Coll 30/111 'British Naval Stations in: Establishments at Khor Quwai and Bahrain. Evacuation of Henjam and Basidu.' [‎550r] (1106/1154)

9
which could be construed to be derno-un + ,
to establish any French right to the littoral th ®, m f e Pf deace of the Imam or
examine his suggestion further with the India Offi™ Sa * 18bur y undertook to
matter fell. la ul hee, within whose jurisdiction the
35. On the 27th February 1899 M On 1
Secretary and “said that the French Qovermneni agaiI \ Ca , lled ° n tlle Foreign M.to 1.0
Treaty of 1862, that neither State micdit accent ■! ep ^ d ou r reading of the ff-29,
territory, and that they no longer crested the n™ 7 flf 1 ™, or lease o£ M uscat ' 1794 '^ 9 -
grant of Bunder Gisseh under ±b, J keep the
right. His Excellency maintained, however that hi* tHe lde / o£ ternto rial
ment to be able to procure coal in these watPr-Q i necessar y for his Govern-
establish a coal depot on exactly the same termTis ^ accordl ^ 1 y proposed to
sufferance. But he requested that the Brhish Znt M ^ 1S f t0 Sa ^ on
that this had been done with the assent of Her Maiestv’s Govf be 11 i formed
the Imam might object to the arrangement. ” J Government ’ as otherwise
Settlement of Bunder Gisseh Incident.
TT M 36 p After ^ngthy further discussion between the French Government and
'; 1 ' i ruVl j l 1 |" l< : l , , , T 1 f 1 oxurnmation of alternative sites, the matter was finally
settled in July 1900 by the grant to France by H.M. Government (after reference
to the Sultan) of one-half of the area which they had hitherto themselves enjoyed
for coaling purposes in the Makalla cove in Muscat harbour. The conditions
of th®. grant wei e that the area in question should be held on precisely the same
conditions as the British area, i.e. that no political or territorial rights of any
kind should be involved and no right given to fly the national flag or to erect
fortifications. H.M. Government successfully insisted on having a determining-
voice in the question of the site to be granted to France, the argument that they
were entitled to ensure that that site was in no way superior to the site held by
Great Britain, since “France, under the Treaty of 1862, had no right to any
privilege which England had not a right also to possess,” being employed in the
course of the discussions.
I.O. to P.O.,
21.4.99,
P. 14(55/99.
P.A. to
Sultan,
20.3.99,
8.6.99,
1
F.O. Desp.
to Paris,
No. 331,
7.10.99,
P. 2371/99.
37. The main points which emerge from the incident are:—
{a) While the acquisition of a lease of land by a private individual for use
as a coaling station would not constitute a violation of the Declaration
of 1862 and would be permissible under the French Commercial
Treaties of 1844 and the British Commercial Treaty of 1891, acceptance
of a lease or cession of Muscat territory by either Government would be jj
an infraction of the terms of the Declaration.
(6) H.M. Government based their representations to the Sultan on his
violation of the Exclusive Agreement of 1891. „
Vis-d-vis the French, on the other hand, and m Parliament,
H.M. Government took their stand on the Declaration of^1852, 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. , while emphasising that the Agreement of 1891 confened
exceptional rights upon the British Government”, agreeing with the
Sgn Office* that ft was impossible ^ ^ ^
officially communicated by Hf-Goyrnment to the Fren h Governm at
and the French Vice-Consnl dechned ^ ffiai it
officially communicated to him by tha han( £ H . M . GOT ern-
contravened the Declaration of 1 — , (c/. paragraph 34
ment in dealing with the Frenc Sultan, and recorded
above) with their special treaty relatl ° , f t th t he had undertaken
their financial assistance to bun and the fact that ne
not to alienate his territory. c , aim £or precisely equal
<c) H.M. Government felt unable to resist a h^ ^ attr i b uted to the
treatment; but were able to ™^ r t ; ^de^ticalwith those on which
French should be attributed on conditions identic „ OVB
r reuoii - , . 011 ., ° ‘ B0 litical or territorial rights were
the British area was held, viz. that p bg flown or defences
acquired in it and that the national flag shou
erected.