§ 1. Sir MARTIN CONWAYasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, by treaties between the Governments of France and Persia signed on or about 12th May, 1895, and 11th August, 1900, an exclusive and perpetual right of excavating for antiquities throughout the whole of the Persian kingdom was granted to the French Government; whether these treaties were made with cognisance of the British Government; whether any protest was entered against them; and whether, having regard to the discrimination thus set up between French and British archæologists and to the damage thereby likely to be done to the interests of the British Museum, the opportunity of current international negotiations will be taken to bring about a revision of those 294 treaties in favour of the archæologists of Great Britain and the United States of America?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. Cecil Harmsworth)The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative.
The French Government first obtained permission from the Shah in 1884 to carry on excavations on the ancient site of Shush or Susa in Southern Persia and the work done by eminent French archæologists there during the past thirty-five years has materially contributed to the progress of historical research.
The concession granted to the French Government on 11th August, 1900, conferred the widest possible rights to the French in perpetuity, but the Persian Government recently uphold the view that these rights referred to "Crown Domains" alone and a revision of the terms of the concession are believed to have been in contemplation. No protest was entered by His Majesty's Government.
The French Government have from time to time waived their claims to exclusive rights in virtue of their concession and have permitted British Archæologists to undertake certain excavations in Persia, and their friendly attitude in this respect has prevented the monopoly from becoming a grievance from our point of view.