AND THE AH OF PERSIA, t º * , - - - - - - - - * - - - - - * - - * - T 37 - 110ſ (Vezzº) ROUGH I * ſº - - - - * - §§ , , signed, in the English and Persian Languages, ał Tehran, December 2, 1872. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty. 1873, - - - LONDON: ~ . . PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SONs - C.–796.] Price 1d. . * -, . : § : CONVENTION between Her Majesty and the Shah of Persia, for continuing the System of Telegraphic Communication between Europe and India through Persia. Signed, in the English and Persian Languages, at Tehran, December 2, 1872. [Ratifications eachanged at Tehran, March 31, 1873.] HER Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the King of all the Kingdoms of Persia, being desirous to continue the system of telegraphic communication between Europe and India, through Persia, already established in virtue of previous Treaties, have resolved that a Convention for that purpose shall be concluded, wherefore Their Majesty's have named as their Plenipotentiaries:— --~ – Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,... Ronald Ferguson Thomson, Esquire, her Chargé d'Affaires at the Court of Persia; And His Majesty the King of all the Kingdoms of Persia, his Excellency Meerza Saeed Khan, His Minister for Foreign Affairs, Possessor of the Order of the Royal Portrait adorned with Diamonds, and of the Blue Cordon, and Bearer of the Pearled Tassel and Rod adorned with Diamonds, Possessor of the Order of the First Serteep with its Special Cordon, and Bearer of the First Order of the White Eagle with the Blue Cordon, and of the Order of Saint Anne of the First Class adorned with Diamonds, and of the Order of the Medjidieh of the First Class, and of the First Order of the Iron Crown, and of the First Order of Leopold, and of the First Order of Daneburg, and the First Order of Saint Maurice and Lazare, and the First Order of the Saviour of Greece, and the Order of the Polar Star of Sweden, and the Second Order of the Legion of Honour, and the First Order of the Osmanieh : And the aforesaid distinguished Representatives, after meeting in the Capital of Tehran, and perusing and exchanging their full powers, which were found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles:— ARTICLE I. To expedite and facilitate the transmission of international messages, the English Government will, at its own expense, and under the superintendence of its own officers, erect a third wire, in addition to the two already in operation between Tehran and Bushire, and will also substitute iron standards for the existing wooden poles. The English Government agrees to substitute the above iron standards at the rate of five hundred (500) annually; and the Persian Government engages to pay in ten annual instalments the sum of ten thousand (10,000) tomans to the English Government towards defraying the expenditure incurred on these iron posts. During this work, the Persian Government engages itself to render to the Superintending Officers every assistance in its power of which they may stand in need. ARTICLE II. Whereas all British subjects in Persia are entitled to the protection of the Persian Government, under the operation of Article XII of the Treaty of Paris, of |489] B 2 2 March 4, 1857, it is now provided that the British employés of the Telegraph Deparment, being charged with public duties, shall be everywhere placed under special protection of the local authorities, who shall furnish guards when necessary, and otherwise assure their personal safety. ARTICLE III. Until the completion of the third wire provided for by the above Article I, the appropriation of the existing first and second wires for local and international messages shall remain as at present, viz., as regulated by Article VIII of the Convention of the 23rd November, 1865. ARTICLE IV. After the completion of the third wire, notice of which will be given to the Persian Government by the Director of the English Staff, the appropriation of the three wires shall be as follows:— The first wire, viz., the one set up originally in 1864, shall be used for local traffic while the second and third wires shall be used for international traffic, with the exceptions hereinafter specified in Article VI, ARTICLE W. To prevent any confusion in the working of the different wires, the first wire shall be worked by Persian Government employés, and the second and third wires by English Government employés, separate rooms being provided by the Persian Government for the said English and Persian employés, in telegraph offices considered suitable by both Administrations. * * ARTICLE VI. (a.) Should the first wire be broken at any time, one of the others shall be temporarily lent for Persian correspondence, until communication by the first wire is restored, provided always that both the second and third wires are at the time in good (b.) Should the first wire be in contact with either the second or third wire while the remaining wire is clear, the wire in contact with the first wire shall be insulated, to allow free working by the Persian employés on the first wire until the contact is removed. (c.) Should the first wire be in contact with the second or third while the remaining one is interrupted, or should both second and third wires be interrupted, or should all three wires at any time be in contact, the resultant single line shall be used by the English and Persian Administrations in the respective proportions of two-thirds to one- third of the day, the exact hours to be fixed by mutual agreement between the English and Persian directors. ARTICLE VII. The revenue derived from the local traffic on the Persian wire shall belong entirely to the Persian Government. By local traffic are meant messages originating at one Persian station and termi- nating at another Persian station. ARTICLE VIII. The Persian Government having already made an arrangement with the Indo- European Telegraph Company regarding the revenue derived from the Indo-European traffic, the English Government will abide by that agreement as far as they are concerned; that is to say, the Persian Government, in consideration of a fixed annual payment by the said Company of either twelve thousand (12,000) tomans, or of two (2) francs per message of twenty (20) words, renounces all claims to any portion of the revenue from transit traffic over the line from Julfa (on the Russian frontier) to Bushire. This revenue shall therefore be divided between the English Government and the Indo-European Company in such manner as they themselves may decide, and the accounts between them shall be settled without the intervention of the Persian Govern- ment. As regards international messages originating or terminating in Persia, the Persian Government agrees to cede to the English Government for a term of three (3) years the entire Persian terminal tax on such messages, in consideration of a fixed annual