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(3) Marriage expenses of his son.—For this purpose Rs. 30,000 wore
advanced to tho Sultan,
Secret E , Fobruary 1903, No*. 309-339, No. 320.
owing to tho urgency of the
request and tho desirability of promoting good relations while
tho new commercial troaty and tho management of tho customs
wero being negotiated. Tho Sultan gave an undertaking in
writing to the effect that ho would not borrow elsewhere till
liabilities had been paid (telegram to the Secretary of State, dated
loth August 1904). Tho advanco is being repaid by monthly
instalments of Its. 1,000, deducted from the Maskat subsidy.
(4) Yaluo of coal supplied for the steamer Rs. 5,589 recovered at the
rato of 11s. 1,000 a month.
.627. Tho following statement of tho Sultan’s Debts was sent us by Major
Grey with his letter No. 233, dated 8th
Socrot E, July 1905, Nos. 272-270.
May 1905—*

Nature of dobt. Amount of debt. Amount repaid. Balance.

Rs. A. P. Rs. A, P. Rs. A. P.
I.—Coat of steamer • •• ••• 1,61,965 5 2 82,164 13 1 79,791 8 1
II.—Loanp advanced 50,000 0 0 16,000 0 1 34,000 0 0
III — Value of coal supplied • •• 6,589 0 0 3,000 0 0 2,589 0 0

Total 2,17,545 6 2 1,01,164 13 1 116,SCO 8 1

628. On the 22nd September 1905, the Political Agent telegraphed that
tho Sultan bad asked for a further loan
Secret E, December 1905, No*. 473-192.
of Rs. 20,000 to enable him to meet
the expenses of sending hi9 son Taimur and others to the Ilaj. Major Grey
suggested that the opportunity be taken to press upon the Sultan to accept the
proposal to appoint a Superintendent to be recommended by tho Government of
India for the supervision of his customs administration. It was also reported
that the Sultan had discharged his Customs Superintendent Mahomed Ibrahim,
and had appointed in his place Bania Damudar Dharmsi, with Abdul Nabi, as a
second clerk.
629. The views of the Political Resident on the application of the Sultan
for the further loan of Rs. 20,000 and the conditions under which the Political
Agent recommended the loan should be granted, were received by the Govern­
ment of India on the 2nd October. Major Cox was of the opinion that now that
the consideration, no longer held good, which had caused us to stretch several
points lately for the Sultan in order that no monetary difficulty might arise
between His Highness and the British Government pending the issue of the
decision of the Hague Tribunal in the French flag case, it was doubtful
whether it was expedient to give tho Sultan any more small loans for specific
purposes for the present. They were not sufficiently large to enable us to ob­
tain any suitable quid pro quo for them, and if Bis Highness still persisted in
spite of our advice in allowing his-finances to remain in an unsatisfactory state,
and if there were no specific political advantage to be gained from the loan in
question, further monetary favours on our part would tend tq encourage him in
his thriftlessncss. He therefore proposed that the only basis upon whioh he
would recommend the grant of a loan would be:—
(1) That a trained customs official be borrowed from the Government of
India and placed at tho head of the Oman Customs ; and (ji) that
any loan shall form part of a satisfactory scheme for the ftijuat-
xnent.of the Sultan’s finances generally.