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APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE
Appendix, No. 8. of the elder brother ; that, after a fruitless attempt to negotiate, Syud Thoweynee prepared
-- to assert his claims by force of arms, and that at this period the British Government in -
tervened. He would therefore contend that the election being merely an exhibition o f
force, and he being prepared to oppose force by force, it would not be just on the one
hand to prevent the employment of force by Muscat, and on the other to recoo-nise a title
derived only from force in Zanzibar. The argument is not without its weight, but it
may be replied that such or similar fortuitous circumstances as favoured Syud Majeed,
influence all elections to sovereignties, and that the time which has elapsed since his
accession has, in some degree, legitimated Syud Majeed’s pretensions, has given him
another title besides that derived from force ; and would have impressed on the armed
demonstration of Syud Thoweynee, had it been prosecuted, the character of an invasion by
a foreign power. But the Honourable the Governor in Council does regard the facts that
Syud Thoweynee was prepared to assert his claim by an appeal to arms, and that he
relinquished his purpose only in deference to the British Government, as investing him
with a claim to compromise when contesting a title which is principally derived from ?orce.
In seeking for a basis of compromise, attention is naturally directed to the terms on which
it is admitted Syud Thoweynee was willing to resign his claims. Those terms were briefly
an annual payment of 40,000 crowns by Zanzibar to fd uscat ; but whether as tribute
or a subsidy is disputed. The Honourable the Governor in Council is very willinoto
admit that the dispute involves a question of considerable importance, but he is o*f
opinion that the negotiation indicates the nature of the compromise which the British
Government should arrange. ^ He thinks then, as an indemnity for abandonino- his claims
on his father’s African dominions, as an adjustment of the balance between the two
inheritances, the ruler of Zanzibar should make an annual payment to the ruler of Muscat
of 40,000 crowns, and that this payment should be regarded as a subsidy and not
as a tribute. It would be unjust to the prosperous state of Zanzibar, exhibiting as it does
so much evidence of vitality and such aptitude for self-development, to make it tributary
to any foreign sovereign, and especially to one of so effete a state as Muscat. A subsidy,
on the other hand, would secure to Syud Thoweynee as much material advantage as he could
fairly have expected, under all the circumstances, had he succeeded in dethronintr his
brother; it being always remembered, as clearly shown by Brigadier Coghlan and Colonel
Kigby, that the defeat of Syud Majeed would not, as a matter of course, have secured the
recognition of Syud Thoweynee as sovereign of all the African dominions of the late
Imam.
14. There are two points to be noticed before the Honourable the Governor in Council
commits this important question to the final decision of the Bight Honourable the Governor
General : 1st. Is the subsidy to be permanent ? 2nd. Is it to be paid with arrears ?
The Honourable the Governor in Council regards the first of these questions as one of
peculiar difficulty. The British Government must naturally be reluctant to impose a
perpetual burden on Zanzibar, for the purpose of buying off, as it were, a claimant to the
sovereignty ; but, on a balance of all the considerations which surround the question, this
seems the only expedient which can be adopted. Syud Thoweynee can hardly with honour
resign the claims of his country, not merely his own claims, for a payment which is to
determine with his own life. A temporary assignment from the revenues of Zanzibar
would only film over the wound which Muscat sustains by the loss of the African dependencies,
and irritation would again break out on Syud Thoweynee’« death. By the permanent
subsidy, a motive is given to Muscat to abstain from all ambitious movements
against its wealthier brother ; if that motive was removed, designs on Zanzibar would,
from generation to generation, be the great point of honour, the great centre of intrio-ue,
to which would converge all the daring and adventurous spirits in Oman. The subsidy
will be well-spent money, if it preserves Zanzibar from those attacks to which it must
otherwise be liable from the needy ambition of Muscat.
15. Next as to the arrears. Brigadier Coghlan is of opinion that they should be
demanded from Syud Majeed. The Honourable the Governor in Council will not dispute
the conclusion that, in strict justice, Syud Majeed is liable to his brother for the arrears,
though it is certainly open to question. But as the arrangement under discussion is
essentially one of compromise, it should be considered whether the demand is expedient.
The Honourable the Governor in Council cannot think that it is. It must be remembered
that Zanzibar has its financial difficulties as well as Muscat, and it is of obvious policy not
to impose any burthens on Syud Majeed from which he cannot be reasonably expected to
free himself by careful and judicious administration. It is probable that, if not overwhelmed
at the outset by extraordinary charges and embarrassments, Zanzibar, by the
ordinary progress of a state possessing great materials and facilities for commerce,\vill at
no very distant period, be able to pay the subsidy without any severe strain on’its
resources to regard it as a mere premium of insurance ; but it cannot be doubted that the
payment must for some time be regarded as a heavy burthen, and great care must be
taken that the vessel is not swamped at once by overloading. To impose a large liability
for arrears on Syud Majeed would imperil the stability of the whole arrangement : it
would put the heaviest weight on the weakest part ; for, as before stated, it is only now
and for the next few years that the subsidy wdll prove an embarrassing burthen to
Zanzibar. No pretext should be afforded to either party for breaking the agreement, and
under this view the Honourable the Governor in Council would not recommend that Syud
Majeed be held liable for more than two years’arrears of subsidy, or 80,000 crowns^. Such
a suni