payment of two thousand (2,000) tomans, to be paid to Persia by the English Government, 3 After the three years, the Persian Government shall be free either to accept an annual payment calculated on the basis of two-thirds of the average terminal receipts, or to claim two-thirds of the receipts of all bond fide terminal messages. The Persian Government agrees to leave it to the sense of justice of the English Government to decide which are bond fide terminal messages, and which are to be considered as transit messages, being forwarded to Persia evidently for the purpose of being retransmitted to other countries. During the time this Treaty remains in force, the Persian Government engages itself to oppose at the International Telegraph Conferences any alteration in the present transit and terminal rates, unless a previous agreement with the English Government shall have been made. ARTICLE IX. The English Administration being responsible for the correct transmission of all international messages, and for the adjustment of the accounts, will collect the payments for these messages according to the rates of the prevailing International Telegraph Convention. All international messages originating in Persia shall, before transmission, be regis- tered and sealed by officials appointed by the Persian Government. International messages terminating in Persia shall be delivered to the addresses through the agency of the same officials, who shall be bound to give receipts for such messages to the English Administration. The Persian Administration shall at all times have free access to the English offices, and to all records connected with international traffic. International messages are those which pass over the wires of more than one State. ARTICLE X. The maintenance of the line, including repairs, and the appointment, control, and payment of the Line Guards, shall remain in the hands of the English Director and Staff. As a contribution towards the expenditure under this head, the Persian Government will pay to the English Director the sum of one thousand (1,000) tomans annually, thrſs- amount being deducted from the royalty due to Persia by the Indo-European Telegraph Company, as hereinbefore described in Article VIII. ARTICLE XI. The duties of the Telegraph Inspectors and Line Guards are strictly confined to repairing and maintaining the line. If the line be wilfully damaged, the Persian Government will take the most stringent measures to oblige the local authorities to apprehend and punish the offenders. The Governors of districts will be accordingly instructed to pay prompt attention to all complaints and communications made to them by the English officers. ARTICLE XII. In case of any wilful damage to the line, the expense of repairing the same shall be defrayed by the Persian Government. ARTICLE XIII. To enable the English Director to have a perfect knowledge of the state of the wires and offices, and thereby to provide for their general efficiency and the rapid removal of any impediment to telegraphic communication, the orders and regulations issued by him regarding the connections within the offices, and the times and manner of testing the lines shall be strictly obeyed by the Persian telegraph officers and signallers. ARTICLE XIV. It having been ascertained that the debt owed by the Persian Government to the English Government on account of materials and erection of the second wire, together with some items connected with the erection of the first wire, and the payment of Line Guards, amounted, on the 31st December, 1869, to one hundred and fifteen thousand and seventy-nine tomans, eight krans (115,079-8), or forty-seven thousand and two hundred and seventeen pounds (47.2171.) sterling, the English Government agrees to accept pay- ment without interest, in the course of twenty-four (24) years, in twenty-four (24) equal instalments, of the same from the Indo-European Telegraph Company. 4 Should the aforesaid Indo-European Telegraph Company wish to pay the amount in question sooner, it is at liberty to do so. - The English Government shall notify without delay to the Persian Government any instance of failure on the part of the Indo-European Telegraph Company in paying the periodical instalments, and will then hold the Persian Government responsible for any portion of the debt remaining unpaid. Nothing in this Article is to be considered to invalidate any claim on the Indo- European 'Telegraph Company, which the Persian Government holds in virtue of the concessions granted to the said Company. ARTICLE XV. All articles required by the English Staff from abroad for the service of the line shall be exempt from Customs or other duties in Persia. ARTICLE XVI. This Convention applies specially to the Tehran-Bushire Section, but shall apply equally to the Tehran-Khanekeen Section, should the English Director at any time deem it expedient to resume charge of that portion of the Persian telegraph. In such a case the Tariff of the Tehran-Khanekeen Section, and the method of account shall be settled by a special arrangement between the English and Persian Administrations. ARTICLE XVII. Any disagreement arising between the telegraph employés of the two Governments shall be referred for decision to the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs and the British Representative at Tehran. ARTICLE XVIII. This Convention shall take effect from the day on which its ratifications are exchanged, and shall remain in force until the first of January, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five (1st January, 1895), on which date the English Staff shall make - =Wer the whole liné, in whatever condition it may be at the time, including iron posts and third wire, to the Persian Government, and shall then cease to have any further connec- tion with the Persian telegraph. ARTICLE XIX. After the erection of the third wire, it shall be competent for the English Govern- ment, at any time before the expiry of this Convention, on giving six months’ notice, to hand over the line in its existing condition to the Persian Government, and to withdraw its officers and employés from the country; ceasing from that date to have any further connection with the Persian telegraph. ARTICLE XX. The ratifications of the present Convention shall be exchanged at Tehran within five months, or sooner if practicable. & Done at Tehran, in quadruplicate, this second day of the month of December, in the year of Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two. - RONALD F. THOMSON. MEERZA SAEED KHAN. (L.S.) (L.S.) PERSIA. CoNVENTION between Her Majesty and the Shah of Persia, for continuing the System of Telegraphic Communication between Europe and India through Persia. Signed, in the English and Persian Languages, at Tehran, Zecember 2, 1872. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by . Command of Her Majesty. 1873. gº LoNDoN : -jº- PRINTED BY HARRIson AND sons. .