'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [‎80r] (164/386)

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an expert from India to Tehran, if one could not bo sent from London, to examine
the tariff in detail and the new Customs arrangements.
9 The importance of not permitting tlie changes in tlic taiilT to ho ai ranged
between Russia and Persia alone was again urged by Lord Curaon, who, in his
telegram of 1st October 1901, included among the conditions on which India
would advance a loan, one requiring the contemplated changes in the Persian
Tariff to be submitted for the assent of the Government of India, and this
condition was substantially embodied in the offer of a loan made to Persia in
November by His Majesty’s Government. For other reasons, as already
explained, the English loan was declined, but
• vide Chapter n, paragraph 17, page 27. t y g conc ijtion alone would have been sufficient
to prevent the negotiations being successful when the circumstance, not known
till more than a year later, is stated that the new Commercial Convention
was actually signed at Tehran by the Persian and Russian plenipotentiaries
as early as November 9th, 1901, in spite of the fact that on numerous occasions
since July 1900 the British Government
The Russian Tariff Contention.] had ex p r e sse d through the British Minister
their strong objections to the proposed increase of duty on tea, and had intimated
to the Shah that they expected, in view of our great commercial interests in
Persia, that the Persian Government would not finally decide on the new taiiff
without consulting them. The secret was well kept, and the Persian Govern
ment allowed the British Minister to remain under the belief that the matter
Was still unconcluded.
10. At length in March 1902 Sir A. Hardinge obtained a copy of the text
of the proposed Perso-Ru^sian Tariff as agreed to between the Grand Viziei
and M. Goluboff in November 1901 and taken by the latter to St. Petersburg
for the consideration of his Government. On receipt of the text in India in
April 1902, it was clear that the new duties very seriously affected articles of
Indian trade. In a telegram to the Secretary of State, dated the Uth May
1902, Lord Curzon, while pointing out that the new rates were absolutely penal,
strongly urged that before negotiations w r ere concluded steps should be taken
to obtain fair consideration of Indian interests. His Lordship also remarked
that the text of the proposed tariff fully justified the fears entertained as to the
detrimental effect upon Indian as compared with Russian trade.
This telegram was followed up by a despatch in June 1902 indicating the
particular items in the tariff calling for protest.
11. But the deception was still maintained after the Shah had left Tehran
in April 1902 for a tour in Europe, which was to include a visit to England, and
in August of that year the Marquis of Lansdowne had a conversation with the
Atabeg-i-Azam in London in which the latter went so far as to say that he would
not definitely conclude the tariff without first enabling His Majesty’s Govern
ment to call attention to any provisions which might be calculated to inflict
special injury upon British trade, and with this object would afford them unoffi
cially the means of forming a judgment on the question, although in a written
version of the conversation, he afterwards limited his promise to engaging to give
us the means of forming a judgment about the equal incidence of the tariff upon
all countries alike. Similarly, His Majesty the Shah, when stress was laid
by Lord Lansdowne upon the importance of not coming to any settlement
before the British Government had had an opportunity of stating their case,
himself expressed the hope that Lord Lansdowne would explain to the B^ 11 *
sian Government the objections which were entertained to the new scale of-
duties.
12. While the Shah and his Minister were thus deluding the British Gov
ernment in London with promises which it was already out of their power to
fulfil, M. Naus was engaged in getting removed the last obstacle to the intro
duction of the new tariff, which remained in the shape of the Turko-Persian
Treaties of 1823 and 1848, the benefit of which other Nations could claim under
the most-favoured-nation clause, and, during a visit to Constantinople in August
1902, he persuaded the Porte to make an agreement in place of all former t \ eaties,
by which Turkey and Persia consented to grant each other the most-iavoured-
nation treatment in customs matters.