Page 199 - Records of Bahrain (3) (ii)_Neat

Bahraini relations with Ibn Sa‘ud, 1920 615

(a)

make as good n oaoo an ho pleased, but ho (Bhalkh lea )
rofuood to bo dlotatod to by another ruler In .the tannage-
mont of hlo own affalro. Therofore It van useless to aek
him to think of roduolng hie ouetome moroly In order to
offeot a frlondly settlement between him and Bln Baud,
ilo wont on to oay that on the oooaelon when he last re-
duood hlo "tranehlp" ouetome,1•e. when Bin Baud took over
Haeoa,in W 13, he had done eo entirely of hie own free
will and booauno he wlehod to attract trade to Bahrain.
Ho denied that ho had boon lnfluonoed by you In any way.
Similarly, after he had aooonpllehed hie purpose he
ralood the rato to 5 ^ again, this aleo of hie own free
will and booauee It wae hie 'haq' to do eo. He, Bhalkh
lea, would only ooneent to reducing hla ouetome in favour
of tranehlp goodo on one oondltlon, and that wae If he
rooelvod an official order to do eo from you. In that
event he would not only aooopt the ordor with alaorlty
('Ala 'Alnl wa 'Ala Raei) but, ae he eald, hie "sharaf
would etill be un-impaired, for Bin Baud would not be
able to "orow" over him and eay that he,Bhalkh lea, had
reduoed tho ouetome becauoe he was afraid of him. Such
an order would be one from Government, whloh no Arab
Ruler oould argue agalnet, and whloh all would understand.
In view of tho above attitude I am of opinion
that the soundest plan le for a letter to be written by
you to Bhalkh Ina whloh, If I might suggest It and you
approve, might take something of the following form, You
had heard that he, Bhalkh lea, had, during the war and
without roforonoe to the Political Agent, raised hie Cus­
toms duty on tranship goods from fijf ^ to 6 whloh was
oontrary to the arrangement oooe to between him and you
In 1913, and that this lnoroaee was neither Just, nor in
aooord with general oustom. Furthermore, that Bin Baud,
aloo a friond of Ills Majesty's Government, had lodged a