Minister Leishman
to the Secretary of State.
American Legation,
Constantinople, May 27,
1905.
No. 1074.]
Sir: I beg to inclose herewith for the
Department’s information copy of a circular note issued by the Sublime
Porte concerning the establishment of petroleum depots in the populous
centers, together with a copy of the legation’s reply, which I trust
will meet with your approval.
While the Sublime Porte’s note bears on its face the establishment of
what would naturally be viewed as a very proper municipal regulation,
the rates for storage mentioned are out of all proportion for the
services to be rendered; and I learn privately that the new act was
drawn up by the financial commission with a view of establishing a new
source of revenue.
In any event I deemed it wise to guard against any infringement upon
certain principles, such as the establishment of a new monopoly which
might be far-reaching, and indirectly increasing the customs tax upon an
article which intimately concerns American trade. Even allowing that the
government would not be disposed to offer any serious objections to a
slightly increased tax, I viewed the matter that whatever the government
might be disposed to grant as a favor it could not afford to allow the
Sublime Porte to usurp as a right, consequently I thought it just and
proper to protest against the introduction of the new law in the absence
of a proper understanding and agreement.
A similar protest was filed by the legation in 1882 against the granting
of a monopoly to a certain Sami Bey for the establishment of a central
petroleum depot at Constantinople, but the matter was afterwards
dropped, as the correspondence between the legation and the Department
at that time will show.
Unless otherwise instructed by the Department, my idea is to treat the
matter pretty much upon the same lines as the question of a 3 per cent
increase in the customs dues. See legation’s dispatch No. 1031, April 6,
1905, and the Department’s reply thereto, No. 810, April 27, 1905.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure
1.—Translation.]
The Minister for Foreign
Affairs to Minister Leishman.
Sublime Porte,
Ministry for Foreign
Affairs,
April 27,
1905.
note verbale.
In order to prevent the danger to the public security resulting from
the storage in populous centers of large quantities of pertoleum,
alcohol, and other inflammable materials, the imperial government
has decided to have warehouses constructed for the storage of said
[Page 879]
materials in such
places where they do not exist as yet and to buy at a reasonable
price those which have already been built by private persons with a
view of securing uniform regulations to which these materials are
subject.
In order to cover the expense of construction, of repairs, and of
insurance of the above-mentioned warehouses, as well as the salaries
of the officials, there will be uniformly collected on every case of
petroleum stored, petroleum passing in transit to other parts of the
Empire being excepted, a tax of 60 paras for the time included
between one day and one month and a tax of 1 piaster for each of the
following months or fraction of a month.
On petroleum not in cases there will be collected on each quintal a
tax equivalent to the double of the tax collected on each case.
Alcohol, naphtha, benzine, and other similar materials will be
subject to the same charges as petroleum.
The imperial ministry requests the legation of the United States of
America to kindly bring the preceding to the knowledge of its
citizens interested in the matter.
[Inclosure 2.]
Minister Leishman to the Minister for
Foreign Affairs.
American Legation,
Constantinople, May
19, 1905.
note verbale.
The American legation has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the
Sublime Porte’s note verbale of April 27, 1905, concerning the
proposed measure which the Imperial Ottoman Government has in
contemplation with a view of establishing under official control
petroleum depots in the populous centers.
If, as stated in the above-mentioned circular, the object of
establishing petroleum depots near the large cities is merely in
order to give the public greater security from fires which may
result from the indiscriminate storage of such inflammable material
as petroleum and alcohol, the legation would be inclined to view the
establishment of storage depots (for such highly inflammable
material) as a proper municipal regulation, whether instituted
directly or indirectly by the municipalities or by private
enterprise under proper municipal regulations. Under these
circumstances the legation would not be disposed to offer any
objection to the establishment of such depots, providing the charges
for storage be fixed at a figure sufficient only to cover the
necessary expense connected with the establishment and proper
conduct of such depots.
If aforesaid understanding of above-mentioned circular be correct,
the charges for storage must of necessity be materially modified, as
the proposition as outlined in the Sublime Porte’s circular note
would appear more in the line of a fiscal measure, which could only
be viewed by the legation as an indirect increase in the customs
duty agreed upon between the Imperial Ottoman Government and the
Government of the United States of America, or as a monopoly,
against both of which the legation would be forced to enter a
protest.
