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File 2908/1907 Pt 3 ‘Persian Gulf:- Quarantine; German complaint’ [‎124r] (247/250)

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The record is made up of 1 item (125 folios). It was created in 26 Feb 1903-1 Dec 1908. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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dealt with. Of the new Convention as a whole we would venture to say
that if, on the one hand, it seems to impose certain sanitary measures
which were not (under international law) in force before, it offers, on
the other hand, fresh advantages to shipping and commercial interests
which were not offered by the former Conventions. We may briefly
balance the gains and losses of the new Convention from the point of
view of decrease or increase in restrictive measures, and the corre
sponding approximation of the reverse to the liberal views which have
always been held by Great Britain on the prophylaxis of disease.
The. “ gains,” from this point of view, must he held to include the
following:—
'Ihe reduction in the incubation period of plague, with consequent
marked reduction in the regime applied, both on ship and on shore, both
in Europe and. outside Europe, to deal with the disease.'
The recognition that no class of goods is itself “susceptible” of
carrying infection, and the consequent reduction in the list of goods
which may be disinfected or prohibited admission to a country.
The notification ot a first case of plague or cholera, even when
indigenous, not to involve the application of measures.
The end of an epidemic to date from the isolation, when isolation has
been effected, instead of from the death or cure of the last patient.
ihe decision that plague is not spread by water, and consequent
removal of certain measures on ships intended to meet the supposed
danger.
The acceptance of the medical visit at night for ships passing the
Suez Canal, and the permission, under certain conditions, to make that
visit on board.
Pilgrim ships belonging to nations that have accepted the Conventions
to he allowed, under certain specified conditions, to transit the Canal
without preliminary detention at Tor.
The acceptance, in principle, of the transit of Egypt in train, en
eontumace, by passengers and mails from the East.
The “losses —or apparent losses—on the other hand, are principally
those connected with the danger from rats. In practice, however, we
are far from sure that the new Begulations to meet this danger are to he
regarded as “ losses,” in the sense of adding new restrictions to shipping.
The matter was not dealt with in any way by the old Conventions, and,
consequently, many countries considered themselves free to impose almost
any measure they thought fit to deal with rats. The result was a
complete lack of uniformity, and entire uncertainty in the measures to
which any ship was liable ; and in some countries (as, for example,
Turkey and Erance) the measures actually imposed were excessively
stringent. The new Convention has at least introduced the elements of
uniformity and certainty. It has further established a maximum of
rat measures, with a consequent power to claim compensation if a port
authority exceeds that maximum. As we had the honour to point out
in an earlier report, we think this maximum is placed too high, hut we
may repeat that it is much lower than we had anticipated, much lower
than was proposed to the Conference, and much lower than was actually
in practice in some countries. In those countries British shipping is
therefore a gainer, and not a loser, under the new Convention. Iif all
countries shipping is a gainer, in that the new Convention lays down
conditions which must be observed in applying rat destruction—con
ditions which were often not respected in practice before.
Thus, it is now established that the process must not cause damao-e to
the cargo, the engines or the vessel itself; that it must not last more
than twenty-four hours in some cases, forty-eight hours in others, and
that, in the case of a clean ship, it is not to be done as a general rule;
it is not to interfere with the circulation of passengers or crew from
ship to shore and is not to he unnecessarily repeated.

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The item consists of part three of the subject file 2908/1907 Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. : Quarantine. This part broadly covers two topics: the proceedings of the International Sanitary Conference at Paris (1903) and complaints made by German consular staff at Bushire against the conduct of Captain Thomas Beauchamp Williams whilst undertaking his duties as Chief Quarantine Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .

Correspondence outlining the details of three quarantine incidents has been included:

Complaints against Captain Williams over his conduct during the latter two incidents were lodged by Count Quadt, German Minister at Tehran, at the Tehran Sanitary Council: see folios 4-6 for related papers. A copy – in French – of a report of the proceedings of the fifty-third session of the Tehran Sanitary Council can be found on folios 11-14.

A copy – in French with English translation – of the International Sanitary Convention, signed at Paris 3 December 1903, can be found on folios 43-108. For supplementary correspondence outlining the proceedings of the British delegation at the Conference, see folios 109-125.

The main correspondents are as follows: HM Minister at Tehran (Sir Cecil Arthur Spring Rice), HM Chargé d'affaires at Tehran (Charles Murray Marling), the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Major Percy Zachariah Cox), the Chief Quarantine Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the German Consul at Bushire (Dr Franz Listermann), officials of the Foreign Office, and officials of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. .

No papers have been filed for the years 1905-1906.

Extent and format
1 item (125 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in chronological order from the rear (folio 125) to the front of the part (folio 1).

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English in Latin script
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File 2908/1907 Pt 3 ‘Persian Gulf:- Quarantine; German complaint’ [‎124r] (247/250), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/124/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100066085809.0x000039> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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