"الملف 14/115 VII الملحق (B 9) أكسيد جزيرة أبو موسى: مواد خلفية حول هذه القضية" [ظ‎‎١‎١‎١] (١٩٠٤/٢٣٣)

14,
understand how the British Memorandum can come to ^
even in the translation of the letter there printed (Annex 1 / of
we find the passage :—
« I sent you back an answer, dated the 21st Bebi II, 1324, which purported to
convey acquiescence "
The facts cited above show that Nejef—if, indeed, he is to be considered a p ^
at all—as well as Malcolm and Abdallatif, the latter as the r ^ nesei ' ~ q nn , •],
Isa, declared their approval of the conclusion of the agreement )e ^ 1 eeI ' a "'
and Mr. Wonckhaus. Of course, the legal position is not affected V ^ ' _^i
that Nejef and Abdallatif subsequently denied that they had grv en
by the fact that, in particular, Abdallatif, after he had procured a copy o u c agre ,1,
for the British consul, changed his mind about the agreement.
But, apart from this, the Imperial Government are, moreover, of opiniou ia t- i a
was no necessity for Hassan Samaih to obtain the concurrence of the oJiei p^i jii.,..s,
he was the manager of the company. _ , . ,1 ,1
The circumstances of locality, apart from anything else, made x« a so ate y
necessary that one of the partners should be authorised to represen the con^Mi.j
alone in dealings with other persons, and to bind the company by his acis^v-y ou
the previous approval of the other partners. Isa lives at S.iaige i, .^a.coii.n a
Bushire, Nejef—assuming that he is a partner—at Bunder Abbas,^Hassan bamain a
Lingah. From Lingah to Bushire and from Bunder Abbas to Lingaft tnere is a. wee-1}-
post, from Bushire to Lingah and from Lingah to Bunder Abbas only a /ortnighclypos .
Postal communication with Shargeh has only been established within the last few yeais ,
at the time when the company was founded there were only sailing-boats available for
the journey, which took from three to ten days, according to the weather, to reach
Lingah from Shargeh. Telegraphic communication is entirely wanting on the Oman
Coast; the telegraph station on the Island of Henjam can be reached from Lingah by
sailing-boat in from two to four days; the conveyance of a telegram from Henjam to
Lingah takes the same time. How is it possible to imagine a properly^ conducted
business with such bad means of communication if the managing partner, before con
cluding a business transaction, has to ask the opinion of three people living respectively
at Shargeh, Bushire, and Bunder Abbas, await tueir replies, perhaps answer objections,
modify certain provisions in accordance with the wisties ot one of the partners, and
then again refer to the others for their sanction of the modifications ?
This state of things being duly taken into consideration, a Memorandum of
Association was agreed upon in which the rights and duties of the manager are regulated
with some detail.
In a letter dated the 6th January, 1899 (23 Shaban, 1316),* Abdallatif sent
the Memorandum of Association, which he had himself drawn up, to Hassan Samaih
at Lingah, and requested that all the partners there, Hassan Samaih, Abdallah,
and Nakhoda Ali, would sign it and then send it back. In sending it he observes
that Sheikhs Salim and Sakar have seen the Memorandum, and that Sakar has asked
for a copy, which shows that Sakar, too, approved of the Memorandum.
Hassan Samaih, Abdallah, and Nakhoda Ali signed the Memorandum, added an
additional article. No. 6, providing for the purchase of four large and four small boats at
the expense of the company, and sent the altered Memorandum to • Abdallatif, Hassan
Samaih keeping a copy.
On the 21st January, 1899 (9 Eamadan, 1316),t Abdallatif wrote that he had
shown the Memorandum to Isa and Bakar,£ but that they had not agreed to the
engagement of eight boats for the service of the company. No other objections were
raised, which is quite natural, as the remainder of the Memorandum had been drafted
by Abdallatif himself, and had already been agreed to by the partners living at
Shargeh. As Hassan Sama ; h at once replied that he and the two other partners at
Lingah consented to the cancelling of the boats, all the partners were now in agreement
as to the contents of the Memorandum of Association. No fresh copy of the Memorandum
was made, and none was necessary , since the correspondence which had passed showed
that all had approved of its contents. In consequence of the adoption of this new
Memorandum of Association, the older provisions not in harmony with it, which were
agreed upon when Nakhoda Ali joined in May 1898, of course ceased to be in force.
* Annexes 13 and 14.
f Annex 40.
t The communication of the Memorandum to Sakar is explained by the fact that at that time he was
still a partner.