of the wharves, quays,
docks, and jetties belonging to private persons in or on the banks of the river, and the
provision of such additional accommodation and facilities as the Commission may deem
necessary.
7. The Imperial Ottoman Government undertakes to facilitate the acquisition by
the Commission of such land as the Commission shall consider necessary to enable it to
carry out effectually the duties assigned to it. The cost of such land shall be paid by
the Commission.
In cases where land to which fishing rights are attached is required by the
Commission, no unnecessary interference with such fishing rights shall take place.
8. No dues, taxes, or charges shall be levied either by the Porte or by the
Commission on ships or goods on the Shatt-el-Arab based on the mere fact of
navigation.
9. The Commission shall have the sole right to levy any dues or charges that may
be found necessary to cover the expenses of works undertaken and services maintained
by it. In the event of such dues being found necessary they shall not exceed the
amount reasonably required for the above purposes, including the administration of the
Commission, and their produce shall be exclusively applied thereto, any surplus being
devoted to the reduction of dues. In no case shall the rate of dues exceed 1 fr. per net
registered ton of shipping.
10. Any dues or charges levied by the Commission shall be levied impartially and
equitably in respect of all vessels, whatever be the places from or to which they arrive
or depart, or the nations or persons to which the vessels or their cargoes belong.
Similarly there shall he no differentiation in the matter of facilities between vessels or
goods of different nations or persons, or between vessels arriving from or departing to
different places.
11. Any sums which it may become necessary for the Commission to borrow for
the purpose of carrying out the duties imposed upon it shall be advanced by the high
contracting parties at a rate of interest not exceeding 5 per cent, per annum, in such
proportions and upon such terms as to repayment as they may arrange.
12. The control of all funds raised and expended by the Commission shall be vested
exclusively in the Commission.
13. The Commission shall publish annually complete and accurate accounts,
showing the amounts received and expended by it.
14. If the receipts of the Commission are insufficient to cover its ordinary
expenditure the deficit shall be made good by the Imperial Ottoman Government.
15. In the event of the members of the Commission being unable to agree as
to whether any particular works are or are not necessary for the improvement of the
Shatt-el-Arab, or as to the way in which particular works should be carried out,
the question shall be referred by them to an engineer of repute, to be agreed upon
by the commissioners, or, failing agreement, to be nominated by the president of
the Institute of Civil Engineers in London, and the decision of such engineer shall
be adopted by the Commission.
16. The Commission shall correspond upon all matters connected with the duties
entrusted to it with the Sublime Porte direct, and not through the local authorities.