Page 107 - The Persian Gulf Historical Summaries (1907-1953) Vol IV_Neat

101
number of persons to bo employed, and tlie
oxtont of accommodation to be provided on the
said island in accordance with the Memorandum
dated the 1-lth March, and tho plana forwarded
to tho Persian Foreign Office on the 28th of the
same month, after being approved by the British
Mission, the Persian Ministers, in order to
strengthen the friendly relations between the two
Governments, will give permission and authority
in the manner indicated, provided that the number
of employes and extent of the buildings arc not
allowed at any time to exceed those explained in
the Memorandum received from the British
Legation.”
When our telegraph station was re-established
in I 90i, in connection with the scheme for
establishing telegraphic communication with
Bunder Abbas, Sir A. Ilardinge informed the
Persiau Government that “ (here is no intention
on the part of tho Government of India to
support any such claim (i.e., to Ilenjam) of the
Chief of Debai [whose subjects the local Arabs
claimed to bo], or to repudiate the authority of
tho Persian Government." The Persian Govern­
ment, however, chose to assert their authority
by sending a Customs officer to the island, much
to the resentment of the local Arabs. A con­
troversy arose with the Persian Government as
to tho limits to be assigned to our telegraph
station and as to tho position of a Persian
Customs office on the island. Tho dispute still
remains unsettled.
Bunder Abbas.—As has already boon stated,
the Convention of tho 2nd April, 11:68, em­
powered the British Government to “ raako
arrangements with regard to tho cohstruction
and efficient working of a lino of telegraph
between Gwadur and a point between Jask and
Bunder Abbas." The questiou of bringing
Bunder Abbas into telegraphic connection with
the outer world was definitely raised in 1901.
In their despatch of the 21st Jauuary, 1904,
Lord Curzon’s Government stated that when the
Viceroy was at Bunder Abbas, during his visit
to the Persian Gulf, “ he was earnestly pressed
both by the local traders and also by the Salar-i-
Moazzam, Governor of the Gulf ports, to lend
his assistance to the connection of Bunder Abbas
by telegraph with tho outer world and it was
accordingly anticipated that the proposal would