Report from the Select Committee on Slave Trade (East Coast of Africa); together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, appendix and index

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 832922498

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-79587

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report from the Select Committee on Slave Trade (East Coast of Africa); together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, appendix and index

Place of publication:: [London]

Publisher:: [The House of Commons]

Year of publication:: 1871

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (XXIV, 242 S.)

Collection:: Economics Books

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

190 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 willino- to 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 depen dencies, and irritation would again break out on Syud Thoweynee’« death. By the per manent 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 over whelmed 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

Access restriction

Copyright

fullscreen: Report from the Select Committee on Slave Trade (East Coast of Africa); together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, appendix and index

Monograph

Table of contents

Download

Monograph

This page

Image fragment

Citation links

Citation recommendation