Mr. McDonald to Mr.
Gresham.
Legation of the United States,
Teheran, March 26, 1894.
(Received May 2.)
No. 77.]
Sir: My predecessor, Mr. Sperry, on the 5th of
July, 1893, transmitted to the Department of State a copy and
translation of a letter from the Persian foreign minister, asking for
the friendly intervention and cooperation of the Government of the
United States with the European governments in securing for Persia a
representative to take part in the deliberations of the mixed judicial
tribunal in Egypt on the reappointment of that body by the Khedive’s
Government. I have now the honor to forward for your information a copy
and translation of another letter I have just received from the minister
for foreign affairs relating to the same subject.
In consequence of the presence of a number of Persian merchants engaged
in trade in Egypt, and of a still larger number who every year pass
through that country on their pilgrimage to the shrine at Mecca, a
member to represent their interests on the tribunal might be of
advantage. Any steps taken by the U. S. Government to secure that end
would, I am sure, be highly appreciated by the Shah and his
minister.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure in No. 77.]
The Minister for Foreign
Affairs to Mr. McDonald.
Teheran, the 12th of
Ramazan
(March 20), 1894.
Your Excellency: On the 15th of the month
Zilhejzeh, A. H. 1310, I addressed you on the subject of the
necessity for the presence of a representative of Persia on the
mixed tribunals of Egypt. The
[Page 511]
substance of the response of the Khedive’s
Government on this subject, made through the Italian consul-general
in Egypt, is to the effect that as the citizens of Persia resident
in the Ottoman Empire do not, as do the subjects of other countries,
participate in the benefits of treaty rights, they can not,
therefore, in Egypt, which is one of the provinces of that
Government, partake of the same privileges which are accorded to
other nations. Perhaps the intention of the Khedive’s Government in
this reply may be construed to mean that the Persian Government has
no “capitulations” with the Turkish Government. If that is so, then
its contention and argument are faulty, and contrary to the facts of
the case, inasmuch as there are now treaties and conventions between
the two governments, the stipulations of which are, throughout the
whole of the provinces of the Ottoman Empire, in active operation,
and as Egypt forms a part of that state they ought to take effect
there. At the present time, in conformity with recent treaty rights,
in most of the commercial courts throughout the Turkish Empire,
representatives of Persia, in the same manner as those of other
favored nations, or two Persian merchants in the capacity of
members, sit to adjudicate on mercantile matters.
If the Persian Government had not these treaty privileges, it is
manifest that the Turkish Government would never have admitted the
representatives of Persia to seats in these tribunals. Leaving these
considerations out of the question, it is evident from the
fourteenth article of the existing treaty, concluded by the Persian
embassy of this Government (in Constantinople) and the Ottoman
department of foreign affairs, a translation of which into French I
send for your excellency’s perusal, that whatever rights and
privileges are granted to the most favored nations in the Ottoman
Empire have in their entirety been secured to the Persian
Government, and Persian subjects in all parts of Turkey ought to be
partakers of those rights and privileges to their fullest extent.
Therefore the reply of the Government of the Khedive of Egypt to the
consul-general of Italy is contrary to the stipulations existing
between the governments of Persia and Turkey and the clear meaning
of the aforesaid treaty.
Furthermore, the Persian Government has more subjects in Egypt than
most other countries, and it can not therefore relinquish its clear
and undoubted rights in that country.
It is therefore very respectfully urged upon your excellency’s
attention that on the occasion of the renewal of the convention for
the reconstruction of the mixed tribunals of Egypt your Government
will take into its serious consideration the injustice of the
Khedive’s Government in setting aside the confirmed rights of the
Persian state. There is no doubt that your Government, in its
enlighted sense of justice and a sincere regard for what is right,
will not fail to take such steps as may appear just and
necessary.
I have nothing further to trouble you with on this occasion.
[Subinclosure in No.
77.—Translation.]
Fourteenth article of Turko-Persian
treaty.
Persian subjects in Turkey and Turkish subjects in Persia shall enjoy
exactly the same rights as the subjects of the most favored nations
in all matters which are not mentioned in the present treaty, and in
case the Persian Government shall not fulfill any one of the clauses
of this treaty, the Turkish Government will act, on its part, in the
same manner.
The 21 Zegadé, 1292, corresponding to A. D. 1875.
