Page 165 - Gulf Precis (VI)_Neat

Chapter VII.
K3
220. On tbo India Offico being consul foil, Viscunt. Cross drew the atten­
tion of the Foreign Odicc to tho correspondence of 187<t and having regard to
the opinion then exprossed by tbc Government of Indians to tbo desirability of
tanking no change in tbo constitution of the. Residency, deprecated any such
steps as those suggested by Sir \V, White Viscount Cross, however, proposed to
consult tho Government of India.
221. Tho Marquis of Salisbury then enquired whother, by tbc recent
separation of tho Government of Basrah and Baghdad, tho usefulness of tho
Consular Officer in the latter place had not been injured. Sir "W. While an­
swered in his despatch dated 13th January 188S :—
“ Tho Suhlimu Porte does not recognize the jurisdiction of a Consular Officer outside of
the single Vilayat in which he is appointed to reside, for which he holds a Murat exequatur ;
and Her Majesty’s Embassy has never succeeded in obtaining any deviation from this hard-and-
fast rule since it was laid down.
“ Under thcsi circumsfcnncos, Her Majesty’s Consul-General at Baghdad has no oflbial
position in the Vilayat. of Basrah ; but ns wo have at tlmt place a Consul who corresponds with
and acts under Colonel Twccdie, I do not consider that the former’s usefulness is impaired,
though has official prestige may perhaps appear less in his own eyes than that of his prodoces-
8ors.”
222. The Marquis of Salisbury then addressed the following important des­
patch to tbo British Embassy (dated 20th March 1SSS) :—
“ Colonel Twccdie is probably not aware of tho objections that would certainly be raised by
the Porte to the recognition of this title, inasmuch as, according to diplomatic precedent, it
might be taken to imply that the chief authoritv of tne district in which the Consul-General
resides has a semi-independent position similar to that of the former Princes of Scrvia or
Rou mania or of the present Khedive of Egypt or Prince of Bulgaria.
u So long as the Political Agent was the representative not of tho British Government,
nor a branch of that Government, but of the East India Company, this objection did not apply
with tho same force.
“There can be no doubt, however, that in former times the Governors of the distant prov­
inces of the Empire did, in fact, hold a position of far greater independence than is now
the case. The progress of centralization in the administration of the Ottoman Empire has
of late years been very marked ; and there is a continual tendency to limit the authority of
tho provincial Governors and to bring them into more complete dependency on the Govern­
ment at Constantinople. There is, as your Excellency has more than once noticed, a no less
marked increase of jealousy of foreign interference of tlie privileges a ml immunities of tho
foreign Consulates, and of the rights of protection which they have acquired by agreement
or usage.
“ These symptoms u>hich Colonel Twccdie seems to imagine to be personal to himself are
equally observable in other purls of the Turkish dominions ; and no advantage would be gained
by endeavouring to claim the formal acknowledgment of a title which, while it property marks
Colonel Twee die's position in the Indian service, is not in accordance with general international
usage.
“ It may, perhaps, be questioned whether the British Political Agent at Baghdad has
ever held that acknowledged position as a diplomatic representative which Colonel Twccdie
stems to imagine once attached to the ollice; aud whether the consideration and inllucneo
enjoyed by some of his predecessors have not, in great measure, been the result of the personal
good will and respect of the Ottoman authorities.
“ There can, however, be no question as to the importance of the interests which arc
entrusted to Her Majesty’s Consul-General at Baghdad in the capacity as Agent of the Gov­
ernment of India. They were tbc original causes of the creation of the office, and are tho
main reason, at all events, of its continuance. In the protection of those interests, and in
discharge of the duties connected with them Colonel Twccdie will, 1 aiu convinced, always have,
a6 heretofore, Your Excellency's full support and assistance whenever lie may require them.
** Colonel Twccdie should understand that the position which he holds and the immunities
he enjoys, as Her Majesty’s Consul-General differ widely from what arc accorded to Consular
officers in most European countries, and would be considered as belonging only to a diplomatic
appointment. But considerable, moderation and judgment arc necessary tn the exercise of rights
which took their origin in concession and comity, and which it is often in the power of the ter-
ritorial authority to defeat in practice, even while they arc acknowledged in principle. yin
attempt to assert them tao ostentatiously and to procure their extension is sure at the present
moment to excite suspicion and jealousy b»th at Constantinople and on the spot, and to occasion
increased hostility and abstractiveness in the transaction of business.’*

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