Page 115 - PERSIAN 9 1941_1947

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5.

but it seems as if merchants were content to meet the hi#i
rates of motor transport which their profits enabled them to
pay. After all it has been the scarcity of transport which,

by facilitating the holding of goods for a rise in prloe, has
been a major cause of the h±$i profits of merchants.
Miscellaneous
Tho ^uohlre 8ugar and Tea. Syndicate which controlled
the sale throughout the district of these commodities on behalf

of the Government closed down of its own accord during the year
having shown loss for two successive years.
Rationing of sufar by the Kconomics Department, which

by the end of the year became merged in the Foodstuffs Depart­
ment (Idareh Kharbar), commenced in March but failed in its
work owing to the successful lobbying of merchants in^Tehran
and Shiraz to secure or withold the passing of administrative

orders. This effectively wrecked the scheme and gained a
better market for *free*sugar* The price of the latter rose
over ICO# during the course of the year and the large mass

of people had to restrict their sugar consumption severely.
The income of the Customs declined considerably.
No duty was of course paid on war supplies, The decline was

so marked that at one point there was not sufficient income to
cover the expenses of salaries and wages and the Director was
obliged to make a temporary loan from a Bushire merchant.
The population of Buehire increased as a result of

the work provided by the U.K.C.C. plant and the greater volume
of shipping handled in the port and in spite of the steadily
rising cost of living, By the end of the year it stood at

little less than 25,000.