File 2768/1913 'Arms traffic: Muscat warehouse; claims of British firms' [‎202v] (410/645)

s ~° , ,, ,,,, the score that lie cornu procure guou* »> Jc.J 0 u.i, C u uuu oer.cer at a
offered f 0 * sa ’ v]iere The goods wore also offered to Hap Najif-bin-Ghalib, agent
of Hie Sheikh of Kovveit. The latter would have been ready to take them on payment
of three months’ date after delivery, but I did not feel justihed m accepting his olfci
^ A^erTsmaU’qStity 0 ^ Hie goods have been sold and I hope gradually to
disnose of the rest, but, while taking no responsibility beyond the safe custody of the
money 5 for which the goods will he sold and its remittance in due course to you and
hot the .mods shall not he sold at prices below those quoted by you, I think I should
inform you that I shall consider myself fortunate if I am able to remit to you on their
account a sum which amounts to very nearly 3,400/. within a year of the date of this
letter. ^ , g disposed ot> an d, as you will see from the above, my
exneetations in many directions have been disappointed, 1 can give uo opinion
whatever as regards the 1,000 Lee-Metford rifles mentioned in the close of your
letter of the 3rd October. f„;ti,f, 1 n,.
In regard to the sale of the “ Mashona ’’ shipment, I regret to inform you thattho
s have heeu refused by Sheikh Khazal ot Mohammerah, to whom they wete
Enclosure 2 in No. i.
Major Knox to Messrs. Laubenburg and Co.
Gentlemen, Muscat, November 26, 1913.
I WRITE to acknowledge the recipt of your letter of the 7th November, 1913,
regarding the sale of goods ex “ Mashona,” and in reply to say that it appears my
letter of °the 20th October, 1913, which answers most of your questions, has crossed
your above letter. Q
2. I hope to remit to you by the end of the current quarter a sum ot 21/. Is. M.
Yours faithfully,
S. G: KNOX.
Enclosure 3 in No 1.
Messrs. Laubenburg and Co. to Major Knox.
Dear Sir, Birmingham, January 9, 1914.
WE have the honour to acknowledge due receipt of your letters, dated t e
20th October and 26th November, 1913, and in thanking you for your kind endeavours
to dispose of the goods relating to the “Mashona” shipment, we regret that t e
prospects of a speedy realisation of the whole lot are so hopeless, and considering tna
at the present rate of selling, viz., 21/. 4s. 8c/. worth in about six months, it will ta e
about twenty-five to thirty years to dispose of the whole parcel, which is a very serious
matter to us. _
With regard to the Sheikh of Koweit’s offer to take the goods on condition tm
payment is made three months after delivery, we should be disposed to accept those
terms, if there was a certainty of the money being duly paid at the expiration ot thre
months, or if His Majesty’s Government or 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. would guarantee
payment.
We have not replied sooner to your valued communications, as we a J
interview with the Foreign Office in London early in December last, and we arostm
correspondence with them in reference to our Muscat affairs. According to a let
we have received this morning, they inform us that they are again communicat 5
with the Government of India, and with the British authorities at Muscat, respecting
disposal of our stocks and the recovery of the amount due to us from Ali Musa h i ■
who has still to take from us a large quantity of rifles and ammunition contracted
with us, that is, the Field Rifle Company. A^j
We had also asked the Foreign Office to assist us in the recovery of
minimum due to us from M. A. Goguyer (A. Elbaz) for 600 rifles we have in s