Page 193 - Records of Bahrain (3) (ii)_Neat

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Bahraini relations with Ibn Sa'ud, 1920 609

(8)
ooot of living,made It neooosary to do something. Be
ordered full 8$ Guntomo Duty to bo charged on oil
goods landed on hlo pier, whether consigned to Mainland
or not.
(3) lie oonoidero It 1s hlo.right to charge what «us-
tome Duty he lilcee provided he dooa not exceod 8^5 duty,
oe fixed by treaty wi.th Bin Majesty's Government' (When
asked to quote number and date of treaty, he referred,
to artlole 4 of Treaty lo. 8, page 0 of Treaties and
undertakings In force between He Majesty's Government
and Ruler of Bahrain (copy attached).
(4) Be complains that Bln Eaudohargeo 1$ Customs on
his subjects when talcing goods in t/> OJair and Qatif.,
and that,therefore, Bln Baud has no right to oomplain,
if his own subjects have to pay full duty on goods
using Bahrain Guotoms Bouse as a store godown, even if
such goods did not enter the town.
(8) If he wont back to the 8$r i» rule, an in foroe
prior to 19 lfl, he feared hie revenues would be enor­
mously reduced and he could not afford euoh loss..

6. Moving oonveraod fully on the subject with both
Shaikh xsa and Bin Baud, I am of pplnlon that Shaikh Isa Is In
the wrong for the following reasons i-
( 1) The treaty which ho quotes has nothing to do with the
oase and refero to British subjeots only.
(8) Customs Department, I believe, all over the world, do
not charge Import Tax on goods until such goods are actually
passed through the Customs Bouse of the land to whloh they
goo^j are consigned.
Further, his oomplaint ttyat his Customs•receipts und
«saa be greatly reduced if he foregoes the newly Imposed tax,may
be quite true, but if he were a decent ruler and made any attempt!
at all to rule properly, he would know that he could raise reve­
nues by suoh- legitimate means as
(a) numbering and taxing his lative Sailing Graft. ■
.
(b) Taxing pearling boats.
(o) Selling' some of his innumerable gardens to the inhabi-