Page 273 - Records of Bahrain (6)_Neat

Budgetary affairs 261
CONFIDENTIAL. The political Agency,
Bahrain.
D.O.No.C/910. Dated the 17th August, 1946.
tJUJ K-v

.... s.'+tr
V/ill/'you please refer to your demi-official
letter No. C/533 aated the 24th July, 1946. p
2. As early as 1935 Government seems to have
succeeded in establishing the principle,' vide correspondence
ending with Residency letter No. 1018-3 dated the 20th
December, 1935, that the oil royalties were to be divided
in the proportion of one third to the Ruler and Ruling Family
and two thirds to the Bahrain Government. It was subsequently
laid down by the political Agent on the instructions of the
Political Resident that no additions should be made to the
Civil List estimates and that any extra expenditure in this
connection should be met from the ono third share of the oil
royalty, which was declared to be a contribution towards the
Civil List, please see in this connection the attached copies
of letters exchanged by this Agency with the late Ruler and
Bolgrave.
3. In view of the above I am strongly averse to
allowing His Highness to draw any additional money from the
State treasury or to make any further additions to the Civil
List. During the last six years he has received an average
of Rs. 13,20,000 a year from the Oil Royalty and the Civil List,
enough to leave him a very handsome balance after paying the
A1 Khalifah allowances and meeting his other expenses. He
receives in addition 6# on the value of every goat, sheep,
and cow brought into the Island, and has besides a private
income of between Ns. 120,000 and 150,000 a year frdra his town
properties nnd other investments. I should add here that
Shaikhs Mahomraed bin Isa and Abdullah bin Isa are also in
receipt of comfortable private incomes and that these two
Shaikhs between them receive no less than one third of all
the allowances and bonuses His Highness pays the Al Khalifah,
vide the enclosure to this Agency demi-official letter No.
C/187 dated the 11th February, 1943. In view of this perhaps
the best answer to His Highness would be that suggested in
Sir Geoffrey prior’s demi-official letter No. 150-S dated
the 13th February, 1943.
V. 3. ff
4. Sir Geoffrey speaks of Shaikh Salman as living
well within his income, and all that I heur of His Highness
confirms this. It is not understood how he now claims to be
short of money, unless we accept his view that the whole of
the one third share of the oil royalty belongs to him and that
ne should be reimbursed for any payments he makes from it to
other members of the Ruling Family. Apart from the question
of principle involved his one third share of the royalty is
a very large sum indeed which, in view of the Bahrain Petroleum
Company’s mounting production, is likely to increase still
further, it will be seen from correspondence ending with Mr.
Weightman’s demi-official letter No. c/757-10/1 dated the 7th
October, 1940 that it was at ono time contemplated that the
one third share of the oil royalty would eventually be reduced
to a fifth or even a tenth, arid that /this proposal was discussed
with Shaikh Salman himself.
'S. 30
me c’iv
Hay, C.S.I.,C.I.E., 7
Persian Gulf, 1
Camp, Bahrain.
/? M. I
id
JAIIC.