Page 269 - Gulf Precis (VII)_Neat

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427. The certificate was given him on taking the oath of allegiance and
Judicial A., May 1880, Not. 16-17. paying a fee of £\ under regulations
Judicial A., April 1880, No*. 35-36. published under the Secretary of State’s
despatch No. 21, dated 29th February 1872.
(lxviii) Lists of British subjects and protdg<5s applied for by Persian authorities,
1877.
428. In June 1877, Moctemid-ud-Dowlah, Governor-General of Fars, demanded
from Colonel Prideaux, Officiating Resident,
Political A., Augu»t 1877, Nos. 343’348-
that a nominal roll of the servants and
dependants of the British Residency should be furnished to the local authorities
at Bushire for transmission to the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs.
429. In reply the Officiating Resident stated (letter, dated 17th July 1877)
that
“to comply with your Royal Ilighncss’s request would be equivalent to admitting
the claims of the Persian authorities to interfere with my right to employ such servants
in this Residency as I may think fit and as such a pretension would be wholly in admissible,
I deeply regret that I am unable U* accede to your Royal Highness's demands."
430. The Government of India approved of Colonel Prideaux’s action in
declining to accede to the request of the Governor-General of Fars (No. 2053-P.,
dated 21st August 1877).
431, The request was repeated by the Prince of Fars to Colonel Ross,
when the latter returned to Bushire, but
Political A-, September 1878, No*. 80 go.
was again not complied with for the reasons
given in Colonel Ross’s reply, dated nth March 1878:
(1) In the first place, owing to the number and diversity of British clients in
these parts, many of whom were frequently coming and going and passing through
these ports, it would be impossible to frame a complete list, as before it was com­
plete many alterations would have occurred. Daily it happened that persons em­
ployed under the British Government or by private persons are discharged or leave
their employment and others replace them. To attempt to keep the authorities
always informed on such matter would not only be helpless, but it would be
worse than useless, and in our opinion would lead to frequent discussions which
now scarcely occurred.
(2) Whenever there was any doubt as to a person’s right to the Resident’s
protection, and the local authorities wished to have it cleared, they could in a
few minutes ascertain and all requisite information is at once furnished to them.
(3) Whenever persons in British employment being Persian subjects were
accused of any misconduct or breach of the laws, every attention and facility was
invariably afforded to the Persian Government authorities, and where crime was
proved such persons were never afforded further employment.
It was the practice of the Residency to confine to the rights the British
enjoy in Persia by Treaty and usage, and not to exceed those bounds.
The result was that disputes scarcely ever arose except when persons of
evil disposition excited them for their own bad ends. This had happily not been
the case of late times in those parts.
432. In commenting upon this correspondence the Secretary of State
however stated (despatch No. 44, dated
Secret E., January 1879, No*. 13-17.
31st October 1878) that the Governor-
General’s application appeared to have been regarded by Colonel Ross as a
revival of attempts to interfere with the menial establishment of the Residency
at Bushire, which had been uniformly resisted by Her Majesty’s Government,
and, so viewing it, his reply was a proper one. Her Majesty’s Government
would not permit any such interference, or allow the recognition by the local
authorities of the status of individuals at Bushire as British subjects, or under
British protection, to be conditional on the assent of the Government at Teh­
ran. They were however at the same time of opinion that a list of such persons,
if again asked for, might be given as an act of courtesy. 1
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